Debden is a suburb in the civil parish of

Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...

, 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 Lond ...

district of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. It takes its name from the ancient manor of Debden, which lay at its northern end. The area is predominantly residential, but is also the location of Epping Forest College, East 15 Acting School and the

De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that produces secure digital and physical protections for goods, trade, and identities in 140 countries. It sells to governments, central banks, and businesses. Its ...

printing works. It is one of a limited number of places outside

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

to be served by the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

History

The name (''Deppendana'' in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086) is derived from the Old English ''dep'', 'deep' and ''den'', 'valley'. Debden originated as a manor of in the Ongar hundred of Essex. The manor became the property of Waltham Abbey in 1086. By about 1254 the manor of Loughton had absorbed Debden. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540 the manor passed to the king and later to private owners. In 1944 John Maitland sold of land to the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

for the building of a housing estate. The Debden Estate was constructed between 1947 and 1952. Because of post-war restrictions on building, a supermarket could not be opened until 1952. Debden station on the London Underground is a renaming (1949) of the Chigwell Lane railway station, which was originally opened on the

Great Eastern Railway The Great Eastern Railway (GER) was a pre-grouping British railway company, whose main line linked London Liverpool Street to Norwich and which had other lines through East Anglia. The company was grouped into the London and North Eastern R ...

in 1865.

Economy

There is considerable light industry, including the

print works, which prints

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

banknotes. In 2005, Higgins Group PLC moved its headquarters to Debden, and, in 2008,

Amstrad Amstrad plc was a British consumer electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. During the 1980s, the company was known for its Home computer, home computers beginning with the Amstrad CPC and later also the ZX Spectrum range after the ...

announced its intention to move the group HQ to Debden from Brentwood. A new HQ was opened in 2013 nearer the centre of

. The Broadway is one of Loughton's two main shopping centres and forms an architecturally important parade consisting mainly of family-run shops together with a small weekly market.

Transport

The area is served by Debden tube station on the Central line of the

. Debden is located next to the

M11 motorway The M11 is a motorway that runs north from the A406 road, North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14 road (Great Britain), A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans ...

, about from its junction with the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major ring road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 th ...

. The local motorway junction has restricted access: drivers cannot enter the M11 northbound or exit it southbound. These restrictions are designed to prevent congestion on the local road network. Motorway traffic must instead flow to and from the North Circular road. There are many bus routes in Debden, which are either

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 ...

routes, commercial routes or Essex County Council contract routes.

routes 20 and 397 serve destinations south of Debden such as

Chingford Chingford is a suburban town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre of Chingford is north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walt ...

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 Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. T ...

and

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

. Routes operating to destinations north and east of Debden are commercial services Destinations include Epping,

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

, Theydon Bois, Abridge, Waltham Abbey and Waltham Cross.

Sport, culture and politics

The local Debden Sports Club, founded in 1948, includes a football team that competes in local leagues. In Boxing, Dennis & Dyer Boxing Academy located off of Debden Broadway opened in 2020, teaches boxing at amateur and professional level by

British Boxing Board of Control The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff. ...

certified coaches.Until 2014, there was an annual Debden Day celebration. Debden is the location of the British Postal Museum Store. Debden Community Association was founded circa 1950 and formerly had premises at Loughton Hall and on land owned by Epping Forest College. Most council seats in Debden were held until 2004 by the Labour Party. Then a swing to the

British National Party The British National Party (BNP) is a Far-right politics, far-right, British fascism, fascist list of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in Wigton, Cumbria, and is led by Adam ...

occurred, but the BNP lost its last seat to the Loughton Residents Association in 2012. See main article ''

Politics of Loughton Loughton in Essex, England, was an urban district from 1900 to 1933, when it became part of Chigwell Urban District until 1974, when Epping Forest District Council was created. Loughton Town Council was established in 1996. The Town Council consists ...

''.

References

{{reflist Housing estates in England Loughton

History

Economy

Transport

Sport, culture and politics

See also

References