| Harlow Marsh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Local Nature Reserve |
| Location | Harlow, Essex |
| OS grid | TL453117 |
| Area | 13.8 hectares |
| Managed by | Harlow District Council |
Harlow Marsh is a 13.8 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Harlow in Essex. It is owned and managed by Harlow District Council. [1] [2]
Harlow is a former Mark One New Town and local government district in the west of Essex, England. Situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, it occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upper Stort Valley, which has been made navigable through other towns and features a canal section near its watermill. Old Harlow is a village-size suburb founded by the early medieval age and most of its high street buildings are early Victorian and residential, mostly protected by one of the Conservation Areas in the district. In Old Harlow is a field named Harlowbury, a de-settled monastic area which has the remains of a chapel, a scheduled ancient monument.
Essex is a county in the south-east of England, north-east of London. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and London to the south-west. The county town is Chelmsford, the only city in the county. For government statistical purposes Essex is placed in the East of England region.
The site is in three separate areas, Maymeads Marsh (or Honeymead Marsh), Marshgate Spring and Parndon Moat Marsh. [1] Maymeads Marsh has a reed-filled pond with a bird hide, and wildflower meadows with many insects. Over 100 species of bird have been recorded, including the rare little ringed plover and ring ouzel. [3] Parndon Moat Marsh has ponds, woodland, wildflower meadows, drainage ditches, sedge beds and a moat, which is a Scheduled Monument. [4] [5] Marshgate Spring has mature woodland with oak and hornbeam, and marshes with reed and sedge beds. [6]
The little ringed plover is a small plover. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in river valleys. The specific dubius is Latin for doubtful, since Sonnerat, writing in 1776, thought this bird might be just a variant of common ringed plover.
The ring ouzel is a European member of the thrush family, Turdidae. It is the mountain equivalent of the closely related common blackbird, and breeds in gullies, rocky areas or scree slopes.
Maymeads Marsh is between the River Stort and the railway line, east of Harlow Town railway station. There is access from a footpath along the southern side of the river. West of Maymeads Marsh, a footbridge over the railway line gives access to a path to Edinburgh Way, and the entrance to Marshgate Spring is on this path. The entrance to Parndon Moat Marsh is on the west side of Allende Avenue, between the river and the railway line.
The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon.
Harlow Town railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the town of Harlow in Essex, England. It is 22 miles 59 chains (36.6 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Roydon and Harlow Mill stations. Its three-letter station code is HWN.
