Epping Forest Chronology

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1000 - 1100 AD

1013
The wooden church at Greenstead, Ongar was built around this time as a resting place for the body of St Edmund. The church still stands today
1060
Earl Harold consecrates his church at Waltham (now Waltham Abbey) in the presence of Edward the Confessor
1066
Harold, now King of England, is defeated and killed by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. His body is supposed to have been brought to Waltham and buried here

1108
Queen Maud grants the right to hold a fair to Waltham
1177
King Henry II begins the building of the Augustinian Church at Waltham as part of his penance for the murder of Archbishop Thomas a Becke.
1184
Waltham Priory becomes Waltham Abbey
1200
Sun Street, Waltham Abbey laid out

1253
King Henry III granted Waltham Abbey the right to hold a market at Epping Heath (now Epping) every Monday. The market continues today.
1290
the body of Queen Eleanor lies in state in Waltham Abbey Church. The cross that marked the route her body took was built in what is now Waltham Cross

1342
A reference to School Street in Waltham Abbey suggests this was the site of the school set up by the canons of Waltham
1381
The Peasants’ Revolt: King Richard II comes to Waltham and goes back on the agreement he had made to give the peasants their freedom. When the peasants complained, Richard told them, ‘Peasants you are, and peasants you will remain.’

1404
A tenant appeared at the manor court in Loughton, charged with throwing the scourings (rubbish) of his ditch on the highway outside Richard Algor’s Gate, probably the site of the current Algers Road near Loughton Station.
1428
The rural parish of Theydon Bois is exempt from paying tax as there are fewer than 10 households living there

1520
The house which is now Epping Forest District Museum at 41 Sun Street was built around this time.
1526
Thomas Cranmer draws up his plan for King Henry VIII to divorce Katherine of Aragon at Waltham Abbey
1540
Waltham Abbey is the last monastery dissolved by King Henry VIII.
1594
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare first performed at Copped Hall, Upshire.
1598
Whipping Post and Stocks installed in Waltham Abbey Marketplace.

1604
There is a rumour that Guy Fawkes purchased the gunpowder he used to try and blow up Parliament from the Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey
1641
The poor people of Waltham have the woodcutting rights given to them by Queen Elizabeth I taken away. The people were required to strike an axe into the bough of a tree at midnight on 11 November each year to retain the right. In this year lords and landowners laid on a feast for them beforehand with so much ale, they forgot to strike the bough, and lost their right.
1670
A new timbered market hall is built in Market Square, Waltham Abbey.
1687
Dr Anthony Walker, Rector of Fyfield made provision for a free school for poor children in Fyfield

1737
Highwayman Dick Turpin shot and killed a man at High Beech. George II promised a reward of £200 for his arrest and conviction
1761
A workhouse and pest house were built in Epping around this time. The workhouse accommodated the poor, while the pest house accommodated those suffering from infectious diseases such as small pox