The name Parndon is
Old English and means "hill growing with pear trees". Great Parndon and neighbouring
Little Parndon formed a single
vill called Parndon in
Saxon times. The vill was in fragmented ownership by the time of the
Norman Conquest. The
Domesday Book of 1086 records Parndon as "Perendua" within the
Harlow hundred of Essex. At that time, Parndon was recorded as being split between four different owners. No priest or church was recorded at Parndon in the Domesday Book, but the vill came to form two parishes. References to priests serving Parndon begin from the late 12th century, although it is unclear whether they served Great Parndon, Little Parndon or both. Great Parndon had certainly become a separate parish by 1254. Great Parndon and Little Parndon parishes each had detached parts within the area of the other, reflecting their ancient origins as a single territory. These detached parts persisted until 1883 when they were transferred to the parish they actually adjoined. Great Parndon's parish church, dedicated to St Mary, largely dates from the 15th century, although the south door appears to be a 13th century remnant of an earlier building. The parish had population of 41 in 1524–25. In 1622, there were 71 houses between the two parishes of Great and Little Parndon, with most names attributed to Great Parndon, given that
Little Parndon was small and sparsely populated. The population of Great Parndon rose slowly from 300 in 1801 to 534 in 1891, reaching 576 in 1921, falling to 504 in 1931, then rising to 684 in 1951, by which time the building of Harlow town had begun. It was part of the Epping
Poor Law Union and was within the Epping
rural sanitary district. In 1894 it became part of
Epping Rural District. In 1934 it gained a small part of the parish of
Eastwick, Hertfordshire. The civil parish of Great Parndon was abolished on 1 April 1955. It was mostly incorporated in the parish and new urban district of
Harlow, while small areas in the south-east and south-west were transferred to
Roydon,
Epping Upland, and
North-Weald Bassett. ==References==