Did you know
Stagecoach reins rest or keeper posts
These date from the era when Epping was a coaching town. These are about ten feet up from the roadway and were used to tie off the reins while the stagecoach was ‘parked’ by the George and Dragon. These can be seen by the back entrance in Hemnall Street. There are two posts about twenty feet apart.
Late 19th century gate manufactured by Boulton and Paul of Norwich
This is now part of a garden fence to the town houses opposite 22 Hartland Road. It is behind a green metal cable television box.
The business of WS Boulton and Paul came into being in 1869 with a new foundry in Rose Lane, Norwich. By 1879 some 350 employees worked at Rose Lane. This may account for the flower, perhaps a rose, on the lock. This company went on to build the famous Sopwith Camel fighter aircraft during the First World War. They remained in business until the 1980s
William Cottis and Sons of Epping
William Cottis and Sons of Epping were founded in 1858. After a couple of moves in 1874 they built a foundry in what is now Cottis Lane. They remained in business until 1982. The buildings were demolished and replaced by Kestrel House an office block with large car park. Cottis were involved in manufacturing iron agricultural tools; in 1873 they secured an order for the lamps used on the Thames Embankments. They also supplied railings and lamp frogs to Buckingham Palace. Apparently much of this work survives today. The picture shows the villas built in Bower Hill in 1894. They are built on the site of the Cottis Brick works that operated between 1888 and 1904. Once this closed another works operated in the area of the present station car park until 1937. The photograph from the 1940s shows the Cottis garage, now Costa coffee. The Cottis showroom opened in 1938 is now Piccola, Cancer Research and Wimpy.
Plaques around Epping
A plaque in Hemnall Street commemorates Lucien Pissarro who lived at the address. The brass plaque at M&S recalls Sir Winston Churchill’s connection with Epping. Both plaques were instigated by the Epping Society. A blue plaque in Buttercross Lane commemorates Henry Doubleday. The author of the first catalogue of British butterflies and moths in the 1840s. His moth collection remains intact at the Natural History Museum. He also corresponded with Charles Darwin
