Image:UK Epping highstreet.jpg Epping is a market town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the county of Essex in England.The market day was anciently Friday but is now on Monday.

Epping is widely known in Germany for being the home of Peter, David, Betty and Helga, featured in many textbooks used to teach English to German children. It is twinned with the German town of Eppingen in northwest Baden-Württemberg.

1 Geography
2 Transport
3 Government
4 Schools
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Epping lies about 17 miles north-east of the centre of London towards the northern end of Epping Forest on a ridge of land between the River Roding and River Lea valleys. The town had just over 11,000 inhabitants in 2001. [2]

Most of the population live in the built up area centred on the main road (B1393) and station. About a thousand people live in the large hamlet (or small village) of Coopersale which, while physically separated from Epping by forest land, is still part of the civil parish. A few dozen households make up the hamlets of Coopersale Street and Fiddlers Hamlet. Much of the eastern part of the present parish was until 1895 in the parish of Theydon Garnon.

It lies north of the M11/M25 junction at Theydon Garnon and is near to M25 junction 26 (Waltham Abbey, Essex) and M11 junction 7 (Harlow).

[edit] Transport

Epping is served by a number of bus routes, serving many surrounding towns and villages including Harlow, Thornwood Common, Abridge and Romford.

Epping is served by a tube station, the eastern terminus of the Central Line of the London Underground.

[edit] Government

Epping is part of the Epping Forest parliamentary constituency, represented by Conservative front bench spokesperson Eleanor Laing. From 1924 to 1945, the old Essex Epping division (which included Woodford, Chingford, Harlow and Loughton as well as Epping) was represented by Winston Churchill. It now sits in the Epping and Theydon Bois division of Essex County Council. The town is divided into two district council wards. Epping Hemnall encompasses most of the town south-east of Epping High Street (B1393) including Ivy Chimneys, Fiddlers Hamlet and Coopersale. The rest of Epping lies in Epping Lindsey and Thornwood ward, as does Thornwood in the adjacent parish of North Weald Bassett. Both wards elect three councillors each.

As well as the county and district councils Epping has a town council consisting of 12 councillors, six each elected from Epping Hemnall and Epping Lindsey wards.

[edit] Schools

St John's School, the only secondary school in Epping, is now designated as a specialist engineering college. The school has an active charity fundraising group led by a Student Executive team which includes their Deputy Head Boy and a Fundraising Co-ordinator (2005-2006). They recently worked with the local Cancer Research shop to raise money for the charity.

[edit] References

Epping Forest District Council (2005). Key Facts: 2001 Census.
(2002) Epping Town Guide. Plus Publishing Services (on behalf of Epping Town Council.
Jenkins (2001). Churchill. Macmillan, 391-392. ISBN 0-330-48805-8.