Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in

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 ...

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 ...

, within 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 boroughs, 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 t ...

. The area developed following the opening of a railway line in 1856, originally part of the Eastern Counties Railway and now on the Central line of 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 first known mention of Buckhurst Hill dates back to 1135, referenced as ''"La Bocherste"'', which later evolved into ''"Bucket Hill"'', originally meaning a hill covered with beech trees. At that time, it lay within the bounds of

consisting of only a few scattered houses along the ancient route connecting Woodford to

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 ...

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

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) 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 ...

route between

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

and

Great Dunmow Great Dunmow is a historic market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It lies to the north of the A120 road, approximately midway between Bishop's Stortford and Braintree, Essex, Braintree, east of London Stanste ...

. Originally, Buckhurst Hill was a part of the

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 pries ...

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 Londo ...

, but with no road linking the two communities, and in order to get to church parishioners had to ford the

River Roding The River Roding () is a river that 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 ...

at Woodford. In 1838, the Parish Church of St. John was constructed 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, generally due to trav ...

, but Buckhurst Hill did not gain status as 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 pries ...

until 1867. That same year, St John's National School was also built adjacent to the church on land donated by the lord of the manor with the construction costing £209, largely funded by the church's congregation. The opening of Buckhurst Hill station in 1856 spurred rapid population growth in the area, and by 1871, almost six hundred new houses had been built near the station. This expansion prompted the establishment Prince's Road school in 1872, with some of the land enclosed from Epping Forest, before this practice was halted by the

Epping Forest Act 1878 During the middle of the nineteenth century, a number of initiatives were started to protect the rights of the public to use open spaces and for the areas to be conserved for their specific environmental features. Some notable people of the tim ...

. In 1894, the civil parish of Buckhurst Hill became Buckhurst Hill Urban District . This status lasted until 1933, when it was merged with parish of Chigwell and Loughton Urban District to form the Chigwell Urban District. Later, in 1974, it became part of the

Epping Forest District Epping Forest District is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after the ancient woodland of Epping Forest, a large part of which lies within the district. The district covers northeastern parts of the urban area of London ...

Epping Forest District after a larger merger with several other nearby districts, including Epping Urban district,

Waltham Holy Cross Urban District Waltham Holy Cross (also known as Waltham Abbey) was a local government district in the county of Essex, England. It was created as a local board of health district in 1850 when the parish of Waltham Holy Cross adopted the Public Health Act 18 ...

and most of Epping and Ongar Rural District. In 1996, Buckhurst Hill Parish Council was established as a first tier of local government. This area's transformation was heavily influenced by transportation developments, particularly the railway, which transitioned it from a rural hamlet to a commuter suburb. The preservation efforts within Epping Forest, such as the Epping Forest Act of 1878, also played a role in defining the town's landscape, curbing the widespread enclosure of forest land and protecting the green spaces surrounding Buckhurst Hill.

Geography

The town is located at the western edge of

, 10.7 miles (17.2 km) north-east of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

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 Epping Forest District, Epping Forest, Essex, within the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area developed following the opening ...

(in London fare zone 5) and

Roding Valley Roding may refer to: * River Roding, Essex and Greater London, UK * Roding Automobile, an automotive manufacturer based in Germany * Roding, Germany, town in the Upper Palatinate of Bavaria * Roding, sound produced during the mating display of snip ...

(in zone 4), 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 Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. T ...

, Leytonstone, Epping and

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

railway services from nearby Chingford station can be used to reach London Liverpool Street, via

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 ...

and Hackney. 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, operated by Stagecoach London. Services link the town with

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 ...

, Debden,

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

and Woodford. Bus service 397 can be used to reach Chingford station.

Sport

Loughton Rugby Union Football Club has its clubhouse and pitches on Hornbeam Road 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 include Buckhurst Hill Community (BHCPS), St John's (Church of England) and Whitebridge. Roding Valley High School in Loughton provides secondary level education for the area. It was formed by the merger of three schools: Loughton County High School for Girls, Buckhurst Hill County High School (for boys) and Epping Forest High School. Braeside and Daiglen are independent schools.

Notable people

* Sir William Addison (1905–1992) – historian and author, lived in Buckhurst Hill and owned a bookshop in Loughton.Kneale, 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, was born and grew up in Buckhurst Hill. *

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

, musician, lived in Buckhurst Hill for a while when he first moved to London and was still an English teacher. * Daniel Mays, 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 Secretar ...

, Labour politician, was born in Buckhurst Hill.Who's Who 2008, A & C Black, 2008; online edn,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, December 2007
Last Man Standing: Memoirs of a Political Survivor
', Jack Straw, 2012 * Dick Turpin 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