Buckhurst Hill, United Kingdom

By the 1830s the population of Buckhurst Hill was large enough to need its own church. St John's Church was built in 1837 as a chapel of ease to Chigwell. It was assigned a chapelry district the following year, which was subsequently upgraded to being a separate ecclesiastical parish from Chigwell in 1867. In 1838, St John's National School was also built adjacent to the new church on land donated by the lord of the manor. The construction of the school cost £209, largely funded by donations from local residents.

Buckhurst Hill station opened in 1856 on the Eastern Counties Railway's branch line to Loughton. Following the arrival of the railway the area around the station was rapidly developed with new streets and suburban housing. Queens Road was laid out within a year of the station opening to serve as Buckhurst Hill's main commercial street, and the surrounding roads were laid out for housing, including numerous villas and grand houses. The population of Buckhurst Hill had been estimated to be 180 in 1838. By the 1861 census, the population of the ecclesiastical parish of Buckhurst Hill had grown to 787, and by 1884 the population had reached 4,000. Although never within London's administrative boundaries, as early as 1914 Buckhurst Hill was being described as a suburb of London.

The rapid development of Buckhurst Hill and other areas adjoining Epping Forest led to the clearing of some areas of the forest. Landowners pushed for further clearances, in which they were opposed by a public campaign to protect the remaining forest. These disputes culminated in the Epping Forest Act 1878 which gave statutory protection to the forest and passed responsibility for its management to the Corporation of London.

Whilst Buckhurst Hill had become a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1867, it remained part of the civil parish of Chigwell until 1894. When elected parish and district councils were established under the Local Government Act 1894, it was decided that the more developed Buckhurst Hill west of the Roding and the more rural part of Chigwell parish east of the Roding needed to be administered separately. The old parish was therefore split along the river, with Buckhurst Hill being removed from the parish of Chigwell to become its own urban district.

Buckhurst Hill Urban District was abolished in April 1933 when the area was merged with the parish of Chigwell (from which it had been separated less than 39 years earlier) and the Loughton Urban District to form the Chigwell Urban District. Buckhurst Hill continued to form a civil parish after the 1933 reforms, but as an urban parish it was ineligible to have a parish council; the lowest elected tier of local government between 1933 and 1974 was Chigwell Urban District Council.

The railway through Buckhurst Hill station was transferred to London Underground as part of the New Works Programme of 1935–1940. After diversion and electrification works, the route became part of the Central line in 1948.

Chigwell Urban District was abolished in 1974 when the area became part of the new Epping Forest District. The area of the former Chigwell Urban District became unparished as a result of the 1974 reforms. In 1996, three new civil parishes were created covering the area of the pre-1974 Chigwell Urban District: Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell, and Loughton.