Epping was, from 1894 to 1955, a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

in the

administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until either 1973 (in Northern Ireland) or 2002 (in the Republic of Ireland). They are now abolished, although mos ...

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.Vision of Britain
– Epping RD
historic map
)

Formation and boundary changes

The district was formed by the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

as successor to the Epping

Rural Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

. The rural district was governed by a directly elected rural district council (RDC), which replaced the rural sanitary authority that had comprised the poor law

guardians Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Uni ...

for the area. The council's headquarters were in the town of

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 ...

. Over its existence, the rural district lost territory to new

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

s. In 1896 Epping became a separate urban district, although Epping RDC continued to be based in the town.

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 ...

and

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 Lond ...

were constituted urban districts in 1900 and 1933 respectively.

Abolition

Epping RD was finally abolished when the New Town of

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...

was constituted an urban district in 1955. The remainder of the rural district was merged with the neighbouring

Ongar Rural District Ongar Rural District was a local government district in Essex, England from 1894 to 1955.
– Ongar RD I ...

to form

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 ...

Parishes

When established in 1894, Epping RD consisted of sixteen

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

es. Over the next sixty-one years the number was reduced due to both loss of territory to urban districts and amalgamation of small parishes. On abolition there were twelve parishes:

References

{{coord, 51.72, 0.08, type:adm3rd_dim:20000_region:GB-ESS, display=title Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Political history of Essex Epping Forest District Harlow Rural districts of England