Facts about Loughton

History

The earliest structure in Loughton is Loughton Camp, an Iron Age earth fort in Epping Forest dating from around 500 BC. Hidden by dense undergrowth for centuries it was rediscovered in 1872. The first references to the site of modern-day Loughton date from the Anglo-Saxon period when it was known as Lukintune. The earliest written evidence of this settlement is in the charter of Edward the Confessor in 1062 which granted various estates, including Tippedene and Alwartune, to Harold Godwinson (later King Harold II) following his re-founding of Waltham Abbey.

The settlement remained a small village until the early 17th century when the high road was extended north through the forest. The road quickly became the main route from London to Cambridge and East Anglia, and Loughton grew into an important stop with coaching inns. The most significant of the great houses of this period, built as country retreats for wealthy City merchants and courtiers, was Loughton Hall, owned by Mary Tudor two months before she became Queen Mary of England in 1553, and later by the Wroth family from 1578 to 1738. Loughton’s growth since Domesday has largely been at the expense of the forest.

Politics

Loughton was an Urban District Council from 1900 to 1933, based at a newly-constructed Town Hall next to the Lopping Hall. It then became part of Chigwell Urban District until 1974, when Epping Forest District Council was created. Loughton Town Council was established in 1996. The Town Council consists of 22 councillors representing 7 wards, elected for a four-year term. The Town Council started off in temporary accommodation, but in 2000 moved to offices on the newly constructed Buckingham Court in Rectory Lane. In 2017, the council moved to the newly-redesignated Loughton Library and Town Hall in the town centre.