New Towns at 80: Symposium & Tour of Harlow
New Towns at 80: Symposium & Tour of Harlow
Day one: Thu 10 September 2026, 10am—8pm, Cowcross Street Gallery, EC1M 6EJ
Day two: Fri 11 September 2026, TBC, Harlow Town train station, CM20 2JD
Join C20 for a special two-day event in partnership with Historic England, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the 1946 New Towns Act and the launch of the late Elain Harwood’s final major publication New Towns Mark One: Architecture and Planning in Post-War Britain (2026).
Alistair Fair, who edited and completed the book, has assembled a line-up of leading historians who will explore the architecture and legacies of the post-war New Towns. The all-day symposium at Cowcross Street Gallery will end with a reception to mark the publication of the book.
The following day Otto Saumarez-Smith will lead a coach tour of Harlow, Essex - one of the country’s pioneering New Towns, masterplanned by Frederick Gibberd.
DAY ONE – conference at Cowcross Street (Anticipated programme)
10:00am Coffee, tea, biscuits and registration
10:30am Welcome/introduction (Dr Alistair Fair, University of Edinburgh)
10:50am ‘Mark one: Cwmbrân' (Susan Fielding, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales)
11:15am Stevenage town centre (Emily Cole, Historic England)
11:40am Hook and ‘mark two’ (Dr Otto Saumarez Smith, University of Warwick)
12:05pm The later new towns (Dr Alistair Fair, University of Edinburgh)
12:30pm Discussion
1:00pm Lunch (included)
2:00pm New town centres, 1960s-90s (Dr Ellie Brown, independent researcher)
2:25pm New town Art (Dr Andrew Demetrius, University of St Andrews)
2:50pm New town landscapes (Professor Luca Csepely-Knorr, University of Liverpool)
3:15pm Break
3:30pm Heritage (Simon Peart, Milton Keynes Council)
3:55pm Restoration: "A woolly-minded liberal"? "Restoring" a development corporation house in Irvine New Town (Joss Durnan, independent researcher)
4:20pm Discussion
5:00pm Break
6:00pm Book launch: Elain Harwood, edited by Alistair Fair, New Towns Mark One
DAY TWO – coach trip around Harlow
Exact schedule TBC. Some of the building’s we’ll visit:
St Paul's Church (Derrick Humphrys and Reginald Hurst, 1959), Grade II listed
Harlow Water Gardens (Frederick Gibberd, William Mitchell), Grade II listed
Church of Our Lady of Fatima (Gerard Goalen, 1960), Grade II* listed
The Lawn (Frederick Gibberd, 1951), Grade II listed
Bishopsfield Estate (Michael Neylan, 1966)
Gibbert Garden (Frederick Gibberd, Patricia Gibberd)
Included in the price: refreshments, lunch and evening drinks on day one; coach on day two.
Conference-only tickets are coming soon.
Please note there's a limited amount of the two-day tickets.
Young C20: £30*
Student: £45
C20 Members’ price: £65
Non-members’ price: £78
*For Young C20 members, please email lukas@c20society.org.uk to secure a place.
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The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider.
Twentieth Century Society is a registered charity, no 1110244
Image: Adams House, Harlow. Photo by Steven Baker, copyright Historic England.