History of Loughton

History Of Loughton

Loughton is a town in the county of Essex in England. The first settlement can be traced back to 2,500 years ago, but the earliest records of the modern-day site of Loughton are from the Anglo-Saxon era of English history, when it was known as Lukintone. After the Norman conquest it became part of the estate of Waltham Abbey and is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Lochintuna. It was during the 17th century, however, when Loughton began to grow significantly as a coaching stop on the newly created main route to Cambridge and East Anglia. With good transport links and proximity to both London and also Epping Forest and the countryside, it became a popular location for aristocratic and wealthy Londoners to have a home.

Most of the great houses from the 17th and 18th centuries have disappeared, and much of the modern-day housing in Loughton was built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, with significant expansion of the town in the 1930s. A major factor in the town's continuing popularity was the advent of the railways in the 1850s and a direct line to central London, so that city-dwellers had easy access for day trips to Epping Forest (the line remains to this day as part of the Central line on the London Underground system). At the time, the Great Eastern Railway Company would not offer workmen's fares to and from Loughton, so development was of a middle-class character. Loughton was a fashionable place for artistic and scientific residents in Victorian and Edwardian times, and a number of prominent residents were also socialists, nonconformists, and social reformers. The north-eastern suburb of Debden is a post-war development intended to ease the chronic housing shortage in London in the 1940s. A large estate of prefabs was built along Oakwood Hill Road with occupation commencing in the summer of 1948.

Loughton today retains much of its semi-suburban character which has meant the town remains predominantly well-off and middle-class. It was given new national prominence when it was featured in the 2002 TV documentary show Essex Wives.