Harlow New Town's official future started on 25th March 1947; This was the date when Lewis Silkin, Minister of Town & Country Planning (Minister within the first post-war Labour Government) issued a designation order for a completely new planned community to house approximately 60,000 people to the west of an existing Essex village called Harlow.
The order set out the town’s location, a target population and broadly determined what kind of town Harlow should be and how it should be developed. This was an ambitious task and described as ‘a leap into the unknown’
Although, prior to 1947 Harlow was not just unpopulated fields, before the end of the Ice Age Harlow (primarily the Temple Fields area) was being used as a religious centre and by A.D. 70 a small Romano-British temple had been erected within Temple Fields, hence it’s name).
The first written record of Harlow was in the Domesday book of 1086 which was commissioned in December 1085 by William the Conqueror to asses the extent of the land and the resources being owned in England at the time.
I Remember When...
If you live or work in Harlow the Museum of Harlow wants to hear from you. As part of the celebrations commemorating 60 years of Harlow New Town the museum is collecting short written ‘memories’ from the people who live and work in the town.
Click here for more information (pdf)
Official 60th Anniversary Events:
Mad Hatters Tea Party (24/03/07)
Teddy Bears' Picnic (06/06/07)
Harlow Diamond Charity Ball (29/06/07)