Things to do in Harlow: 100 free sculptures, £6 garden

Harlow is the only town in the world that calls itself a Sculpture Town, a title it took in 2010 on the strength of more than a hundred public sculptures standing in its streets, estates and parks. Works by Henry Moore, Auguste Rodin, Barbara Hepworth and Elisabeth Frink are out in the open where anyone can walk up to them, free, all year.

That sets the tone for the rest of the town. Most of what there is to do in Harlow costs nothing, and the things that charge are cheap. Below is everything we could verify against the operator’s own website in August 2026, with the price and the opening days each one actually publishes.

Free, and open most days

Harlow Sculpture Trail

Free. Outdoors, always open.

Harlow Council’s own count is “over 100 public sculptures”, by Henry Moore, Ralph Brown, Elisabeth Frink, William Mitchell, Barbara Hepworth, Auguste Rodin and Nick Hornby. Harlow “became the world’s first ‘Sculpture Town’ in 2010”.

The pieces are spread across the town rather than gathered in one place, which is the point of them: the Development Corporation put art into the neighbourhoods on purpose. The map and the full catalogue are on sculpturetown.uk. Harlow Art Trust runs tours and talks and can be reached at gallery@harlowarttrust.org.uk.

Harlow Town Park and Pets’ Corner

Both free. Pets’ Corner open 11am to 4pm, seven days a week.

The Town Park covers “over 160 acres” and Harlow Council describes it as “one of the largest urban parks in the country”.

Inside it is Pets’ Corner, a small council-run farm at Town Park, Harlow, CM20 2QG. It is “free to enter, but welcomes donations in the box on site”, and opens every day from 11am to 4pm except Christmas Day and Boxing Day. As well as rabbits, chickens and ducks there are reindeer, llamas and alpacas, rare breed Tamworth and Oxford Sandy and Black pigs, and an aquarium with fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.

Pets’ Corner has no car park of its own. The nearest council car park is School Lane, a three-minute walk.

Harlow Museum and Walled Gardens

Free. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 9.30am to 3.30pm, last entry 3pm.

Muskham Road, CM20 2LF. Free car park with plenty of spaces, and accessible toilets with baby changing. The galleries cover the town from the Iron Age onwards, and the site has three historic gardens across two acres with somewhere to sit and eat a picnic.

Three opening days a week is the thing to watch. Turn up on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Sunday and it will be shut.

Parndon Wood Nature Reserve

Free. Thursday 4pm to 9pm, Friday 11am to 4pm, Saturday 10am to 4pm, Sunday 11am to 4pm. Closed Monday to Wednesday.

Parndon Wood Road, CM19 4SF. A Site of Special Scientific Interest, “recorded as a woodland for over 900 years”, with a canopy of oak over coppiced hornbeam. There are three observation hides and an accessible conservation centre. Harlow Council runs it and says it has held a Green Flag Award for the last 11 years.

The Thursday evening slot, 4pm to 9pm, is unusual and useful in summer: it is the best chance to be in the wood at dusk.

Worth paying for

The Gibberd Garden

Adults £6, concessions £5, children 5 to 16 £1, under 5s free, National Art Pass £3. Open Wednesdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays, 1 April to the end of October.

Marsh Lane, CM17 0NA. Nine acres of Grade II listed garden made by Sir Frederick Gibberd, the architect who master-planned Harlow itself, filled with sculptures and salvaged architectural fragments he collected over decades. The Barn serves tea, coffee, cake, scones and ice cream, and the place is run almost entirely by volunteers.

Entry to the Gibberd Rooms inside the house is a further £2. Check the opening days carefully: Wednesday, Sunday and bank holiday Monday only, and nothing at all between November and March.

Harlow Playhouse

Ticket prices vary by show. Box office 11am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday, 01279 431945.

Harlow’s main theatre, run by the council, with two performance spaces and a programme that runs from music and comedy to dance and circus. It also operates a Pay What You Can scheme, which is worth knowing about if price is the barrier.

A caution: the theatre’s website is harlowplayhouse.co.uk. Search results sometimes surface a similarly named domain that is no longer connected to the theatre and now hosts unrelated content. Book through harlowplayhouse.co.uk or call the box office.

Harlow Leisurezone

Membership and pay as you go, prices on the operator’s site.

Second Avenue. Run by Harlow and District Sports Trust, an independent registered charity, not a commercial chain and not the council. A 25 metre, eight-lane pool with a learner pool and seating for 300, a sports arena built to national club standard, a gym, three fitness studios, four squash courts, a spa, and for families the Urban Limitz trampoline park, Kidzz Kingdom soft play and the VertiGo climbing challenge. It was used as a training facility in the run-up to London 2012.

Parndon Mill

Free to visit the gallery. Classes and workshops priced individually.

A working hub of studios for artists, craftspeople, designers and architects, with a ground-floor gallery running a programme of fine art and craft exhibitions and work for sale. There is a project space for hire and a regular programme of classes.

Cinema

Harlow has two Cineworld cinemas, which is unusual for a town of 98,000.

• Cineworld Harlow Queensgate, Edinburgh Way, CM20 2DA. Cineworld says “free parking is available near the Cinema”, and there is no bus service to it.
• Cineworld Harlow Harvey Centre, Harvey Shopping Centre, CM20 1XR, in the town centre, about a mile from Harlow Town station. Parking is in the Harvey Centre car park and charges apply.

Queensgate is the one to drive to. Harvey Centre is the one to walk to.

What is on this month

Harlow Town Show returns over the August bank holiday weekend, for the first time in more than 40 years. Harlow Council is running it as a three-day event with family attractions and headline evening performances, and every ticket is free.

Evening tickets are reserved exclusively for Harlow residents and are verified against the name and address given at booking. More than 60,000 had been reserved by 3 August, and a second release opened at 6pm on Friday 7 August. Cllr Dan Swords, Leader of Harlow Council, called it “one of the biggest events our town has seen in decades”.

Tickets and the full schedule are at harlowtownshow.com. The August bank holiday falls on Monday 31 August 2026.

Planning a day out

A workable free Saturday: Harlow Museum and Walled Gardens in the morning, the Town Park and Pets’ Corner in the middle of the day, and Parndon Wood in the afternoon before it shuts at 4pm. That is four attractions, all free, all within the borough.

If you want the Gibberd Garden you need a Wednesday or a Sunday between April and October, and it pairs naturally with Old Harlow, which is on the same side of town.

Coming from London, Harlow Town station is 31 minutes from Liverpool Street and the Town Park is a walk from it. If you are driving, the council’s 14 car parks are grouped around the town centre, the Town Park, Old Harlow, Bush Fair, The Stow and Mark Hall.

Frequently asked questions

What is Harlow famous for?

Its sculpture. Harlow became the world’s first Sculpture Town in 2010 and has over 100 public sculptures, including works by Henry Moore, Rodin, Hepworth and Frink, standing free to view in its streets and parks. It is also one of Britain’s first post-war new towns, designated in 1947 and master-planned by Sir Frederick Gibberd.

Are there free things to do in Harlow?

Most of them. The sculpture trail, Harlow Town Park, Pets’ Corner, Harlow Museum and Walled Gardens and Parndon Wood Nature Reserve are all free.

How much is the Gibberd Garden?

£6 for adults, £5 concessions, £1 for children aged 5 to 16, free under 5, and £3 with a National Art Pass. It opens Wednesdays, Sundays and bank holiday Mondays from 1 April to the end of October.

When is Harlow Museum open?

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 9.30am to 3.30pm, with last entry at 3pm. Entry is free and there is a free car park.

Is Pets’ Corner free?

Yes. It is free to enter and takes donations in a box on site. It opens every day from 11am to 4pm except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Does Harlow have a cinema?

Two, both Cineworld. Queensgate on Edinburgh Way has free parking nearby; Harvey Centre is in the town centre with paid parking.

When is the Harlow Town Show?

Over the August bank holiday weekend, returning for the first time in more than 40 years. Tickets are free and evening tickets are restricted to Harlow residents. Details are at harlowtownshow.com.

Sources

• Harlow Council, Harlow Sculpture Trail for the sculpture count, the artists and the 2010 Sculpture Town designation, and sculpturetown.uk for the map.
• Harlow Council, parks and green spaces for the Town Park acreage, and Parndon Wood Nature Reserve for its opening hours, SSSI status and Green Flag record.
• Harlow Council, Pets’ Corner for the opening hours, free entry, animals and parking.
• Harlow Museum and Walled Gardens, your visit for the opening days, free entry, address and car park.
• The Gibberd Garden for the 2026 season dates and every ticket price.
• Harlow Playhouse for the programme, box office hours and Pay What You Can scheme.
• Harlow Leisurezone, about for the operator, the pool and the family facilities.
• Parndon Mill for the gallery, studios and classes.
• Cineworld Harlow Harvey Centre and Cineworld Harlow Queensgate for the addresses and parking.
• Harlow Council, second release of Harlow Town Show evening tickets, 3 August 2026, for the Town Show detail and the quote.

Every venue on this page was checked against its own website on 10 August 2026. Opening hours and prices change, so confirm before you set out, particularly for the attractions that open only two or three days a week.

More Harlow local information: house prices, trains to London, roadworks and travel and planning news.