Loughton

Over 1300 acres of Epping Forest are in Loughton. The most prominent building in Loughton is Lopping Hall in the centre of the High Road, built in 1884. The story behind this building is famous in English rural law. In the 1860s a local family, the Willingales, resisted the enclosure of the Forest by the Lord of the Manor. Their action led to a stay of execution for the Forest. Eventually, the City of London fought a legal action to preserve the Forest and when they were appointed as Conservator of the Forest, the Lopping Rights were bought out and part of the compensation was used to build the Lopping Hall on Loughton High Road.

The parish of Loughton covers part of Epping Forest, in 1996 some parts of the south of the old parish were transferred to Buckhurst Hill parish, and other small portions to Chigwell and Theydon Bois. It is the most populous civil parish in the Epping Forest district, and within Essex it is the second most populous civil parish (after Canvey Island) and the second largest in the area.

The original station was opened by the Eastern Counties Railway on 22 August 1856 and formed the terminus of a branch from London. The original location was near Lopping Hall in Loughton High Road.

The pre-1865 station had sidings and a coal wharf, extending almost to what is now St Mary’s Church. The station was re-sited some 500 yards to the south on 24 April 1865 as part of the extension of the line to Epping and Ongar. A new station was opened on 28 April 1940 in readiness for London Underground trains, which took over the service from British Railways (Eastern Region) on 21 November 1948.





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