The Loughton Manors

The old boundaries of Loughton are defined by the Watling Street from Two Mile Ash to near Bleak Hall and forming boundaries with Simpson, Woolstone and Bradwell. There were approximately 1500 acres; under the Saxon system this was 10 hides. Whaddon Brook divides Loughton and this naturally led to two manors: Great Loughton to the north of the brook, including all the high pasture, and Little Loughton to the south.

The name probably derives from one Luha (Lucca). The "gh" in the word would indicate that it was at one time sounded and in the 13th century we have documents where the name is written phonetically - Geoffrey de Lucton. So it may have been named for Luha ing tun - Luha's farm enclosure.

In 1066 Great Loughton was split between five thanes and Little Loughton was in the hands of Aelfric, a Thane of King Edward. Obviously they were dispossessed and we can only speculate about these men and their families. Presumably they continued to work the land with diminished status.

The Domesday Book of 1086 records Great Loughton in the hands of one Ivo, who holds in in service to Walter Giffard, one of the magnates of William's reign. Little Loughton was part of the territory of Maigno, the Baron of Wolverton, who has given it to two unnamed men-at-arms for their service.

The overlordship of Loughton was vested in Walter Giffard and in his descendants, variously the Clares and Valences and subsequently in the late 13th and 14th century in the lords of Buckingham and in the 16th century the Bishop of Peterborough.

Not that this mattered much to the peasants working the land; one overlord was much the same as another. The lord of the manor probably did matter as he was the one who led the management of the estate. Without getting into too much detail the manor does seem to have passed from Ivo to his descendants until 1313 when it was acquired by one Henry Spigurnel. We don't know how. It could have been through marriage. There was similar continuity on the Manor on the other side of the brook until the 14th century when both manors came under the control of one Thomas de Loughton.

While there were two manors there were two churches, at least until 1409 when the two parishes were amalgamated. All Saints, the surviving church, dates back to at least 1219 but has been much modified and enlarged over the centuries.

The Manor Farm house dates to the 16th century and was probably the site of the farm house for the Little Loughton Manor before amalgamation. There were three other farms in the 19th and 20th century: Old Farm, Rectory Farm and Loughton Lodge Farm on the Bradwell Road. I suggest that Old Farm, even in the 20th century quite isolated east of the railway, may relate to Grteat Loughton Manor. Rectory Farm, on Common Lane, may have been established when some land was given to the Rectory in the 19th century. Loughton Lodge Farm may also have been a 19th century creation, although I can find little about it.

Loughton

As a teenager in the 1950s I got a Saturday job working at the Talbot Inn washing dishes and stacking shelves. In those days there was still no M1 and coach travellers used the Talbot regularly as a refreshment stop. Trade was good, particularly on Saturday and I imagine that Loughton was a favourite stop as parking was much easier than in, say, Fenny or Stony Stratford. The landlord was Cliff Benmore, a muscular man who used to tell me he was glad he had his health and strength and that this was the most important thing in life. At my tender age I could scarcely relate to that.

Loughton was still a very small village in the 1950s, much like others in the area, with the exception that the A5 ran along the edge of the village and probably brought most, if not all its business. There were four pubs along the A5 - The Fountain, The Plough, The Talbot and The Bell, together with a few village shops. I think the Post Office in Shenley Church End served both communities. The old 17th/18th century part of the village was about half a mile to the north around a triangular green bounded by Leys road, Pitcher Lane and the Bradwell Road. Here there was a Church, Primary School and Manor House. The population was probably around the 400 mark.

The Talbot Inn was strategically the best placed, being at the crossroads of the Shenley-Bradwell Road and the London Road in a dip, and therefore a good place to stop. The London Road is still there but is now a quiet residential street, although early 20th century photographs don't show a great deal of traffic. The Talbot was probably built in the 17th century and enlarged in the 18th century to it present size when the coaching trade was at its peak. The arrival of the railways seriously hit the coaching trade and the 19th century censuses do not betray a great deal of activity. In the mid 19th century it was run by William Hines, who saw himself as a farmer first and innkeeper second. It was the motor car which revived the fortunes of the Talbot and the stables were converted to garages and they even sold petrol. As I mentioned earlier it was a busy place until the M1 began to drain away business.

Further up the hill is an old tavern called The Fountain. It was a "spit and sawdust" local until it was acquired in the 1930s by a character called Captain Frederick Maxwell McCormac, who upgraded both the pub and its clientele and proudly proclaimed it on his sign as "The Inn which is Different". There were some fields associated with The Fountain and I have heard that some of his friends used to fly in.

On the hill to the north was another pub called The Bell. This pub was still functioning after the war but it has now disappeared.

On the Shenley side of the London Road, between The Talbot and The Fountain stood The Plough. This is now a private residence.

There was a pub called The Wheatsheaf in Loughton in the 19th century. I don't know where this was located.

The rest was farmland, divided between four farms: Manor Farm, Lodge Farm, Rectory Farm and Old Farm. The 1851 Census shows a complete farming community, with a few farmers, a vicar and a land agent, and the supporting trades: butcher, baker, carpenter, blacksmith, tailor, shoemaker. The bulk of the population is made up of agricultural labourers and shepherds and a significant number of paupers - illustrating as much as anything the decline in agriculture in the 19th century.

Loughton is now a residential development close to Central Milton Keynes. The old Common Lane, which once would have taken you to Bradwell Common and Seckloe mound now comes to an abrupt halt after a few yards at the new A5.