Living in Loughton...
Loughton makes up the Golden Triangle with the nearby towns of Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill, attracting wealthy individuals and celebrities. Loughton hosts an array of boutiques and restaurants meaning it’s not short on things to do.
When Londoners are ready for a more settled lifestyle, but not quite prepared to leave the capital completely, many will contemplate a move out to Loughton in Essex.
The town sits on the edge of Epping Forest, 15 miles out from central London in Essex’s Golden Triangle, with Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill to the south. The nightlife and culture of the West End is still in easy reach due to the Central line, but country walks are on your doorstep.
Loughton grew in the middle of the Victorian age with the arrival of the Eastern Counties Railway and its history has been shaped by its proximity to Epping Forest. The Loughton property market boasts many period cottages thanks to its time as a small village
As the town rises to the west to meet the forest, there is a hilly area of pretty cottages and country lanes, with fine views over London.
Due to the crime fiction writer Ruth Rendell, this part of Loughton is known as Little Cornwall. Rendell was a pupil at Loughton County High School and coined the name Little Cornwall in her 1974 novel The Face of Trespass. Her novel, The Girl Next Door, is set in Loughton and there has been a blue plaque unveiled on her child hood home located in Millsmead Way.
Loughton has period cottages from its time as a small village, plus Victorian and Edwardian semi-detached and terrace houses, and houses dating from the Twenties to the present day.
The Roding estate south-east of the station is interwar, while Great Woodcote Park is a modern gated estate on the southern edge of town and Goldings Manor covers a series of leafy roads on the northern edge.
Transport
Situated 20 miles north-east of Central London, Loughton is located just inside of the M25 at Junction 26 for links around the capital. Also nearby is the M11, Junction 5, for links to Cambridge and South Woodford. Stansted Airport is a 30-minute drive away via the M11. The Central line is easily accessible from either Debden or Loughton station which travels through to West London, terminating at Ealing Broadway station. London Liverpool Street is only a 30-minute Tube journey away.
Postcode
IG10 is the Loughton postcode, bordered to the south by IG7 for Chigwell and IG8 for Buckhurst Hill.
Best roads
Alderton Hill has large detached houses, including some “knock-down-and-rebuild”; Nursery Road has views over the open countryside of Epping Forest.
Up and coming
Debden sits on the edge of Loughton and was built in the 1950s. It has its own Central line Tube station and a shopping centre. Properties in Debden are usually cheaper than in Loughton itself.
Green Space
Epping Forest is a short walk from Loughton town centre, and its miles of walking, cycling and horse-riding trails are a key reason many families move to the area.
There are two visitors’ centres near Loughton: the Epping Forest Visitors’ Centre in Nursery Road, High Beach and Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge in Ranger’s Road, a rare surviving timber-frame hunting lodge built on the orders of Henry VIII.
Loughton Golf Club can be found in Clays Lane, while Chigwell Golf Club is on High Road, Chigwell, and Woolston Manor Golf & Country Club is in also close by in Chigwell.
Education
Within Loughton there is a good choice of state primary schools which get good results. Only one, Hereward, is judged “outstanding” by Ofsted. Most of the rest are judged “good” including the popular Staples Road Primary, Alderton Infants and Juniors, White Bridge Infants, Thomas Willingale, The Broadway and High Beech C of E.
The “outstanding” comprehensive school is Davenant Foundation a Christian school. The two other comprehensive schools, Roding Valley High and Debden Park High are both judged to be “good”.
There are two private primary schools: Oaklands (mixed) in Albion Hill and Loyola Preparatory (boys), a Catholic school in Buckhurst Hill. There are also two popular local private schools: Chigwell, and Bancroft’s in Woodford Green.
