Well, technically Debden is a part of Loughton town because officially there’s no town called Debden and all Debden addresses are Loughton addresses too. So on paper Debden is a suburb of Loughton, an estate that was built after the World War II to house people who lost their homes during the war. Why then there’s still a divide between the old part of Loughton and new Debden - the former council estate where these days almost all houses are privately owned?

I think this comes from the different types of people who live in different parts of Loughton as well as costs of houses and access to amenities and local transport. It’s like the divide between Old Harlow and Harlow but much less distinct.

Whereas houses in old Loughton are in totality respectfully old, distinctive and expensive; houses in Debden are new-ish, were cheap to build and with minor variations look the same.

Old Loughton houses rich people, white collar workers from London City; Debden on the other hand have simplier popuation - mostly London service sector workers like builders and taxi drivers.

Old Loughton has a lot of shops, cafes, eateries, two big supernarkets, leisure centre and several chirches; Debden has its own town centre with shops and two small supermarkets but simple local cafes and no well-known restaurant chains.

I think you get the trend. Debden is like a little sister of Loughton - it’s more disrespectful and less politically correct, younger and therefore prone to errors. But it doesn’t make her less of a sister - she is still loved and hated in the same time, just like in a real family. Old Loughton like an older sister would always look after Debden no matter what. And in my observations people don’t tend to say “I live in Debden” or “I live in old part of Loughton”, they just say “I live in Loughton” and this is how it should be.

So do you consider Debden to be a part of Loughton?

Here are couple of for and against points to consider:

For:

• Two towns are united under one name - Loughton. Debden is just a name of the locality now, which came from Debden Green - a hamlet north of Loughton. Debden is not recognised on road maps.
• Debden has generally lost its “estate” feel because the majority of houses are privately owned.
• People who live in Debden go shopping to Old Loughton and often visit Loughton Leisure Centre, restaurants and a night club because these have not been opened in Debden yet.
• Some areas considered to be Debden are closer to Loughton town centre than to Broadway (i.e. Debden town centre)
• Old Loughton and Debden have the same bus routes - almost all buses that go to Loughton also go to Debden.

Against:

• There’s a visible class divide between the people in old Loughton and Debden as well as different types of houses.
• Old Loughton and Debden have their own town centres, the undergound stations and designated end-of-route bus stands.
• Old Loughton and Debden are geographically divided - Old Loughton occupies the north-west of geographical Loughton and Debden occupies the south-east.
• Old Loughton residents mainly vote for Conservatives; Debden residents mainly vote for Labour and LRA.