River Stort - Harlow Mill

Thames Tributary River Stort
The Stort flows westwards and is joined by a tributary from the south (here called Harlowbury Brook)



Post to the south Old Harlow
Post to the north Pishiobury Park
Post to the east Gibberd Garden
Post to the west Harlow Temple

Cambridge Road
The road was built by the Hockerill Turnpike Trust and  ran from Harlow High Street to the mill running over an area called Mill Field and crossing the Stort over a new bridge to the west of the old one. It opened in 1831.
Harlow mill.  In the early Middle Ages this was the mill owned by the Abbot at the Harlowbury Manor. It remained with the manor until it was sold in the mid 19th to the Barnards, who had rented it since 1783. In the early 1930s it was converted into a country club but damaged by fire during the Second World War, and most of the machinery was removed. It was a restaurant in 1978.
Harlow Mill Restaurant on the site of the original Harlow Mill rebuilt in the 17th House painted brick front. Inside little evidence of construction or date. A motel is now associated with it.
Bridge over the Stort.  In the early middle ages the Abbots of St. Edmunds, in their role at the manor of Harlowbury, exacted a toll from carts crossing here.  It is not clear if this was a bridge or referred to a ford with a foot crossing on the mill race.  A bridge was built for the turnpike road northwards in 1757 and again for the new turnpike road from Harlow in the 1830s.
Harlow Mill Lock. The lock, which is near the road, stands on a loop of the Stort forming the Navigation  here. The original lock built in the 1760s was brick-sided since the mill was too close to build a turf-sided lock.
Lock House. A timber-framed lock house was provided but replaced by British Waterways in the 1960’s.   It is now a private house.
Sculpture "The Flowing River" by Antony Lycia has been installed on the east side of the lock since 2008. The words paraphrase the legend on the missing plaque from Latton Lock house

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Old Road
Old Road is the line of the old main road from Harlow northwards. The road has previously run from central Harlow via Mulberry Green and then on this road to Harlow Mill. It was known as Hoo Straate – the road from Harlow to Harlowbury.  “Hoo” is a place name found elsewhere in this area and appears to mean ‘high’.
Harlowbury, deserted medieval village. There are earthworks in the fields east of Old Road and a planted circle of tree cuts through them. A raised causeway that leads towards the chapel and then goes south. There are hollows and depressions and features which might suggest sites of buildings but there has also been some aggregate extraction.
Harlowbury. This was held from 1041 by the monks of St. Edmunds and became a typical medieval manor house and farm managed by bailiffs on behalf of the Abbey.  It was however leased out in 1431 which continued after the dissolution.    The estate had the mill, a dove cote, orchards, a vineyard and a nuttery.  From the mid-16th it passed through a number of aristocratic hands. In 1969 the estate, apart from the farm, were used as storage and offices by Webster, wine merchants of London and from 1981 used as a language school. It is now in the hands of developers
Harlowbury chapel.  This chapel dates from 1170- 80, and is a plain building of rubble with dressings of Reigate clunch and brick. It has some original windows and a door with decorative features. In the early 15th it was re- floored, re-roofed and used as a granary.
Harlowbury House. On the site of the original Saxon Harlowbury. The house is a 13th timber-framed Abbotts' Palace.  In the 19th the aisles were removed and it was clad in brick. Inside the original roof of the great hall remains
Barns – a series of 19th barns are now safe catering holiday accommodation,
206 behind the house is a malthouse – an 18th timber-framed, weather-boarded building with its conical kiln vent. Now a private house.
The White Horse.  The pub is recorded in 1755 but has been rebuilt since.
Station Approach
Harlow Mill Station. Opened 1842 as Harlow station on the Northern and Eastern Railway's line between London and Bishop's Stortford. It served the area now known as Old Harlow but following the construction of the new town it was renamed Harlow Mill in after the adjacent mill.
Roman remains found between the station and the Stort Coffins and skeletons found when the railway was built in 1841. This relates to other finds at the temple slightly to the west.

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