The Harcamlow Way is a waymarked walking route in England running in a figure-of-eight from Harlow to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

and back again, hence its portmanteau name. On the way it runs through

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, Hertfordshire and

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. The route is 141 miles long. The Harcamlow Way is one of the earliest of the waymarked walking trails in this part of the country. It was developed by Fred Matthews and Harry Bitten of the West Essex Ramblers' Association in the 1970s and began to appear on

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

maps. The walk is mainly on tracks and green lanes, taking in the wide tracts of countryside in eastern Hertfordshire, western Essex and southern Cambridgeshire, mostly within what is now known as

The Hundred Parishes The Hundred Parishes is an area of the East of England with no formal recognition or status, albeit that the concept has the blessing of county and district authorities. It encompasses around 450 square miles (1,100 square kilometres) of northwes ...

and dropping into many villages on the way, passing many places of historic interest.

The route

Northey Common, Harcamlow Way - geograph

Harcamlow Way Southwest of Kingston - geograph

The walk, starting clockwise, heads north out of Harlow and straight over the county border into Hertfordshire, heading for

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated popu ...

and thence to

Manuden Manuden is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is located around north of Bishop's Stortford, in the neighbouring county of Hertfordshire, and around south-west of Saffron Walden. The village has its own ...

and on to

Newport, Essex Newport is a large village in Essex near Saffron Walden. The village has a population of over 2,000, measured at 2,352 at the 2011 census. Located approximately 41 miles (66 kilometres) north of London, the village is situated amongst the ar ...

, which is the crossing-over point of the two loops. North of Newport, it goes north-east to

Audley End Audley End House is a largely early 17th-century country house outside Saffron Walden, Essex, England. It is a prodigy house, known as one of the finest Jacobean houses in England. Audley End is now one-third of its original size, but is sti ...

and through

Saffron Walden Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15, ...

town centre, then north-east to

Ashdon Ashdon, is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is about northeast of Saffron Walden and northwest from the county town of Chelmsford. The village is in the district of Uttlesford and the parliamentary constituency of Saffron Walde ...

and across into Cambridgeshire at

Bartlow Bartlow is a small village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about south-east of Cambridge and west of Haverhill in Suffolk. The River Granta runs through the village. History At Bartlow is ...

and on to

Horseheath Horseheath is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, situated a few miles south-east of Cambridge, between Linton and Haverhill, on the A1307 road. It was known to the Romans, and it had for a while a fine house in a great park, but both are now ...

. After following for a little way a

Roman Road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman R ...

north-westwards, it heads north to

Balsham Balsham is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Cambridgeshire, England, which has much expanded since the 1960s and is now one of several dormitory settlements of Cambridge. The village is south east of the centre of Cambridge ...

and then north-west along the

Fleam Dyke Fleam Dyke is a linear earthwork between Fulbourn and Balsham in Cambridgeshire, initiated at some timepoint between AD 330 and AD 510. It is three miles long and seven metres high from ditch to bank, and its ditch faces westwards, implying invad ...

Fulbourn Fulbourn is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, with evidence of settlement dating back to Neolithic times. The village was probably established under its current name by 1200. The waterfowl-frequented stream after which it was named lies i ...

and into the

Little Wilbraham Little Wilbraham is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, east of Cambridge between the A1303 and the A11. It is in the district of South Cambridgeshire. It is a small village with a population of only 394, increasing to 425 at the 2011 cen ...

Fen, and drops into

from the north, along the

River Cam The River Cam () is the main river flowing through Cambridge in eastern England. After leaving Cambridge, it flows north and east before joining the River Great Ouse to the south of Ely, at Pope's Corner. The total distance from Cambridge to ...

. The route then heads west out of Cambridge to Coton and beyond before going south again, through

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

and the

Wimpole Estate Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its of parkland and farmland are owned b ...

, parallel to

Ermine Street Ermine Street is a major Roman road in England that ran from London (''Londinium'') to Lincoln ('' Lindum Colonia'') and York (''Eboracum''). The Old English name was ''Earninga Strǣt'' (1012), named after a tribe called the ''Earningas ...

. It takes ancient Ashwell Street to

Melbourn Melbourn () is a large, clustered village in the far south-west of Cambridgeshire, England. Its traditional high street is bypassed by the A10, intersecting the settlement's other main axis exactly northwest of the traditional focal point of R ...

, then south across the

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, with ...

back into Essex. In Essex the southbound trail passes through

Chrishall Chrishall (pronounced ''Chris hall'') is a small village in the English county of Essex. It is located south of Cambridge and lies equidistant [] between the two medieval market towns of Saffron Walden and Royston, Hertfordshire, Royston. Altho ...

and Chrishall Common, past Essex's highest point, and Langley, Essex, Langley, to

Arkesden Arkesden is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The village is south-west from Saffron Walden, approximately from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, and north-west from the county town of Chelmsford. T ...

and back to Newport, where the loops cross. Deeper into Essex there is a tangle of footpaths and bridleways. The Harcamlow Way here runs to Debden and

Thaxted Thaxted is a town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of north-west Essex, England. The town is in the valley of the River Chelmer, not far from its source in the nearby village of Debden, and is 97 metres (318 feet) above sea level ...

, then south to

Takeley __NOTOC__ Takeley is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. History A number of theories have arisen over the origin of the village's name. One believes the village's name was a corruption from the "Teg-Ley" ...

and south-west to the county border with Hertfordshire on the

River Stort 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. The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's St ...

opposite

Sawbridgeworth Sawbridgeworth is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, close to the border with Essex. It is east of Hertford and north of Epping. It is the northernmost part of the Greater London Built-up Area. History Prior to the Norman ...

, which river it follows down back to Harlow. At least two published books describe the route in detail.

References

External links

* {{authority control Long-distance footpaths in England Footpaths in Cambridgeshire Footpaths in Essex Footpaths in Hertfordshire