ONGAR HUNDRED 



LOUGHTON 



mining engineer, bought a butcher's business in 

 Smart's Lane about 1898. In 1906 he opened the 

 motor works and accepted the sole Essex agency for 

 Panhard and Levasseur cars. Only the chassis of these 

 cars came over from France. The processes necessary 

 for completing them, including the making of the 

 bodies, were carried out at the Forest Road works. 

 During the First World War the Wilson works pro- 

 duced munitions. Afterwards, in the 1920's, Wilson 

 had an agency for another French car, the Citroen. 



When completed the Debden estate will have 

 several large factories, including one for making bank- 

 notes for the Bank of England.*' 



Balthasar de Guercis, an Italian surgeon to Queen 

 Katherine of Aragon, became a 

 WORTHIES AND tenant of the manor in 1538.^2 

 SOCIJL LIFE Early in the 17th century, 



when Sir Robert Wroth and 

 Mary his wife lived at Loughton Hall, they were 

 visited by Ben Jonson and other poets. James I was 

 entertained at the hall in 1605 and the Prince of Wales 

 in 1606 (see below, Manor). Sarah Adams (1805-48) 

 author of 'Nearer my God to Thee' lived at Woodbury 

 Hill.63 Walter Kerr Hamilton (1808-69), Bishop of 

 Salisbury, was the son of a Rector of Loughton and 

 spent his early childhood there.*'* Sarah Catherine 

 Martin (1768-1826) reputed author of 'Old Mother 

 Hubbard', in its metrical form,*' is buried in the old 

 parish churchyard. She was the sister of Admiral Sir 

 Thomas B. Martin (1773-1854). When she was 17 

 Prince William (later King William IV) fell in love 

 with her. She and her parents handled the affair very 

 discreetly.** The Martins were connected with 

 Loughton through relatives, the Powells, who lived 

 there.*' Sir George Carroll (d. i860) Lord Mayor of 

 London 1846—7 and Contractor for State Lotteries, 

 was owner of Uplands, and lived there. *8 W. W. 

 Jacobs ( 1 863-1 943), the author, lived for many years 

 at the Outlook, Upper Park Road. Soon after 1910 he 

 moved to Feltham House, Goldings Hill.*' Rudyard 

 Kipling (i 865-1936) stayed when a boy at Goldings 

 Hill Farm, opposite Goldings Hill Pond.'" Sir Jacob 

 Epstein lived at Baldwin Hill for some years after 

 1920. While there he carved his 'Rima' and 'Visita- 

 tion'." 



During the late 19th and early 20th cer»tury 

 Loughton was strongly represented in the Essex Field 

 Club and the Essex Archxological Society, and it pro- 

 duced three local antiquaries of ability: H. W. Lewer 

 (1859-1949), I. Chalkley Gould (1845-1908), and 

 W. C. Waller, the historian of Loughton.'^ Millican 

 Dalton (d. 1947), pioneer camper and mountaineer, 

 lived for a time at Baldwins Hill.'' 



In the late 19th century there was a fairly sharp 

 division in Loughton between Anglicans and the non- 

 conformists, which coincided roughly with the political 

 division between Conservatives and Liberals. It gave 

 rise to controversy over the establishment of a school 

 board''' and was shown in the duplication of some local 

 societies. In 1892 the president of the Loughton 



" Inf. from Mr. Wm. Addison; fVesl 

 Eaex Gaz. i8 Feb. 1955. 



*"■ Waller, Loughton, i, 39, 40. 



«3 Ibid, i, 136. 



«« D.N.B. 



*5 For her claims to the authorship see 

 I. and P. Opie, Oxford Dictionary of 

 Nunery Rhymes, 320—1. 



" Letters of Sir H. Byam Martin (Navy 

 Rcc. Soc), i, 21. 



Liberal and Radical Association was Julius Rohrweger, 

 owner of Uplands, and one of the vice-presidents was 

 Edward Pope, a prominent local Methodist.'s The 

 rector, J. W. Maitland, was a councillor of the 

 Primrose League. Edward Pope was secretary of the 

 Temperance League; the rector was president of 

 the Church of England Temperance League. Julius 

 Rohrweger was president of the Loughton Cricket 

 Club; the Loughton Park Cricket Club had as its 

 president Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson, Bt., Conservative 

 M.P. for West Essex. There were also the Epping 

 Forest Military Band (president the rector) and the 

 Excelsior Brass Band (president H. H. Francis).'* 

 There were other clubs, for football, lawn tennis, and 

 a number of charitable or provident purposes. 



By 1900 Loughton was quite well provided with 

 facilities for social intercourse and recreation. There 

 were two parish churches and three nonconformist 

 churches. The local Volunteers had a drill hall, and 

 the Lopping Hall provided a valuable centre for all 

 kinds of social activities. As already described," the 

 Lopping Hall had been erected out of ^^7,000 paid by 

 the City of London for the extinction of lopping rights 

 in Epping Forest. Out of that sum ^^1,030 was set 

 aside as compensation to householders. The remainder 

 formed the capital of the Lopping Hall Endowment 

 Trust.'* Land was bought at the corner of High 

 Road and Station Road and the hall was built and 

 furnished at a cost of ^3,236. The official opening 

 took place in 1884. The hall contained reading and 

 lecture rooms and accommodation for parish meetings. 

 In 1902 it was enlarged at a cost of ^^i, 3 30 by a new 

 wing of which the upper floor was let to the newly 

 formed urban district council for a council chamber and 

 offices and the lower floor to the Midland Bank Ltd. 

 In 1933 proposals to improve the hall and stage ac- 

 commodation at the expense of the reading-room pro- 

 voked a public inquiry. It was decided that although 

 the provision of books and a reading-room was one of 

 the original objects of the endowment more people 

 made use of the lecture and concert halls. A reading- 

 room was retained, but it was smaller and contained 

 only newspapers. In 1936 the library was sold. In 

 1937 further alterations to the hall were made at the 

 cost of the Midland Bank. In 1951 the endowment 

 consisted of over ^^2,400 stock in addition to the pre- 

 mises. The income was mainly used on general 

 maintenance and improvement, wages and newspapers. 

 There are six trustees, elected by ratepayers. 



Two bequests have supplemented the original 

 endowment of the Lopping Hall. In 1905 William 

 F. Turner left j^ioo to be invested for the purchase 

 of books." When the library was closed this was 

 diverted to the purchase of newspapers. In 19 1 2 

 Henry Lincoln left ^200 to be spent for the general 

 purposes of the hall.*" The hall remains a valuable 

 social centre. It is a red-brick building with a tower, 

 designed by Edmund Egan. 



Opposite the Lopping Hall in Station Road is the 

 Men's Club, built in 1901 by the Revd. W. Dawson 



" E.R. XXV, 117, 171. 



68 ^.^.r. N.S. Xiv, 285. 



M E.R. lii, 205. 



'"> Addison, Epping Forest, 226. 

 " Ibid. 227. 



'2 For Lewer see E.R. Iviii, 163; for 

 Gould see i'.i?. xvii, 3 1 . 

 ■" E.R. Ivii, 55-56. 

 '< See Schools, below. 

 '5 Davis* Epping, Loughton and Ongar 



Almanack, 1892, 20-23; ''"'^ almanack 

 gives details of all local societies and clubs. 



" Francis's religious and political affilia- 

 tions have not been traced. 



77 See Preservation of Epping Forest, 

 above. 



'8 For the Lopping Hall Endowment 

 Bce Char. Com. Files. 



" Char. Com. Files. 



80 Ibid. 



117 



