Our friend Joyce Jones, who has died aged 85, made a significant contribution to the life of Harlow, Essex, both in her professional capacity as an architect, and as an active member of the community.
She and her husband worked for the Harlow Development Corporation from the 1950s onwards. There Joyce worked as an architect/planner with Dame Sylvia Crowe, the consultant landscape architect who was responsible, together with the master planner Sir Frederick Gibberd, for the unique features of Harlow New Town's layout.
After retirement, she increased her voluntary work in the community. She was architect for the renovation and preservation scheme for Harlow's oldest building, Harlowbury chapel, dating from 1180, recording this work in the pamphlet We Saved An Ancient Monument. She also produced a beautifully illustrated history of the building and subsequently researched the history of the Harlowbury manor house, published as Landlords and Tenants.
In 1992 her book Seedtime and Harvest portrayed the work of the farmer William Barnard of Harlowbury. Other works published locally included Passmores – The Story of a House, The Secret History of Harlow's Roman Temple, and The House That Wasn't There, the story of High House, the family home since 1959.
Joyce was born in Pendlebury, Lancashire, and after obtaining her school certificate at Pendleton high school for girls, she enrolled for a five-year architecture course at Manchester University. This was interrupted by her time in the Auxiliary Territorial Service as a wireless operator during the second world war, monitoring and transcribing enemy messages for decoding at Bletchley Park.
After demobilisation, Joyce returned to Manchester and gained a first-class degree in architecture, receiving the Haywood silver medal for the best final-year student. She worked for Buckingham county council, where she met her future husband Eric, a member of the same team of architects, and also completed her MA. Joyce then moved on to Cambridgeshire county council, leaving in 1953 to marry Eric and settle in Harlow.
Her knowledge, skills, support, advice and friendship will be missed by many. Also missed will be her lunches which, although she was modest about her cooking skills (as, indeed, she was in general), included delicious soups.
Joyce is survived by Eric; her son, Lewis, and daughter, Sarah; and her granddaughters, Lucy and Sophie.