Domesday Book.
When we come to Domesday Book we find no less than eight separate entries, all of which apparently relate to Loughton. The Canons are found to hold Debden and Alderton, with two other manors merely described as ‘Loughton.’ Peter de Valoines held two more, equally nameless, one being his demesne, and the other held by an under-tenant called Ralph; the latter was probably near North’s Farm on Buckhurst Hill; Robert Gernon held 44 acres, his under-tenant being W. Corbun; and the King held 20 acres, which were seemingly a sort of perquisite of the royal Reeve at Havering. There appear, therefore, to have been six manors and two extra-manorial holdings. What ‘manor’ meant in that remote period is still a moot point, but it is certain that the word was often applied to much smaller areas than in later times. A very learned modern writer suggests that the manor implies a channel of payment, the owner being liable for the Danegeld due not only from himself, but also from his free tenants, whose tie to him was otherwise very slight. And, in passing, we may note that ‘tenant,’ in the Domesday sense, is almost equivalent to our modern ‘freeholder.’ No mention is made of a church in Loughton, but it is more than probable that one existed.