Bed and breakfast availability
Harlow b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Harlow and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Harlow, Essex, like Basildon, was one of the eight new towns planned to orbit London and relieve the capital of some of its excess population and industry. However, unlike Basildon it was planned so that it should develop alongside, rather than round, the existing old town. It lies therefore to the west of the main road from London to Newport, Cambridge and Newmarket roads, and just to the south of the River Stort and the A4l4 road which links Hertford with Chelmsford.

The old town has the site of a Romano-Celtic temple and theatre, but now the principal building is the Church of St Mary the Virgin, with its central crossing tower, which was much restored towards the end of the 19^th century. The most interesting interior feature is the large number of brasses in the north transept (early 15^th- to 17^th-century). With the church on the east side of the main road are several good buildings: from the 18^th century - many around Mulberry Green; from the 17^th century - the Stafford almshouses; and from the 16^th century - The Gables and The Chantry.

The new town was conceived in 1947, with Sir Frederick Gibberd as the chief planner. The aim is a population of some 80,000. The Town Centre was the first to have a pedestrian precinct, and its size makes it the dominant feature of the surroundings. To the north is the market square, which, with its striped awnings, is reminiscent of that at Norwich. To the south is the main area of the civic buildings, all by Gibberd, and others including St Paul's, the College of Further Education, etc. A road to the north leads to the railway station, one of the outstanding examples of railway architecture in the country - clean and sharp to match the feel of modern travel. Apart from the residential developments close to the town centre, known as The High, there are three main population areas.

The north-east cluster was the first to be built and is grouped round The Stow. Like the other clusters there are, in addition to the residential buildings, shopping precincts, community centres, sports facilities, schools and places of worship. The south-east cluster centres round Bush Fair, and the most recent to be built, the south-west, is grouped round Staple Tye and shows an increase in density of population compared with the earlier groupings. All these areas feature many novel and attractive schemes, which attempt to make the town a coherent whole.

Nearby airports: Stansted Airport

Nearby towns: Bishop's Stortford, Chelmsford, Epping, Hoddesdon, Waltham Abbey, Ware, Writtle

Nearby villages: Bobbingworth, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Chipping Ongar, Enfield Lock, Epping, Epping Green, Great Amwell, Great Hallingbury, Great Parndon, Greensted, Hatfield Broad Oak, Hatfield Heath, High Ongar, Hoddesdon, Little Amwell, Little Munden, Matching, Middle Street, Much Hadham, Nazeing, North Weald, Potter Street, Roydon, Sacomb, Sawbridgeworth, Sheering, Stanford Rivers, Stanstead Abbots, Stapleford Tawney, Takeley, Theydon Bois, Thorley, Thundridge, Waltham Cross, Waltham Holy Cross, White Roding, Wormley

Have you decided to visit Harlow or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Harlow bed and breakfast (a Harlow B&B or Harlow b and b)
• a Harlow guesthouse
• a Harlow hotel (or motel)
• a Harlow self-catering establishment, or
• other Harlow accommodation