Buckhurst Hill, Essex
Historical Description
Buckhurst Hill, an ecclesiastical district in Chigwell civil parish, Essex, on the G.E.R., containing about 150 acres of Epping Forest, 10 miles NE of London. It is situated in some of the highest land in the neighbourhood of the forest, over which it commands extensive views, and has a station of the same name on the railway, and a post, money order, and telegraph office (S.O.) It was constituted a rectory in 1860. Population, 4130. The living is a rectory in the diocese of St Albans; net yearly value, £400 with residence, in the gift of the Vicar of Chigwell. The church, a modern structure in Early English style, was first erected in 1837 and enlarged in 1864,1879, and in 1892. The tower, with spire, was erected in 1879, and contains two bells. The mission church of St Stephen, built of brick in 1876, provides for the residents on the east side of the G.E.R. There are a Baptist, a Wesleyan, and two Congregational chapels, also a place of worship used by the Plymouth Brethren.
Churches
Church of England
Mission Church of St. Stephen, Lower Queen's Road
The Mission Church of St. Stephen, Queen's road, erected at a cost of about, £1,500, raised in memory of the Rev. W. B. Prend, a former rector of Buckhurst Hill, and opened on St. Stephen's day, 1876, holds about 250 persons and has a mission house attached.
St. John the Baptist (parish church)
The church of St. John the Baptist, originally built in 1837, is an edifice of stone; the north aisle and chancel were added in 1864 and the tower was built in 1879, at a cost of £2,000, by E. N. Buxton esq.: the church now consists of chancel, nave, aisles, northern porch and a tower with pinnacles and spire, containing a clock and 8 circular bells, given in 1907 by her executors as a memorial to the late Mrs. Oliver: there are 800 sittings. In 1896-7 extensive alterations were made at a cost of about £1,700, when a new stone chancel arch was built, the chancel extended and the roof of the nave considerably raised, under the direction of Mr. John Oldrid Scott, architect, for the chancel, and Messrs. Milne and Ball, architects, for the nave: in 1900 oak choir stalls were set up in memory of the Rev. the Earl of Chichester M.A., J.P. who died 21 April, 1905, and in the same year the chancel was repaired with tiles and carved oak sanctuary rails presented in memory of Miss Rachael Powell: in 1907 an oak pulpit was given by the parishioners in memory of Mr. Nathaniel Powell, and the east window, a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Powell, was the gift of that family: in 1909 a window was erected in the north aisle to the Rev. Harold George Laine, a former curate: in 1913 the carved oak west door to the nave and the carved oak frontal of the altar were given in memory of Miss J. M. Powell.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel, Palmerston Road
The Baptist chapel, Palmerston road, originally an iron structure, built in 1871, was rebuilt of red brick in 1887: the chapel contains a stained window and will seat 300 persons.
Baptist Chapel, Princes Road
The Baptist chapel, Princes Road, was erected in 1900 to seat 340 persons.
Brethren
Plymouth Brethren Chapel, Queen's Road
There is a small chapel in the Queen's road for the Plymouth Brethren, erected in 1884, and holding about 150 persons.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel, Palmerston Road
The Congregational chapel in Palmerston road is a building of stone in the Decorated style, and will seat 500 persons.
Methodist
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Queen's Road
The Wesleyan Methodist chapel, in the Queen's road, erected in 1886, is a structure of red brick with stone dressings, and will seat about 300 persons.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Essex is available to browse.
The Essex pages from the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 is online.
Maps
Online maps of Buckhurst Hill are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Essex online: