Fascinating Harlow Facts: Historical Firsts, General Election, Titanic, and a World Champion
Although classified as a new town, Harlow in Essex still has some fascinating facts associated with it. Here are a few that you might find interesting…
- A Roman fort or settlement was based here during the 3rd century. During excavations in the 1970s, a Roman temple and mosaic floor were discovered atop an earlier Iron Age temple.
- Harlow city center is notable for being the location of Britain’s first pedestrian zone.
- The Lawn, built in 1951, was also the first residential tower in Britain and is now a Grade 2 listed building.
- In 1955, Britain’s first purpose-built health center, Nuffield House, opened in Stow, Harlow. Harlow Town Park is one of the largest urban parks in the country.
- As it sank, the Titanic’s orchestra played ‘Nearer My God to Thee’. This was written by Harlow poet Sarah Flower Adams.
- Shaun Murphy was born on August 10, 1982 in Harlow. He won the World Snooker Championship in 2005. His father bought him a cue from a flea market when he was 8, and two years later he made his first break of the century. In 1995, at the age of 13, he gave an interview to the BBC expressing his ambitions to be world champion, a dream that came true only ten years later.
- The Harlow constituency, which includes Hastingwood, Nazeing, Roydon & Sheering, was the third most marginal seat in the country during the last general election in 2005. Incumbent Labor MP Bill Rammell edged out Conservative candidate Robert Halfon by just 97 votes after three counts. All eyes will be on Harlow’s key marital seat during the upcoming election.
If you have any other exciting facts about the city of Harlow, please let us know and we’ll add them to the article and to our website.
