AGRICULTURE, TRADE, AND INDUSTRY
Until the 19th century most of the inhabitants of
Loughton were engaged in agriculture or forestry. Waller has
suggested that the amount of
forest land in the parish may not
have altered greatly between
1086 and 1850. (fn. 38) If the hide is taken as 120 acres the
eight estates in Loughton included 2,165 acres exclusive
of pannage for 970 pigs. (fn. 39) In 1851 the parish contained
2,563 acres apart from forest, roads, and water. (fn. 40) If
the calculations from the Domesday figures are correct
only about 400 acres were taken from the forest between 1086 and 1850. Waller, however, doubted
whether so much as 2,000 acres could have been
cultivated by the small Domesday population.
Since most of the land in the parish descended from
the 11th century as a single manor, information concerning the manor, its tenants, and land use has been
included in the section on the manor. Apart from the
forest most of the land in the parish, until built upon,
seems to have been used for pasture. This was certainly
the case in 1612. (fn. 41) In 1850 it was estimated that there
were 831 acres of arable, 1,551 acres of pasture, 131
acres of woodland, and 1,309 acres of common forest
in the parish, exclusive of 45 acres of glebe most of
which was grass land. (fn. 42) A directory of 1863 listed 14
farmers in the parish. (fn. 43) In 1933 the chief crops were
wheat, oats, peas, and roots, but the land was chiefly
in pasture. (fn. 44) Since the building of the Debden estate
very little agricultural land has remained but there are
still two farms, Hill Farm and North Farm, in the
extreme south of Loughton.
Strip cultivation seems to have existed in the Buckhurst Hill area in the 13th century, but to have been
discontinued after the land in question was acquired
by Waltham Abbey. (fn. 45)
In 1066 and 1086 there was a mill at Loughton on
one of the manors held by Peter de Valognes. (fn. 46)
Waltham Abbey had a mill in the parish in the 13th
century. (fn. 47) In 1336 the abbot was presented before the
forest court for erecting a windmill within the covert
of the forest in the vill of Loughton. This mill probably gave its name to Mill Hill, where the Warren
now stands. It had disappeared by 1739. (fn. 48) The
medieval court rolls contain several references to the
mill and the mill-dam at Loughton Bridge. (fn. 49) In 1270
some of the manorial tenants were fined for going to
a mill other than that of their lord. (fn. 50) In 1404 a fuller
was charged before the manor court with spoiling some
cloth given him to full in his mill. (fn. 51)
Before the 19th century those not engaged in agriculture followed the usual village trades or were
domestic servants, notably at Loughton Hall and
Goldings. The last class became more numerous after
about 1830, when some middle-class houses were
built. This was one of the main arguments urged in
defence of the inclosures from the forest. 'They have
built', said a witness before the Epping Forest Commissioners, 'large houses and greenhouses and so on.
It employs a great deal of labour . . . the labour was
12s. a week in 1864 and now I do not think you can
engage a man under 18s. or £1.' (fn. 52) Domestic service
of all kinds continued to be an important occupation
in Loughton until the Second World War.
Wealthy residents required a wide range of goods
and services. Many of these must have been obtained
from London, especially after the completion of the
railway. But in 1882 there was a much wider range
of occupations than in 1848. (fn. 53) The shopping centre
of Loughton grew very slowly until after 1918. North
Loughton was badly served until this time. Before
1918 there were only three shops in High Road north
of Bincombe House (now Messrs. Parrott's). (fn. 54) Between
1918 and 1939 the shopping centre was extended as
far as Traps Hill. The shops now stretch for ½ mile
along High Road and provide a good range of commodities.
Industry in Loughton has been on a very small
scale in the past. Brick- and tile-making was carried
on at least from 1486, when a tile-house was mentioned. (fn. 55) There was a tile-kiln in 1556; it may have
been the one at the foot of Albion Hill, whose history
has been traced from 1673 to 1851, and whose lastrecorded owner was Noah Heath. (fn. 56) Another kilnhouse was also mentioned in 1851. (fn. 57) In the court roll
for 1721 there is an order which suggests that there
were potters in Loughton. (fn. 58)
There has been much nursery gardening in the
parish since about 1862, when Messrs. William Paul
& Son of Waltham Cross established their Loughton
nursery, which grew to be one of the biggest in Essex. (fn. 59)
During the 20th century several small engineering
works have been set up. One of the most interesting of
these was the automobile assembly works of Leonard
Wilson in Forest Road. (fn. 60) Wilson, the son of a Canadian mining engineer, bought a butcher's business in
Smart's Lane about 1898. In 1906 he opened the
motor works and accepted the sole Essex agency for
Panhard and Levasseur cars. Only the chassis of these
cars came over from France. The processes necessary
for completing them, including the making of the
bodies, were carried out at the Forest Road works.
During the First World War the Wilson works produced munitions. Afterwards, in the 1920's, Wilson
had an agency for another French car, the Citröen.
When completed the Debden estate will have
several large factories, including one for making banknotes for the Bank of England. (fn. 61)