Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

district of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. It is part of the

Greater London Urban Area The Greater London Built-up Area, or Greater London Urban Area, is a conurbation in south-east England that constitutes the continuous urban sprawl of London, and includes surrounding adjacent urban towns as defined by the Office for National Sta ...

and adjacent to the northern boundary of the

London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough established in 1965. The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest to the west, the ...

. The area developed following the opening of a railway line in 1856, originally part of the

Eastern Counties Railway The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English Rail transport, railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Great Yarmouth, Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on t ...

and now on the Central line of the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

History

The first mention of Buckhurst Hill is in 1135, when reference was made to "''La Bocherste''", becoming in later years ''"Bucket Hill"'', originally meaning a hill covered with beech trees. It lay in

and consisted of only a few scattered houses along the ancient road from

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada * Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall * Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greate ...

Loughton Loughton () is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. Part of the metropolitan and urban area of London, the town borders Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, and is northeast of Chari ...

. Before the building of the railways, Buckhurst Hill was on the

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

route between London and Cambridge, Norwich, Bury St Edmunds and Dunmow. Originally it was a part of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the London U ...

; there was no road connecting the two communities and in order to get to church, parishioners had to ford the

River Roding The River Roding () rises at Molehill Green, Essex, England, then flows south through Essex and London and forms Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames. Course The river leaves Molehill Green and passes through or near a group of eight o ...

at Woodford. The Parish Church of St John was built in 1838 as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

but Buckhurst Hill did not become a separate

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish priest ...

until 1867. St John's National School was also built in 1838. The lord of the manor gave a site next to the church; the building cost £209, most of which was donated by the church congregation. The opening of Buckhurst Hill station in 1856 saw a rapid expansion in the population of the area; nearly six hundred new houses had been built near the station by 1871, leading to the opening of the Prince's Road school in 1872. Some of the land for this expansion was enclosed from Epping Forest, before this practice was halted by the Epping Forest Act, 1878. The civil parish of Buckhurst Hill became

Buckhurst Hill Urban District Buckhurst Hill was a local government district in south west Essex, England from 1894 to 1933. It contained the town and Civil Parish of Buckhurst Hill and was bordered by Loughton Urban District, Chingford Urban District Chingford is a town i ...

in 1894. In 1933, it was merged with the Chigwell and

Loughton Urban District Loughton was a local government district in south west Essex, England. It contained the town and Civil Parish of Loughton and was bordered by Buckhurst Hill Urban District, Chingford Urban District, Epping Rural District and Waltham Holy Cross Ur ...

to form the

Chigwell Urban District Chigwell was a local government district in south west Essex, England.Vision of Britain Chigwell UDhistoric map ) It contained the settlements of Chigwell, Loughton and Buckhurst Hill; and formed part of the Metropolitan Police District. Formation ...

. A further merger with

Epping Urban District Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

Waltham Holy Cross Urban District Waltham Holy Cross was an urban district in the county of Essex, England, which was abolished and amalgamated with other local government districts in 1974 to form the Epping Forest District. The district consisted of the area of the ancient pa ...

and most of

Epping and Ongar Rural District Epping and Ongar Rural District was a rural district in the county of Essex, England from 1955 to 1974.http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10074174 Creation It was created in 1955 by the merger of the disbanded Ongar Rural Distri ...

in 1974 brought Buckhurst Hill into

Epping Forest District Epping Forest is a local government district in Essex, England. Situated in the west of the county, bordering northeastern Greater London, it is named after, and contains a large part of, Epping Forest. The district, though wholly within the cou ...

, and in 1996, Buckhurst Hill Parish Council was established as a first tier of local government.

Geography

It is at the western edge of Essex, 10.7 miles (17.2 km) northeast of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

and bordering the

. Parts of

in Buckhurst Hill are intermingled with residential areas.

Transport

Buckhurst Hill is served by two

stations:

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest District, Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area de ...

(in

London fare zone 5 Fare zone 5 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. The ...

) and Roding Valley (in

London fare zone 4 Fare zone 4 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare system used for calculating the price of tickets for travel on the London Underground, London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and, since 2007, on National Rail services. It ...

), which are on the Central Line. The line directly links the area to central London, as well as local areas including

South Woodford South Woodford is an area of east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow to the west, Snaresbrook and Wanstead to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is north-east of ...

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

and

. Also, from nearby Chingford station, services can be used to reach

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

via

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

and Hackney. Bus service 397 can be used to reach Chingford station. Most bus routes serving Buckhurst Hill are

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

services (despite it being outside the London Buses zone).

Sport

Buckhurst Hill Cricket Club pavilion, Essex, England 2

Loughton Rugby Union Football Club has its clubhouse and pitches on Hornbeam Rd at the south of the town. Buckhurst Hill F.C. is on Roding Lane at the east of the town. Buckhurst Hill Cricket Club plays in the

Shepherd Neame Shepherd Neame is an English independent brewery which has been based in the market town of Faversham, Kent, for over 300 years. While 1698 is the brewery's official established date, town records show that commercial brewing has occurred on the ...

Essex League, and fields four Saturday XIs, two Sunday XIs, and teams in a junior section. The club plays at two cricket fields: one off Roding Lane at the east of the town; and one at the edge of Powell's Forest (part of

), off High Road at the north of the town.

Education

Primary schools in Buckhurst Hill include Buckhurst Hill Community Primary School,(BHCPS),St John's, a CofE, (Church of England) school and Whitebridge Primary School. Braeside School is an independent school, as well as Daiglen School, two primary and secondary schools.

Notable people

Sir William Addison Sir William Wilkinson Addison (4 April 1905 – 1 November 1992) was an English historian, writer and jurist. He is significant for his research and books on Essex and East Anglian subjects. Biography William Addison was born in 1905 at Mit ...

(1905–1992) – historian and author, lived at Buckhurst Hill and owned a bookshop in LoughtonKneale, Kenneth (1992); ''Essex Heritage'', Leopards Head Press, pp.3-14. Morris, Richard; "Sir William Addison (1905-1992) – a retrospective" in
Loughton and District Historical Society: Newsletter 165
', March/April 2005, pp.3-5 *

Richard Crossman Richard Howard Stafford Crossman (15 December 1907 – 5 April 1974) was a British Labour Party politician. A university classics lecturer by profession, he was elected a Member of Parliament in 1945 and became a significant figure among the ...

, Labour politician, grew up in Buckhurst Hill *

Daniel Mays Daniel Mays (born 31 March 1978) is an English actor. Early life Born in Epping, Essex, the third of four boys, Mays was brought up in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, by his electrician father and bank cashier mother. He attended the Italia Conti Acad ...

, actor, grew up in Buckhurst Hill *

Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...

, Labour politician, was born in Buckhurst Hill *

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ear ...

moved to Buckhurst Hill in 1725.

References

External links

Population figures

Buckhurst Hill Cricket Club
* {{authority control Populated places in Essex Epping Forest District Civil parishes in Essex