121-508: 51°40′17″N 0°06′12″E / 51.6713°N 0.1034°E / 51.6713; 0.1034 Theydon Bois ( / ˌ θ eɪ d ən ˈ b ɔɪ z , - ˈ b ɔɪ s / THAY -dən BOYZ , - BOYSS ) is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex , England. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Epping , 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Loughton and 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Harlow . The population
242-513: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
363-494: A 4-year term with 1 of them selected as the chairman of the council for a 12 Month Term (currently Roy Beers). In Parliament it is represented by the constituency of Epping Forest . Theydon Bois tube station is on the London Underground 's Central line . There is currently one bus service connecting the village to Loughton , Abridge , Epping and Harlow . The village used to have four pubs but now only has two,
484-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
605-577: A barn built in the mid-19th century the Grade II listed building Butler's Retreat is one of the few remaining Victorian retreats within the forest. The building, which is adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge, takes its name from the 1891 occupier John Butler. Retreats originally served non-alcoholic refreshments as part of the Temperance movement . After closing in 2009 the building
726-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
847-472: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
968-456: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
1089-548: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
1210-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under
1331-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
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#17328550616081452-568: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by
1573-431: A common; the land was held by a number of local landowners who exercised economic rights over aspects such as timber, while local commoners had grazing and other rights. It was designated a royal forest meaning that only the monarch had the right to hunt deer. The extensive urban areas on the forest's doorstep bring many visitors to the forest, and cause a strain on the forest's ecology; however local recreational users of
1694-461: A mounted element, the crowd were able to break down and smash the enclosing fences. The action attracted nationwide attention, much of it critical of the government. At this stage the City of London Corporation became involved, since in 1853, the city had purchased a farm at Manor Park for the construction of the City of London Cemetery ; this made the City Corporation a forest commoner with
1815-517: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
1936-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
2057-681: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Epping Forest Epping Forest
2178-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
2299-526: A parliamentary committee estimated that up to 400,000 people had visited Epping Forest on that day. In the first decades of the 19th century, the Lord Warden of Epping Forest, William Long-Wellesley, acquiesced to the enclosure of 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of forest land, about a third of the remaining total, by the lords of the manors who held freeholds in the forest. The government was keen to enclose land for farming and building development and allowed
2420-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
2541-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
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#17328550616082662-532: A relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007
2783-620: A road from Woodford Green to Epping through the heart of the forest, to avoid Goldings Hill on the old road through Loughton and shorten the distance by one mile. The Epping New Road , now part of the A104 was completed in 1834. With the arrival of railway stations in towns close to the forest from the 1850s, the working class people of East London began to use the forest for recreation on Sundays and public holidays, in ever increasing numbers. Others arrived by horsebus which could drive directly to popular spots like High Beach. On Whit Monday 1880,
2904-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
3025-589: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
3146-938: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
3267-514: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
3388-598: A stipulation that the Conservators "shall at all times keep Epping Forest unenclosed and unbuilt on as an open space for the recreation and enjoyment of the people". In compensation for the loss of lopping rights, Lopping Hall in Loughton was built as a community building. This was the first major victory, in Europe, for the modern conservation movement. When Queen Victoria visited Chingford on 6 May 1882 she declared "It gives me
3509-435: A training area for many national level mountain-bike racers as it is highly regarded for its fast and tight flowing single track trails. This type of terrain is known within the mountain bike fraternity as cross country (or XC). Epping Forest was considered as a venue for the mountain-biking event of the 2012 Summer Olympics, though the final choice was near Hadleigh Castle . Stage 3 of the 2014 Tour de France passed through
3630-477: A valuable area for wildlife, and it is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest . Its former status a common, with wood-pasture and plains has had a great effect on its ecology. Although the Epping Forest Act almost certainly saved the forest from total destruction, it has to some extent had a deleterious effect on the area's biodiversity . The areas historic land use has had an enormous impact on
3751-407: Is a 2,400-hectare (5,900-acre) 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 London built-up area. South of Chingford the forest narrows, and forms a green corridor that extends deep into east London , as far as Forest Gate ;
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3872-476: Is an intrinsic part of the village. It has to be preserved not just for the short term but also the long term and the best way to do this is to have a parallel Avenue of Trees to take over". Some of the new trees have been sponsored as memorials, and details of these will be printed on an information board near the avenue. Several yearly events are observed in Theydon Bois. Of most note is the annual tradition of
3993-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
4114-506: Is composed of twelve members of the Court of Common Council and four Verderers who are residents of the forest and are elected by the Commoners. A Superintendent is responsible for operational management, supported by twelve Epping Forest Keepers . In addition, the Crown's right to venison was terminated, and pollarding was no longer allowed, although grazing rights continued. This act laid down
4235-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
4356-463: Is generally permitted except around the Iron Age camps, Loughton Brook and other ecologically or geomorphologically sensitive areas. Despite clear signposting, a minority of mountain bikers and horse riders continue to cause damage in these areas, and the Conservators of Epping Forest have expressed their concern. A number of clubs organise rides, particularly on Sunday mornings. The forest is also used as
4477-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
4598-441: Is now in its 30th year, allows local residents to show private gardens to both local and external visitors. Epping Forest , an ancient woodland and former Royal Forest, borders Theydon Bois. The Theydon Bois & District Rural Preservation Society was founded to preserve the rural character of the countryside in and around the village. Theydon Bois is governed locally by a Parish Council made up of 10 Councillors serving on
4719-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
4840-597: The Black Death reached England in 1348, leading to a huge decline in population, perhaps between a third and a half, which took away the pressure on woods and commons, leading to a very long period of stability in the area of these land uses in England. At that time the forest extended slightly further south to the Romford Road in the Forest Gate area of West Ham ; this is the originally Roman A118 road from Aldgate on
4961-644: The City of London wall to Stratford , Romford and Colchester (and also known as the Great Essex Road ). There was a coppice woodland on the Romford Road called Hamfrith Wood (meaning the woodland belonging to the Ham area) until around 1700, and an area of plain called Hamfrith Waste which lasted into the mid-1800s. Most of Waltham Forest was later legally deforested (removed form Forest Law) leaving two smaller forests, Epping Forest and Hainault Forest , both of which continued to be very heavily wooded - there
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5082-454: The Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues to sell off further freeholds in the forest. In 1851 nearby Hainault Forest , where the Crown owned most of the land, was privatised (enclosed) and nearly all of the trees grubbed out in order to turn the area into poor quality farmland. The modern conservation movement grew out of public disgust at the destruction of Hainault Forest and
5203-616: The Epping Forest local government district , which covers part of it, and to Forest School , a private school in Walthamstow towards the south of it. The area that became Epping Forest has been continuously wooded since Neolithic times. Embankments of two Iron Age earthworks – Loughton Camp and Ambresbury Banks – can be found in the woodland, but pollen profiles show that Iron Age occupation had no significant effect on woodland cover. The former small leaved lime (also known as pry or linden) dominated woodland permanently changed during
5324-693: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were
5445-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
5566-463: The Scandinavian ice sheet during the last glacial period , around 18,000 BC. The ridge consists of boulder clay topped with loam, while towards its southern end it is overlain with glacial gravel . The highest points are near Ambresbury Banks to the south of Epping, which is 111 metres (384 feet) above sea level, while Pole Hill near Chingford reaches 91 metres (299 feet). On the western edge of
5687-438: The ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on
5808-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
5929-463: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
6050-508: The 1830s to, reputedly, celebrate the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne. Chairwoman of the City of London's Epping Forest Committee, said, “The Theydon avenue [has been] identified as the highest priority among the many other avenues of trees that the City of London currently looks after." A recent survey commissioned by the City of London, the responsible authority for the Green, found that four of
6171-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
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#17328550616086292-584: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
6413-505: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
6534-505: The Anglo-Saxon period, possibly as a result of the selective cutting of trees. Today's beech - birch and oak - hornbeam -dominated forest may be the result of partial forest clearance in Saxon times. The area is thought to have been given legal status as a royal forest by Henry II in the 12th century. At the time it was part of the much larger Forest of Essex , which covered nearly all of
6655-574: The Bull and the Queen Victoria. Theydons (previously The Railway Arms) and the Sixteen String Jack were closed (in 2011 and 2016, respectively) and converted to flats. Civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to
6776-465: The Conservators have experimented with pollarding in selected areas of the forest, lopping some old pollards back to the bolling (with mixed results) or creating new bollings. A herd of English Longhorn cattle has been reintroduced to graze the heathland and grassland. Over 100 lakes and ponds can be found within the forest varying in size and age. They all provide important habitats for numerous species of fauna and flora. Many of them are man-made with
6897-578: The Donkey Derby are raised for the Theydon Bois Scouts , although have recently begun to benefit the local Girl Guides as well. The Donkey Derby was postponed from July until September for the first time in 2012 due to bad weather, although the rescheduled event also suffered from heavy rain and wind. Another annual tradition is the Open Gardens Day, which is held in the summer. The event, which
7018-509: The Donkey Derby, which is usually held in July. The 26th consecutive event was held on 14 July 2013. The Derby involves children participating in donkey racing, which can be bet on in small-stakes. Individual races or the donkeys themselves can be sponsored in advance by villagers who are then offered the right to name the race or donkey respectively. Also included in the day are rides, games, stalls, donkey rides and food and drink tents. Profits made from
7139-425: The Epping Forest Act gave the deer firm legal protection, poaching had reduced the herd to twelve does and one buck; however, numbers had recovered to around 200 by the start of the 20th century. In 1954, it was noted that common lighter-brown fallow deer had begun to interbreed in the forest and some black examples were sent to Whipsnade Zoo to preserve this variety. Subsequently, losses to traffic and dogs prompted
7260-497: The February of that year, was particularly important in mobilising East End environmentalism. By 1870, the unenclosed forest had shrunk to only 3,500 acres (1,400 ha). One landowner, Reverend John Whitaker Maitland, who had enclosed 1,100 acres (450 ha) in his manor of Loughton, was engaged in a long running dispute with a commoner called Thomas Willingale and his family, who insisted on maintaining his right to lop trees in
7381-724: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
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#17328550616087502-519: The areas character and ecology, this is particularly evident with the pollarded trees, which were cut back to the bolling , the permanent base of the pollard, every 13 years or so. The bolling was cut just above the browse line of wild and domestic grazing animals. However, the Forests pollards have not been cut since the passing of the Epping Forest Act, have now grown massive crowns of thick, trunk-like branches with correspondingly large boles . This gives
7623-510: The casual visitor. The most important event in the ramblers' calendar in the area is the traditional Epping Forest Centenary Walk , an all-day event commemorating the saving of Epping Forest as a public space, which takes place annually on the third Sunday in September. High Beach in Epping Forest was the first British venue for motorcycle speedway and opened on 19 February 1928. The track
7744-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
7865-465: The city to purchase the 19 forest manors. The consequence of this victory was that only 10% of Epping Forest had been lost to enclosure (mainly in the south), compared to 92% of Hainault Forest. Under the terms of the Epping Forest Act 1878 , the forest ceased to be a royal forest and was purchased by the City of London Corporation whose Epping Forest Committee act as Conservators . The committee
7986-529: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
8107-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
8228-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
8349-491: The county. The term Forest was a legal term, meaning that Forest Law applied, meaning that only the king had the right to hunt deer. The term did not mean the land was well wooded: the large majority of the Forest of Essex was agricultural land. The Forest of Essex gradually shrank in size as land was removed from Forest Law and it was replaced by a number of much smaller forests including Waltham Forest (which gives its name to
8470-453: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
8591-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
8712-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
8833-521: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
8954-408: The establishment of an enclosed deer sanctuary of 109 acres (44 ha) near Debden, to maintain a stock of deer which can be released back into the forest when the population levels become too low. Red deer were once found in Epping Forest, but the last survivors were rounded-up and taken to Windsor Great Park at the end of the 19th century. The last recorded sighting of roe deer in the forest
9075-558: The forest from Epping to Buckhurst Hill along the Epping New Road. Horse riding is popular in Epping Forest. Riders need to be registered with the Epping Forest conservators before they are allowed to ride in the forest. Running as a form of recreation in Epping Forest goes back almost to the birth of the sport in the 1870s, including hosting the inaugural English Championships in 1876. Orienteering and rambling are also popular. There are numerous guidebooks offering shorter walks for
9196-568: The forest from The Warren, modern offices built in the grounds of Grade II* listed Warren House, Loughton . Warren House, formerly known as the Reindeer Inn, was built around a smaller hunt standing, known as the Little Standing. Its grounds were redesigned by Humphry Repton in the early 19th century. Until the outbreak of BSE in 1996 commoners still exercised their right to graze cattle and every summer herds of cattle would roam freely in
9317-468: The forest in 1888. Cricket is played on forest land at Woodford Green, Bell Common (Epping), Buckhurst Hill, and High Beach. One historic match is recorded in the forest in 1732 between London Cricket Club and an Essex & Hertfordshire side . The result is unknown. The match is the earliest known reference to both Essex and Hertfordshire as county teams. The forest has three visitor centres: Public transport serves most locations in and around
9438-601: The forest was always narrower but enclosure and other destruction in the 19th and 20th centuries mean that this is now more pronounced. The southernmost point of the Forest is now Wanstead Flats but it formerly extended slightly further south, to the Romford Road . The forest occupies a ridge of higher ground, the Epping Forest Ridge, set between the valleys of the Rivers Lea and Roding . These valleys were formed by arms of
9559-494: The forest were crucial in saving the forest when it was threatened with enclosure and destruction in the late 19th century. The huge public outcry led the City of London Corporation to buy and so save the site in what was the first major success of the environmental movement in Europe – the Corporation still owns the forest. This environmental milestone came at a cost, as the City of London's early conservators did not understand
9680-477: The forest's position gives rise to its nickname, the Cockney Paradise . It is the largest forest in London. It lies on a ridge between the valleys of the rivers Lea and Roding . It contains areas of woodland, grassland, heath, streams, bogs and ponds, and its elevation and thin gravelly soil (the result of glaciation) historically made it less suitable for agriculture. The forest was historically managed as
9801-734: The forest, despite inducements offered for him to stop. The matter came to the public attention in 1866, when Willingale's son and two nephews were fined for damaging Maitland's trees, and were sent to prison for seven days when they refused to pay. Willingale was encouraged to continue the dispute by Edward Buxton and other members of the Commons Preservation Society , however a court action against Maitland lapsed in 1870 when Willingale died. In July 1871, around 30,000 East Londoners gathered on Wanstead Flats to protest about fences which had been erected there by Earl Cowley to enclose forest land. Despite clashes with police, including
9922-486: The forest, run by Field Studies Council provides a variety of courses. There are 60 pitches for football with changing facilities on forest land at Wanstead Flats, which are used by amateur and youth teams. There is a public 18-hole golf course at Chingford Plain, which is also used by the Royal Epping Forest Golf Club, Chingford Golf Club and Chingford Ladies' Golf Club. The course was established in
10043-451: The forest. The forest is accessible from most London Underground Central Line stations between Leytonstone and Epping and London Overground between Wood Street and Chingford and at the very southern end by the Elizabeth line at Manor Park . In the 1980s, the name "Forest" was given to one of the districts in which London's buses was divided, covering east London, and including
10164-638: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
10285-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
10406-439: The greatest satisfaction to dedicate this beautiful forest to the use and enjoyment of my people for all time" and it thus became "The People's Forest". The City of London Corporation still manages Epping Forest in strict conformity with the Epping Forest Act. This care is funded from ' City's Cash ', the private funds of the Corporation rather than any money for its upkeep coming from local rates or taxes. The Conservators administer
10527-434: The human processes that shaped the forest and its ecosystems, and discontinued the practice of pollarding trees while allowing grazing to decline. This changed the character of the forest and has led to reduced biodiversity. The modern Conservators are mindful of these historic errors but it is probably not possible to reverse the effects of this long interruption of historic management methods. The forest gives its name to
10648-471: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
10769-852: The majority of them created through gravel extraction. Several were formed as part of a landscape design and a few were the result of Second World War bombs and V-2 rockets . Activities allowed on the waters include angling which is permitted in 24 of the lakes and ponds. A wide range of freshwater fish can be caught. All of the lakes and ponds are accessible to the public and are located on or close to forest paths. A wide range of animals are found, including fallow deer ( Dama dama ), muntjac ( Muntiacus reevesi ) and European adder ( Vipera berus ). The fallow deer found in Epping Forest are of an unusual black colouration, perhaps descended from some black deer presented by King Christian IV of Denmark to James I in 1612, although there are earlier records of black deer in England before this date. By 1878 when
10890-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
11011-464: The modern London Borough of Waltham Forest . Waltham Forest was a legally defined area which included the areas later known as Epping Forest and Hainault Forest ; the rest of the Waltham Forest area was only lightly wooded. In physical terms (rather than legal terms), the Forest is thought to have declined to something like its modern extent in the early fourteenth century (possibly long before),
11132-549: The name refers to the family of Bois (previously, and variously, de Bois, de Boys or de Bosco), which held the manor in the 12th and 13th centuries. For the village name, the pronunciation is either " boyce " or " boys ". When the Great Eastern Railway built its branch to Ongar , it asked the clerk of the Epping Parish Council, John Windas, how it should be spelt. As he had some knowledge of French and in view of
11253-524: The need to protect its sister forest , Epping Forest. Epping Forest had fragmented ownership which made it harder to enclose in the same way, though individual landowners began to make encroachments. The urbanisation of nearby areas increased the forest's importance as an area of public recreation helped lead to the establishment of the Open Spaces Society in 1865, whose aim was to protect commons in and around London. The Mile End branch, founded in
11374-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
11495-421: The north–south direction, but no more than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from east to west at its widest point, and in most places considerably narrower. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London built-up area. South of Chingford the forest narrows, and forms a green corridor that extends deep into East London, as far as Forest Gate . The southern part of
11616-500: The office of Master of the City Hounds was abolished. In 1827, the huntsman of Sir William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley chased a forest stag as far as West Ham . The customary Easter Monday hunt was repeated annually by a large and rowdy crowd of ordinary London tradesmen and working people, who gathered at Fairmead Oak to chase a previously captured stag, which was released from a cart and usually escaped unharmed. The last of these hunts
11737-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
11858-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
11979-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
12100-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
12221-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
12342-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
12463-506: The ridge, High Beach at a similar height, is an expanse of gravel and Bagshot sand , thought to have been deposited by an unknown river which flowed northwards from the Weald of Kent before the creation of the Thames Valley . The following is a simplified list of the various parts of Epping Forest, starting from the north: The age of the forest and the range of habitats it contains make it
12584-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of
12705-556: The right to graze cattle in the forest. In 1871, the City brought a suit against 16 of the lords of the forest manors, claiming that the enclosures impinged on their ancient grazing rights. Following an appeal in 1874, a judgment by the Master of the Rolls , Sir George Jessel , ruled that all enclosures made since 1851 were illegal. Subsequently, two acts of Parliament in 1871 ( 34 & 35 Vict. c. 93) and 1872 ( 35 & 36 Vict. c. 95) allowed
12826-450: The secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as the communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have
12947-541: The south part of the forest. Its logo was a squirrel above the London Transport roundel . Later, from 1989 until its collapse in 1991, London Forest part of London Buses Limited, was the name of an arms length bus operating unit of London Regional Transport in the area, with an oak tree as its logo. Epping Forest has frequently been the setting for novels, and has attracted poets, artists and musicians for centuries. Many of these artists lived at Loughton . Loughton
13068-464: The southern part of the forest. Cattle were reintroduced in 2001 but their movements are now more restricted to reduce conflict with traffic. Commoners, who are people who live in a Forest parish and own 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) of land, can still register and graze cattle during the summer months. The right to collect wood still exists but is rarely practised and is limited to "one faggot of dead or driftwood" per day per adult resident. Originally
13189-843: The trees an unusual appearance, uncommon in other forests. Often the weight of the branches cannot be supported by the parent tree, and the large amount of dead wood in the forest supports numerous rare species of fungi and invertebrates . Epping Forest has 55,000 ancient trees , more than any other single site in the United Kingdom. Predominant tree species are Pedunculate oak ( Quercus robur ), European beech ( Fagus sylvatica ), European hornbeam ( Carpinus betuloides ), silver birch ( Betula pendula ) and European holly ( Ilex aquifolium ). Indicator species of long-uninterrupted woodland include service-tree ( Sorbus torminalis ) butcher's-broom ( Ruscus aculeatus ) and drooping sedge ( Carex pendula ). The pollarded trees allowed light through to
13310-414: The trees were required to be felled and others should be monitored. Although felling was accepted as necessary, there was local concern about the visual impact that this would have on the village. A new line of trees, therefore, was planted in late 2010, set back from the current row. The semi-mature replacements will eventually dominate the site. The TBPC chairman, Robert Glozier, said, "The Avenue of Trees
13431-533: The village's proximity to the forest, he suggested the best spelling would be 'Bois'. Theydon Hall, which is on the site of the ancient manor house, is south of the green on the Abridge road. Theydon Hall was the manor house until early in the 17th century. The old parish church was nearby, demolished in 1843. What is widely regarded as Theydon Bois' most iconic landmark is the 'Avenue of Trees' which lines Loughton Lane, one of its main roads. The oak trees were planted in
13552-478: The woodland floor, increasing the numbers of low-growing plants. Since the Act, the vast crowns of the pollards cut out most of the light to the underbrush. The plains were located in wet or low-lying areas. The area surrounding the forest is now to a great extent urbanised; the corresponding reduction in grazing has led to some former areas of grassland and heathland being overcome by secondary woodland . In recent years,
13673-701: Was 4,062 as at the 2011 Census. Theydon Bois is inside the M25 motorway near to its junction with the M11 motorway . It is served by Theydon Bois tube station on the Central line and has one primary school, Theydon Bois County Primary School. It lies on the edge of Epping Forest . It also has the Theydon Bois Interchange. Theydon first occurs as Thecdene in 1062; it probably comes from Old English thæc + denu 'valley where thatching materials are got'. The second part of
13794-600: Was behind The King's Oak public house, and drew large crowds in its early days. The track was closed when a swimming pool was added to the pub's grounds after the Second World War, though enthusiasts and veterans still gather at the site every year on the nearest Sunday to 19 February. The remains of the track are still visible, in the grounds of the Epping Forest Field Centre behind the King's Oak. The field centre in
13915-532: Was in 1882 when it descended into a riot and had to be dispersed by the police. In the 1830s, the forest took its first significant harm in centuries when a new road, the Epping New Road was built through the forest, to supplement pre-existing ancient roads. In 1830, civil engineer James Nicoll McAdam, the son of John Loudon McAdam , was engaged by a turnpike trust , the Epping and Ongar Highway Trust, to construct
14036-529: Was in 1920. In recent decades, Reeves's muntjac have been reported in the southern part of the forest. The announcement of licensed culling of fallow deer and muntjac in forest "buffer land" in 2016 was criticised by local residents but defended by environmentalists as necessary to prevent over-grazing of woodland undergrowth. A wide variety of leisure activities associated with the forest, most notably rambling, cycling and horse riding. Epping Forest attracts large numbers of mountain bikers . Mountain biking
14157-486: Was not a reduction in the physical area of woods and commons. The name "Epping Forest" was first recorded in the 17th century. Although the monarch held hunting and associated rights, the land was owned by a number of local landowners. It was managed as a common where landowners benefitted from certain rights, while local commoners benefitted from common rights allowing them to gather firewood and foodstuffs, to graze livestock and turn out pigs for mast . The landscape
14278-408: Was primarily a mixture of wood-pasture and open plains, rather than thick woodland, and both of these land use types were grazed by cattle. In Tudor times, Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I may have hunted in the forest, though no documentary evidence has survived to prove it. In 1543, Henry commissioned a building, known as Great Standing, from which to view the chase at Chingford . The building
14399-554: Was principally used as a source of shipbuilding timber for the Royal Navy , which was taken overland to Barking Creek and then floated in rafts to the Royal Dockyards at Woolwich and Deptford . This exploitation continued until about 1725, when all the suitable oak trees had been felled. The City of London maintained the ancient tradition of an Easter Monday stag hunt in the forest, but official participation ended in 1807 when
14520-551: Was refurbished by the City of London Corporation and re-opened as a café in 2012. On 12 July 2012 The Duke of Gloucester —the official Epping Forest Ranger—opened the View interpretation centre at Chingford. The building, a former Victorian coach house and stables, together with Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge and Butler's Retreat form the Epping Forest Gateway. The forest is approximately 19 kilometres (12 mi) long in
14641-585: Was renovated in 1589 for Queen Elizabeth I and can still be seen today in Chingford. The building is now known as Queen Elizabeth's Hunting Lodge , and is open to the public. There is another hunt standing, which now forms the core of the forest HQ at The Warren, Loughton . Following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, although the deer herd was restocked, royal hunting in the forest never recommenced. The forest
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