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.