Little Cornwall

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Little Cornwall is the name given to part of Loughton, Essex. It is the hilly part of north-west Loughton closest to Epping Forest and characterised by steep hills, weatherboarded houses, narrow lanes and high holly hedges. There are many architecturally significant properties in this part of Loughton, including 18th-century and Arts & Crafts houses as well as Victorian homes ranging from small terraced cottages to large mansions. Little Cornwall is roughly defined by the three conservation areas which it encompasses; Staples Road, York Hill, and Baldwins Hill, as well as parts of nearby Epping Forest. Electorally, it is mostly part of Loughton St. John’s ward, though the Staples Rd Conservation area falls into St Mary's Ward.

The name Little Cornwall was given by author Ruth Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh (1930- ) who was educated at Loughton County High School for Girls and subsequently worked as a journalist in Loughton at the West Essex Gazette. Some of her fiction is set in Epping Forest and Loughton, and the name Little Cornwall, occurs in ‘The Face of Trespass’, first published in 1974.

The area is also known as Loughton Hills, or ‘The Hills’, and occasionally as Little Devon. There are fine views from many points, notably across Epping Forest from Baldwins Hill, and across south-west Essex and north-east Greater London from the top of York Hill.

[edit] Notable people

Famous people associated with the Little Cornwall area of Loughton include:

Dick Turpin (1705-1739), who had a robber’s lair in the forest nearby and who traded in stolen venison, known locally as ‘black mutton’ (a row of houses in York Hill is known as Black Mutton Row);
Mary Anne Clarke (1776-1852), actress and mistress of Frederick, Duke of York;
William Bridges Adams (1797-1872), railway pioneer who invented the railway fishplate and credited with the original idea for the Crystal Palace;
Sarah Flower Adams (1805-1848), wife of W B Adams, poet and hymn writer who wrote ‘Nearer My God to Thee’;
Francis Worrell Stevens (c.1810-c1890), claimed as the true inventor of the penny post;
Robert Hunter (1823-1897), lexicographer and philanthropist;
Millican Dalton (1867-1947), nicknamed the ‘Professor of Adventure’, pioneering outdoor enthusiast, mountaineer and founder of the Camping Club;
Oswald Silberrad (1878-1960), the research chemist who discovered how to detonate TNT;
Sir Jacob Epstein (1880-1959), sculptor and painter, lived in Baldwins Hill and created many of his most famous works there;
Doris (1886-1965) and Muriel Lester (1882-1968), philanthropists and pacifist sisters who founded Kingsley Hall community centre in London’s East End.