Loughton, Essex
Set in the heart of Epping Forest yet just 12 miles from the centre of London, Loughton has a secluded, self-contained quality, while also maintaining excellent transport links with the capital and surrounding countryside.
If you need more information about us, try our wikipedia entry as well and you will get an excellent introduction to our town.

Images of Loughton Gallery
A selection of images of people, scenes, events and places in and around Loughton, Essex.

Loughton Today
Loughton has a population of 30,340 (2001 census), and an electorate of 22,505 (Dec 2003).
The town is set in 3,750 acres in the south-west of the county of Essex, England, approximately 1,500 acres are forest, 600 acres are green-belt meadows and fields, and 1,600 acres the town, town open spaces, and private gardens.
Loughton is situated 12 miles north-east of London, to which it is connected by the London Transport Central Line railway and by the M11 motorway. It is bordered by Buckhurst Hill and Chingford to the south, Waltham Abbey to the west, and Theydon Bois and Chigwell to the north-east, and is part of Epping Forest district.
Loughton nowadays has 2 town centres, 3 secondary schools, 12 main places of worship and an industrial area to the east of the town. Main employers are the Bank of England Printing Works (where all English paper money is made), and Clinton Cards. Retailing is a major activity.
Loughton is a good base for visiting London (daily inclusive travelcards giving unlimited travel in London after 9.30 a.m. are available), Essex, East Anglia and the northern Home Counties (through excellent road connections). Good walking and horse-riding in adjacent Epping Forest are popular leisure activities.
To the south east of the town lies Roding Valley Meadows, the largest surviving area of traditionally managed river-valley habitat in Essex. It consists of wet and dry flower-rich unimproved hay meadows bounded by thick hedgerows, a small amount of scrub, secondary woodland and tree plantation. The reserve follows the River Roding for some 1.5 miles between Chigwell Lane and Roding Lane, Buckhurst Hill. The area is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust.
Loughton often features in the popular TV series The Only Way is Essex, a BAFTA award-winning semi-reality show. Two shops in the High Road are also directly connected with members of the cast.

Loughton History
Loughton is in the district of Epping Forest, a part of England where history runs deep. Within the present parish of Loughton are three villages mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 – Lukintune (Loughton), Tippendene (Debden) and Alrewarton (Alderton). Loughton grew because in 1615 a road was built northwards which became the main route from London to Newmarket and Cambridge. By 1730, this road was turnpiked, and inns, smithies and shops grew up to cater for travellers. In 1856, the railway arrived; it became possible to live among the woods and hills of Loughton and work each day in London.
Many famous people have been associated with or lived in Loughton; for instance, Ben Jonson, Lady Mary Wroth, Rudyard Kipling, writers Arthur Morrison, W.W. Jacobs, Hesba Stretton, Sarah Flower Adams, lexicographer Robert Hunter, sculptor Jacob Epstein and actor Alan Davies.
The urban areas of Loughton include three conservation areas on the forest edge to the west of the town. There are 58 listed buildings, many of Essex weatherboard. A ‘Walk Round Loughton’ is published by the Loughton & District Historical Society. The oldest buildings date from the 16th century; Loughton’s medieval church was demolished in 1844.
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.