Harlow Ancient Parish
The recorded population of the medieval village (Old Harlow) was 50 souls in 1066 and 45 in 1086. In the modern Harlow conurbation it is some 85,000.
By 1875 medieval Harlow had grown around the market place of Mulberry Green, and a church, now no longer in existence. Harlowbury, the principal manor, lay to the north of Mulberry Green. The earliest surviving building in the parish is the 12th-century chapel at Harlowbury which was built for the Abbot of St Edmundsbury.
The Market place, High Street, Mulberry Green, Churchgate Street, and Potter Street have a number of old buildings of a more urban type.
The Green Man, Mulberry Green, opposite the Church of The Assumption dates from around the 16th century, and parts of it may be older. Its position as well as its age suggests that it was already an Inn before the first known reference to it, which was in 1741
The British oak on the island opposite the Green Man, beside the Church of the Assumption was planted in 1902 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII. The adjacent seat celebrates the silver jubilee of King George V in 1935; his initials are also on the postbox.
Old Harlow Catholic Mass Centre opened in 1894 and was located at Mark Hall, Latton, until around 1943, when it was re located to the nearby drill hall, in 1950 – 1951. The Gilbey’s, who were the Lords of Mark Hall Manor, provided a centre for Catholic worship in their private chapel.
In 1950 Mr. and Mrs. Newman Gilbey made available a plot of land at Mulberry Green for the building of the Church of the Assumption - the first Catholic building in Harlow since the Reformation. A plaque on the outside of the church records this very significant gift. It was served at first from Epping, but from 1954 had resident priests, from the Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception who remained in place until 2001 when Fr Michael Butler of the Diocese of Brentwood was appointed Parish Priest.
On the retirement of Fr Butler in late 2019, Fr John Corbyn was appointed Parish Priest.
The former Bishop of Brentwood, Thomas McMahon, lived with his parents in the area and was an Altar server in the Parish. He said his first Mass in the Convent near the corner of the High St and served Brentwood Diocese as Bishop from 1980 to 2014.
It was Lord Petre who donated the painting of the Nativity to the Assumption Church now behind the altar.
It is a picture which is obviously in the style of Peter Paul Rubens (1577 – 1640) but expert Art Historians conclude that it was pained by a copyist over 100 years later perhaps around 1780.
By 1875 medieval Harlow had grown around the market place of Mulberry Green, and a church, now no longer in existence. Harlowbury, the principal manor, lay to the north of Mulberry Green. The earliest surviving building in the parish is the 12th-century chapel at Harlowbury which was built for the Abbot of St Edmundsbury.
The Market place, High Street, Mulberry Green, Churchgate Street, and Potter Street have a number of old buildings of a more urban type.
The Green Man, Mulberry Green, opposite the Church of The Assumption dates from around the 16th century, and parts of it may be older. Its position as well as its age suggests that it was already an Inn before the first known reference to it, which was in 1741
The British oak on the island opposite the Green Man, beside the Church of the Assumption was planted in 1902 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII. The adjacent seat celebrates the silver jubilee of King George V in 1935; his initials are also on the postbox.
Old Harlow Catholic Mass Centre opened in 1894 and was located at Mark Hall, Latton, until around 1943, when it was re located to the nearby drill hall, in 1950 – 1951. The Gilbey’s, who were the Lords of Mark Hall Manor, provided a centre for Catholic worship in their private chapel.
In 1950 Mr. and Mrs. Newman Gilbey made available a plot of land at Mulberry Green for the building of the Church of the Assumption - the first Catholic building in Harlow since the Reformation. A plaque on the outside of the church records this very significant gift. It was served at first from Epping, but from 1954 had resident priests, from the Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception who remained in place until 2001 when Fr Michael Butler of the Diocese of Brentwood was appointed Parish Priest.
On the retirement of Fr Butler in late 2019, Fr John Corbyn was appointed Parish Priest.
The former Bishop of Brentwood, Thomas McMahon, lived with his parents in the area and was an Altar server in the Parish. He said his first Mass in the Convent near the corner of the High St and served Brentwood Diocese as Bishop from 1980 to 2014.
It was Lord Petre who donated the painting of the Nativity to the Assumption Church now behind the altar.
It is a picture which is obviously in the style of Peter Paul Rubens (1577 – 1640) but expert Art Historians conclude that it was pained by a copyist over 100 years later perhaps around 1780.
