A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



lord of the manor and his principal tenants contended 

 to the last that the inclosures of 185 1-7 1 were bene- 

 ficial to the parish by providing a larger rateable area 

 and more work for the poor, and they continued to 

 deny the existence of the lopping rights.^s In the end, 

 however, it was J. W. Maitland himself who per- 

 formed the official opening of the Lopping Hall in 

 I884.3'* Though he has sometimes been severely 

 criticized for his advocacy of inclosure he is in general 

 a figure who commands respect.^s He was a faithful 

 priest and zealous public servant, prominent on the 

 Epping Board of Guardians and the Rural District 

 Council and first Chairman of the Loughton Urban 

 District Council.3* As for old Thomas Willingale it 

 has been pointed out that he himself made illegal 

 inclosures within the manor; but his general character 

 appears to have been good. 3' 



Until the 19th century most of the inhabitants of 

 Loughton were engaged in agri- 

 jfGRICULTURE, culture or forestry. Waller has 

 TRADE, AND suggested that the amount of 

 IND USTRT forest land in the parish may not 



have altered greatly between 

 1086 and 1850.38 If the hide is taken as 120 acres the 

 eight estates in Loughton included 2,165 acres exclusive 

 of pannage for 970 pigs. 3' In 1 8 5 1 the parish contained 

 2,563 acres apart from forest, roads, and water.''*' If 

 the calculations from the Domesday figures are correct 

 only about 400 acres were taken from the forest be- 

 tween 1086 and 1850. Waller, however, doubted 

 whether so much as 2,000 acres could have been 

 cultivated by the small Domesday population. 



Since most of the land in the parish descended from 

 the nth century as a single manor, information con- 

 cerning the manor, its tenants, and land use has been 

 included in the section on the manor. Apart from the 

 forest most of the land in the parish, until built upon, 

 seems to have been used for pasture. This was certainly 

 the case in l6l2.'*' In 1850 it was estimated that there 

 were 831 acres of arable, 1,551 acres of pasture, 131 

 acres of woodland, and 1,309 acres of common forest 

 in the parish, exclusive of 45 acres of glebe most of 

 which was grass land.'*^ A directory of 1863 listed 14 

 farmers in the parish.''^ In 1933 the chief crops were 

 wheat, oats, peas, and roots, but the land was chiefly 

 in pasture.** Since the building of the Debden estate 

 very little agricultural land has remained but there are 

 still two farms. Hill Farm and North Farm, in the 

 extreme south of Loughton. 



Strip cultivation seems to have existed in the Buck- 

 hurst Hill area in the 13th century, but to have been 

 discontinued after the land in question was acquired 

 by Waltham Abbey .+5 



In 1066 and 1086 there was a mill at Loughton on 

 one of the manors held by Peter de Valognes.*' 

 Waltham Abbey had a mill in the parish in the 13 th 



century.-*' In 1336 the abbot was presented before the 

 forest court for erecting a windmill within the covert 

 of the forest in the vill of Loughton. This mill prob- 

 ably gave its name to Mill Hill, where the Warren 

 now stands. It had disappeared by I739.** The 

 medieval court rolls contain several references to the 

 mill and the mill-dam at Loughton Bridge.*' In 1270 

 some of the manorial tenants were fined for going to 

 a mill other than that of their lord. 5" In 1404 a fuller 

 was charged before the manor court with spoiling some 

 cloth given him to full in his mill.s' 



Before the 19th century those not engaged in agri- 

 culture followed the usual village trades or were 

 domestic servants, notably at Loughton Hall and 

 Goldings. The last class became more numerous after 

 about 1830, when some middle-class houses were 

 built. This was one of the main arguments urged in 

 defence of the inclosures from the forest. 'They have 

 built', said a witness before the Epping Forest Com- 

 missioners, 'large houses and greenhouses and so on. 

 It employs a great deal of labour . . . the labour was 

 I2s. a week in 1864 and now I do not think you can 

 engage a man under i8.f. or ^i.'^^ Domestic service 

 of all kinds continued to be an important occupation 

 in Loughton until the Second World War. 



Wealthy residents required a wide range of goods 

 and services. Many of these must have been obtained 

 from London, especially after the completion of the 

 railway. But in 1882 there was a much wider range 

 of occupations than in 1848.53 The shopping centre 

 of Loughton grew very slowly until after 191 8. North 

 Loughton was badly served until this time. Before 

 191 8 there were only three shops in High Road north 

 of Bincombe House (now Messrs. Parrott's).'* Between 

 1918 and 1939 the shopping centre was extended as 

 far as Traps Hill. The shops now stretch for J mile 

 along High Road and provide a good range of com- 

 modities. 



Industry in Loughton has been on a very small 

 scale in the past. Brick- and tile-making was carried 

 on at least from i486, when a tile-house was men- 

 tioned. 55 There was a tile-kiln in 1556; it may have 

 been the one at the foot of Albion Hill, whose history 

 has been traced from 1673 to 1851, and whose last- 

 recorded owner was Noah Heath.s^ Another kiln- 

 house was also mentioned in 1851.57 In the court roll 

 for 1 72 1 there is an order which suggests that there 

 were potters in Loughton. 58 



There has been much nursery gardening in the 

 parish since about 1862, when Messrs. William Paul 

 & Son of Waltham Cross established their Loughton 

 nursery, which grew to be one of the biggest in Essex. 59 



During the 20th century several small engineering 

 works have been set up. One of the most interesting of 

 these was the automobile assembly works of Leonard 

 Wilson in Forest Road.*" Wilson, the son of a Canadian 



" Essex Naturalist, xxi, 159. 



" W. Addison, Epping Forest, 222. 



35 Essex Naturalist, xxi, 166. For 

 tributes paid to him at his jubilee as rector 

 in 1906 see E.R.O., T/P 1 3 iii. 



3' E.R.O., T/P 13 iii. 



37 Essex Naturalist, xxi, 167. The papers 

 of Cmdr. J. W. Maitland, M.P., of 

 Harrington Hall, Spilsby, Lines., include 

 some material relating to the forest 

 question; this was not examined for the 

 present survey. There are also many 

 documents about the forest question in 

 the Public Record Office and the Guildhall, 

 London. 



38 Waller, Loughton, i, 7. 39 Ibid. 



«> E.R.O., D/CT 225. 



♦^ See Manor. 



"^ E.R.O., D/CT 225. 



*3 fV kite's Dir. Essex (1863). 



** Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933). 



45 E.R. Ivii, 96. 



4' F.C.H. Essex, i, 537. 



4' Waller, Loughton, i, 159. 



48 Ibid. 22; cf Chapman and Andr^, 

 Map of Essex, J777, sheet xvi. 



4« Waller, Loughton, i, 24, 26, 75. 



50 Ibid. 75. SI Ibid. 25. 



5^ Proc. of Epping Forest Com. {1873), i, 

 567. 



116 



53 Kelly's Dir. Essex {i%%z). Ci. White's 

 Dir. Essex (^%^%). 



54 Will Francies, 'Memories of High 

 Road', fVest Essex Gax, 20 Mar. 1953 ; inf, 

 from Mr. Francies. 



55 Waller, Loughton, ii, 72. 



56 Ibid, ii, 76, i, 146. Heath was a 

 bricklayer and builder : White's Dir. Essex 

 (:848). 



5' E.R.O., D/CT 225. 



58 E.R.O.,T/P 18. 



59 F.C.H. Essex, ii, 480, 482. For later 

 nurseries see e.g. Kelly's Dir. Essex (1933). 



60 Will Francies, 'My Loughton* (3), 

 West Essex Gax. 27 Feb. 1953. 



