ONGAR HUNDRED 



LOUGHTON 



192 1 was 5,749, little more than it had been in 191 1. 

 By that time, however, building had been resumed, 

 and between 191 8 and 1939 it went on steadily. 

 Among the new streets laid out and built up were 

 Priory Road, Brooklyn Avenue, Brook Road,Tycehurst 

 Hill and Spareleaze Hill, all to the east of St. Mary's 

 Church, Woodland Road and Habgood Road on the 

 other side of the main road, and Hillcrest Road (near 

 Newnham House). New houses were also built in The 

 Drive, Englands Lane, High Beech Road, Forest View 

 Road and in Connaught Hill, Connaught Avenue, 

 and Upper Park Road. Several blocks of flats — a 

 novelty in Loughton — were built at the south end of 

 High Road and in York Hill. Development also took 

 place to the east of the railway between Loughton and 

 Buckhurst Hill, in Roding Road, Valley Hill and 

 district. Debden Hall, at Debden Green, was de- 

 molished in 1929 and replaced by a modern house of red 

 brick.^^ Council houses were built in England's Lane, 

 Goldings Road, and Woodlands Road. 53 The most 

 important new public buildings were the Council 

 Offices in Old Station Road and the post-office in 

 High Road, a Roman Catholic Church in Traps Hill 

 and a Secondary Modern School in Roding Road. 

 The north end of High Road was transformed by the 

 building of new shops, including an impressive block 

 called Brooklyn Parade. In 1939-40 the railway 

 station was rebuilt. 5* The population in 193 1 was 

 7,390 and by 1939 had increased well beyond that 

 figure. 



Since 1945 the landscape of Loughton has been 

 transformed by the building of the Debden London 

 County Council estate, which occupies most of the 

 parish to the east of the old town. There are now 

 (1953) 4,321 dwellings on this estate. 55 The urban 

 district council has also provided over 1,000 houses 

 (including prefabricated bungalows and shops), many 

 of which are in the Loughton wards. Apart from the 

 Debden estate most of the new building has been in 

 the Roding Road area. Along Oakwood Hill to the 

 east of Roding Road are many prefabricated houses, 

 some of which have been built by the L.C.C. and some 

 by the local council. About 200 houses and flats are also 

 being built by the Chigwell council on the Hilly Fields 

 estate, in the England's Lane area.5* The population 

 of Loughton is now (1953) estimated at 29,974.57 

 Factories are being built on the Debden estate so that 

 it will be more than a dormitory suburb. A number 

 of schools and churches have been built and others are 

 projected. Loughton Hall, now in the middle of the 

 estate, is used as a community centre. The main 

 shopping centre, now almost completed, is in the 

 Broadway. 



Planning has preserved some of the rural landscape 

 at Debden. Both here and in the old town open spaces 

 and many fine trees survive from Loughton's village 

 days. Most of the houses built in the town during the 

 past 1 50 years are of red or yellow brick, some of which 



was probably made locally (see below. Industries, also 

 Chigwell). There are a few 19th-century weather- 

 boarded houses in High Road, Smarts Lane, and else- 

 where. In general the houses are well built. Even in 

 the poorer streets they look solid and in good repair. 



Until piped supplies were available water was often 

 scarce in Loughton, and pumps were valuable pro- 

 perty, separately assessed to the rates.5 8 Piped water 

 was first supplied by the East London (later the 

 Metropolitan) Water Board in 1866.59 p^rt of south 

 Loughton was sewered about i87i.'o These improve- 

 ments were overdue. Since 1848 there had been 

 several Nuisance Removal Committees which tried to 

 improve sanitation by the threat of legal proceedings 

 against householders. In 1865 it was decided that a 

 main sewer should be built for the Smarts Lane district 

 but the matter had later been shelved.*' A sewerage 

 scheme for north Loughton was carried out in 1890 

 by Epping Rural District Council, from plans by 

 Edmund Egan, at a cost of ^{^6,500.*^ The town was 

 supplied with gas from about 1873, by the Chigwell, 

 Loughton and Woodford Gas Co.*3 Electricity was 

 first supplied in 1926 under the Woodford and District 

 Electricity Special Order (1925).*'* 



Loughton became part of the Metropolitan Police 

 District in 1840.^5 There was a pohce station by 

 1845.** In 1882 there was an inspector in charge.*^ 

 In 1902 there were a station sergeant, three sergeants, 

 and eleven constables.*' 



During the Middle Ages Loughton was an isolated 

 parish dominated by the forest to the west. There were 

 no roads through the forest from Loughton, though no 

 doubt tracks existed. Until the 17th century the roads 

 to both Epping and Waltham Abbey led through 

 Theydon Bois. There was a road south to Buckhurst 

 Hill and one to Chigwell over Loughton Bridge. The 

 earliest reference to the bridge is in the 13th century.*' 

 In 1422 it was reported that the road near the bridge 

 had been flooded for a period of two years. 7° In the 

 early 17th century there were the usual disputes con- 

 cerning responsibility for repairing the bridge." By 

 the end of the century it had been accepted as a county 

 bridge and there are records of various sums spent on 

 its repair.'^ In 1780 it was decided to rebuild it at a 

 cost of £\j I .'3 In 1 809 it was destroyed by floods.^* 

 The bridge which replaced it was badly sited and lasted 

 only until 1824.75 The present bridge was built soon 

 after and tunnels were inserted under the causeway on 

 the Chigwell side to facilitate the passage of flood ■ 

 water.'* 



Early in the 17th century (probably between 161 1 

 and 1622) a road was constructed through the forest 

 from Loughton to Epping." This was of more than 

 local importance, for it provided a new and shorter 

 route through west Essex to Cambridge, Newmarket, 

 and East Anglia. It was the subject of Acts of Parlia- 

 ment from the reign of William and Mary onwards 

 and in 1768 came under the control of the Epping 



** See Manor. 



" Inf. from Planning Officer, Chigwell 

 U.D.C. 



" Inf. from Mr. William Addison. 



" Inf. from Chigwell U.D.C. 



56 Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



** Waller, Loughton^ t, 106, notes the 

 location of some springs and pumpe in 

 Loughton. 



" Inf. from Metrop. Water Bd. ; Kelly's 

 Dir. Essex (1898). 



00 Inf. from Chigwell U.D.C. 



" Waller, Loughton, i, 108. 



<"■ Kelly's Dir. Essex (1894.). 



S3 Inf. from North Thames Gas Bd.; 

 of. Chigwell, Loughton and Woodford 

 Gas Act, 1873, 36 Vict, c.21 (priv. act). 



6* Inf. from London Elcc. Bd. 



" Land. Gaz. 13 Oct. 1840, p. 2250. 



«» Kelly's Dir. Essex (18+5). 



<•■' Ibid. (1882). 



S' Ibid. (1902). 



»' P.N. Essex (E.P.N.S.), 67. 



'» C47/58/7/300. 



" E.R.O., e/CP 3, p. 37; Waller, 

 Loughton^ i, 70. 



" E.R.O., Q/CP 3, pp. 404, 597, 563, 

 697, 643. 



" E.R.O.,2/SO 13, pp. 144, 159. 



'♦ Ibid. 20, p. 374. 



'5 Ibid. 28, p. 547. 



" Ibid. p. 594. 



" Winstone, Epping and Ongar High- 

 way Trust, 9 1 . 



E8. IV 



113 



