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 Ceremonial counties of England, 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 Riv ...

, England. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area 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 railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth. Construction began in 1837 on the first nine miles at the ...

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 counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The ...

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 to

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 dra ...

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 ...

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 Lon ...

; there was no road connecting the two communities and in order to get to church, parishioners had to ford the River Roding 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 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 ease is deliberately bu ...

but Buckhurst Hill did not become a separate

ecclesiastical 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 ...

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 ...

in 1894. In 1933, it was merged with the Chigwell and Loughton Urban District to form the Chigwell Urban District. A further merger with Epping Urban District, Waltham Holy Cross Urban District and most of Epping and Ongar Rural District 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 c ...

, 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 (in London fare zone 5) 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 Woodford,

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-ea ...

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, ...

, Epping 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, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sout ...

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 s ...

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. Buckhurst Hill Football Club is a football club based in Buckhurst Hill, England. They are currently members of the and play at Roding Lane, Buckhurst Hill. History Buckhurst Hill were formed in 1985 by Richard Brand and Alfie Sacre in a bid to ...

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 (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, Labour politician, grew up in Buckhurst Hill * Daniel Mays, actor, grew up in Buckhurst Hill * Jack Straw, 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 ea ...

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