History of Loughton - Anglo-Saxon Era

Anglo-Saxon Era

In the 5th century, there was some continuation of Roman-style rule for a time, but Anglo-Saxon invaders quickly carved out new territories. One of these was the Kingdom of Essex. In the Loughton area, it is likely that rural life carried on much as it had always done, although the forest may have expanded as the population declined through war and plague. It was in this Saxon period that modern Loughton first began; known as Lukintune, the place-name is Anglo-Saxon, and means ‘the farm of Luhha'. Settlement was widely scattered; Lukintune was in the area of the later Loughton Hall, and two other hamlets were around Alderton Hall (Aelwartone - ‘the farm of Aethelwaru’), and Debden House (Tippedene - ‘the valley of Tippa’)

In 1062 Harold Godwinson (later King Harold II), re-founded Waltham Abbey and Edward the Confessor granted various estates to the Abbey, which included Tippedene (Debden) and Alwartune (Alderton Hall, in Loughton). Edward the Confessor's charter of 1062 is the first written evidence of the settlement (Lukinton). The bounds of these estates are given in the charter, but have never been analysed to assess their actual geographical extent. Tippedene means 'the valley of Tippa', but by the 13th century, the original meaning had been forgotten and the estate was by then known as Dupedene, 'deep valley'.

The boundaries of the Tippedene estate survive in an Anglo-Saxon charter. One landscape feature mentioned in the charter is saeteres burh - robbers' camp - and this may have been the Anglo-Saxon name for Loughton Camp.