Since it is located in the county of Essex, Harlow is nothing if not a busy, bustling town that is filled to the brim with exciting sights and sounds nearly every hour of the day. Harlow is also growing very quickly and continues to expand with each passing year. Ever since the 1970s (known as the mini-expansion of Harlow), Harlow has been spreading out its size and influence in a very rapid and thrilling way. The Harlow Gateway Scheme, a popular news item, is the name for the most recent plan for Harlow to grow further. It includes a new football stadium, several hotels, and quite a few apartment complexes and restaurants. Though it is no doubt pleasurable to see such a beloved town grow in order to accommodate its ever-increasing fan base, there are still groups of people out there who lament Harlow's growth and consider the town an imposter of sorts due to the fact that it was largely developed after World War II in order to accommodate crowding and discontent in Post War England. This assumption is partly based on fallacy, though. The truth of the matter is that Harlow is in fact a very old and very distinguished town and has been for quite some time.
As far back as the fourth century Harlow was an important location, albeit one for the Roman Empire. Remains of forts have been uncovered in the soil of the town and archeologists have even found a Roman temple in the ruins. Harlow is also mentioned in the Domesday Book and even the most conservative of British History stalwarts will concede that a mention in this book from the eleventh century is certainly indicative of a decidedly English town. In those days and throughout the Middle Ages Harlow was a small, almost rural town but it was still a town and many buildings and homes from that era can still be seen in the old part of Harlow. Thus, many of Harlow's biggest detractors have clearly never even been in the town and seen its adherence to its long and storied past.
The discrepancy about Harlow's roots arises because the "New Town" part of Harlow was built by several development companies to ease the overcrowding in London after the War. Thus, much of New Town resembles the design that was popular in the 1950s and Harlow is even home to the first pedestrian precinct ever created in Britain. One can find this historic precinct right in the town centre of Harlow to this day. The first residential tower block was also built in Harlow and is known as "The Lawn". It is a Grade II listed building and is also one of the most popular spots to visit when in Harlow. Clearly, this is a town that has nothing but the highest regards for its history and if it must grow to further accommodate its growing population then so be it. Many other towns with far less respect for their histories expand far more brazenly every day.
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