Harlow: Hester's Walk

Bus No 5 from Harlow Bus Station stops at the Princess Alexandra Hospital which is next to the Addison House Surgery.

Parking is available at the small, pay and display multi storey car park a a short way from Addison House Surgery on the other side of Hamstel Road.

[1] From the Addison House Surgery, go out onto Hamstel Road and turn left. Walk along the left pavement. Carefully cross the entrance to the hospital and continue. Soon you will see the entrance to Alexandra House Care Home on the left. Cross this carefully. Just beyond it you will see a turning on your right called Rectory Wood. There is a grass area with a seat at the junction and the entrance to a path just beyond the seat.

[2] Cross carefully over Hamstel Road and turn left into the path next to the seat. This is a cycle path, so keep to the pedestrian side and watch for cyclists. Follow it past a few houses and continue after the houses finish. There is now a children's playground on your right. This path is one of the old roads that were made into a path when the new town was built.

[3] After the children's playground, turn right into the green area and cross towards the red brick house opposite you. There is a seat in the trees on your left. This house was once the rectory for the church. It is now called Hester House after a slave from Montserrat in the 18th century.

If you have difficulty crossing the grass, continue on the cycle path to the junction with Hodings Road. Turn right onto Hodings Road and then right again, just before Hester House, onto a path to rejoin the route at waypoint [4]

[4] Turn right onto the path by the hedge to Hester House. With Hester House on your left, the children's play area on your right and the seat behind you, follow the path to the left, through trees to another open area. There is another seat on your left here, just before you come to a paving stone path. The next part of the walk is uphill, so you may like to take a rest here. Turn right onto the paved path by the houses and follow it through to a road called Rectory Wood.

[5] You are opposite number 73. There is no number on the house with a white door to your right. Turn left and follow the left pavement past number 52. This road goes up hill, so take your time.

[6] When you have passed a turning on your right, cross the road carefully. This avoids the steps to a higher footpath past the houses ahead of you. Keep following the road a short way until you come to the junction with Hamstel Road.

[7] Cross over Hamstel Road carefully and follow the right hand pavement back to The Addison House Surgery. Take care crossing the entrance to the hospital car park.

A.  In 1741 Edward Parson and his wife Mary Woodley left Montserrat, where they had a sugar plantation and moved to Little Parndon. They brought with them several slaves. One of these was Hester their Housekeeper. When Hester died in 1767 she was buried in a marked grave by the porch of St Mary’s Church at Parndon Mill. The memorial had to be moved inside the church in the 1980’s to prevent further damage.

Her tombstone reads “Here lieth the body of Hester Woodley who died the 13th of may 1767 aged 62. This Stone was erected by John Woodley Esq of cork street London as a grateful remembrance of her faithfully discharging her duty with the utmost attention and integrity in the service of his late mother Mrs Bridget Woodley to whom she belonged during her life and after her death to her daughter Mrs Mary Woodley by virtue of a reciprocal agreement between the said Mrs Bridget Woodley and her son john Woodley whose property she would otherwise have been at her decease.”

Despite being highly regarded, Hester remained a slave to her death. She was the property of her owner to be disposed of in a will.

When the previous Rectory was pulled down in 1881, it was replaced by the red brick building that is now Hester House.