Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex and is part of the metropolitan area of London and the Greater London Urban Area. It is located between 11 and 13 miles (21 km) northeast of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill. Loughton includes three conservation areas and there are 56 listed buildings in the town, together with a further 50 that are locally listed.

The parish of Loughton covers an area of about 3,724 acres (15 km2),[1] of which over 1,300 acres (5 km2) are part of Epping Forest. The ancient parish contained over 3,900 acres (16 km2), but in 1996 some parts of the south of the old parish were transferred to Buckhurst Hill parish, and other small portions to Chigwell and Theydon Bois. At the time of the 2001 census Loughton had a population of 30,340,[2] and at the 2011 Census, 31,106. It is the most populous civil parish in the Epping Forest district, and within Essex, it is the second most populous civil parish (after Canvey Island) and the second largest in the area.