St. Mary's Churchyard
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St. Mary's Churchyard

Little Parndon, Harlow District, Essex, England

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  • Get directions Parndon Mill Lane, Harlow, Essex
    Little Parndon, Harlow District, Essex CM20 2JB England
    Coordinates: 51.77927, 0.08408
  • Cemetery ID:

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Tucked away down a narrow lane and hemmed in by a new housing development (April 2020), the railway line and an industrial area sits the tranquil parish church of Little Parndon in the urban sprawl of Harlow. A church had been founded there in 1254, but the current church was rebuilt in 1868. It is close to Parndon Mill and the River Stort and is commonly bound together with it's larger neighbour Great Parndon, also swallowed up by Harlow New Town development in the late 1940s.

In 1741 Edward Parson a sugar planter from Montserrat left the West Indies with his wife and young daughter and sailed to England to make a grand estate in Little Parndon, Harlow. He came with his mother in law, Bridget Woodley and several slaves including James Lewis and Hester Woodley. The Church also contains the grave of Hester Woodley, with her memorial now inside the Church. Hester's memory still lives on in Harlow as the former rectory had become a retirement home and is named HESTER HOUSE.

There is a YouTube video memorial to Hester here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htplEYHtXMc

Also some further information here on Hester's story:
https://www.yourharlow.com/2016/11/02/the-last-slave-of-harlow/

You can find out more about the church here:
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol8/pp223-227
Tucked away down a narrow lane and hemmed in by a new housing development (April 2020), the railway line and an industrial area sits the tranquil parish church of Little Parndon in the urban sprawl of Harlow. A church had been founded there in 1254, but the current church was rebuilt in 1868. It is close to Parndon Mill and the River Stort and is commonly bound together with it's larger neighbour Great Parndon, also swallowed up by Harlow New Town development in the late 1940s.

In 1741 Edward Parson a sugar planter from Montserrat left the West Indies with his wife and young daughter and sailed to England to make a grand estate in Little Parndon, Harlow. He came with his mother in law, Bridget Woodley and several slaves including James Lewis and Hester Woodley. The Church also contains the grave of Hester Woodley, with her memorial now inside the Church. Hester's memory still lives on in Harlow as the former rectory had become a retirement home and is named HESTER HOUSE.

There is a YouTube video memorial to Hester here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htplEYHtXMc

Also some further information here on Hester's story:
https://www.yourharlow.com/2016/11/02/the-last-slave-of-harlow/

You can find out more about the church here:
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol8/pp223-227

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  • Added: 28 Apr 2020
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2705223