1013    Body of St Edmund said to have rested overnight at Greensted Church
c.1060 St Andrews Church Greensted probably rebuilt
c.1070 St Martin’s Church probably completed
c.1080 Estimated date that Ongar Castle was built
1157    King Henry II visited Ongar Castle
1222    Earliest recorded date of Ongar Fair
1285    John the Clerk killed whilst ringing the bell at St Martin’s Church
1287    Earliest recorded date of a market being held in Ongar
1321    King Edward II visits Ongar Castle
1483    Henry, Earl of Stafford, holder of Ongar Castle, beheaded
1500s  White House and Dyers built
1547    Castle House built for William Morice
1668    Wren House probably built (much altered in 18th century)
1678    Joseph King bequeathed five houses to the town (Kings Trust Houses)
1697    The King’s Head built
c.1711 First non-conformist chapel built
1748    Poor House repaired next to rectory
1797    Ongar bridge rebuilt in brick by County Surveyor
1800s  Brickyard established in Greensted Road
1800s The Wilderness built (present library site)
1800s  St Peter’s, Shelley rebuilt in brick after demolition of the medieval church
1811    Reverend Isaac Taylor and family move to Ongar
1811    Ongar Grammar School opened as Ongar Academy (now Central House)
1824    Jane Taylor, author of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, died and buried in the United Reformed Church
1833    Congregational Church built rebuilt on site of non-conformist chapel (now URC)
1836    Ongar Union formed to administer the Poor Law
1837    Ongar Gas Company established
1838    Dr David Livingstone, African explorer, trained at the Congregational Church (URC)
1838    Ongar Union adopt and expand the workhouse built at Stanford Rivers
1839    Three Tolpuddle Martyrs lease New House Farm, Greensted
1855    Ongar Police station established (included a courthouse)
1865    Poor Law Union set up a health board
1865    The Great Eastern Railway extended to Ongar
1866    Ongar Cemetery opened
1869    St Helen’s Catholic Church built
1873    Drill Hall built for Essex Volunteer Rifles behind Wren House
1883    St James’ Church built
1884    St Martins Church extended
1886    Budworth Hall built by public subscription
1888    St Peter’s Church, Shelley, built in the churchyard of the site of two previous churches
1892    Four cottages built in Banson’s Way for railway workers
1893    Ongar Fair abolished
1894    Chipping Ongar Parish Council and Ongar Rural District Council formed
1895    Public meeting on the foul state of Cripsey Brook
1896    District Council House (Essex House) built
1897    Town Hall demolished
1898    Ongar Waterworks Company began
1898    Proposed rail extension to Dunmow
1902    Ongar gets its own sewage system
1903    Building starts on Hackney Cottage Homes (Great Stony) Built between 1902 and 1905
1904    First houses built in Cloverley Road
1904    Shelley Villas built along Fyfield Road
1907    Water Company becomes part of Herts & Essex Water Company
1908    The first children arrive at Hackney Cottage Homes
1912    Father Thomas Byles, priest at St Helen’s Church died on RMS Titanic
1912    Telephone Exchange opened
1913    Seven more railway cottages built in Banson’s Way
1915    Budworth Hall became a military hospital
1917    Greensted Road Brickyard moves to Hallsford Bridge
1920s  Green Line bus depot established plus housing for workers (Fairfield Road estate)
1921    First recorded date of Ongar Scout Troop
1923    Stanford Rivers Workhouse sold
1926    Shelley Parish Council formed
1928    Construction of Ongar Cottage Hospital began at 69 Fyfield Road
1932    Shelley Rectory burnt down
1932    Electricity arrived in parts of Ongar
1933    Ongar War Memorial Hospital opened
1934    Runaway goods train at Ongar Station
1935    Ongar Gasworks closed
1936    Ongar Secondary School opened
1940    Troops and evacuees billeted at Budworth Hall
1941    Ongar Grammar School (Ongar Academy) closed
1944    Proposal for ‘Ongar New Town’ as part of Abercrombie’s Greater London Plan.
1945    St James’ Church bombed
1946    Ongar Research Station (May & Baker) established (now houses)
1949    Epping-Ongar line comes under London Transport but remains steam hauled
1950s  Shelley Estate built
1951    Fire engine house demolished (near Two Brewers pub)
1955    Epping & Ongar Rural District Council formed
1956    Shelley school built
1957    Epping-Ongar line electrified
1957    Hackney Homes becomes Great Stony School
1957    St James’ Church re-built
1957    Bowes Drive & Marks Avenue built
1958    Castle Estate (Mayflower way etc.) built
1959    Longfields built
1960    Bansons Lane telephone exchange opened
1960    Great Lawn & Shakletons built
1961    The Elms built
1962     Scout Building opened
1962    Last steam train ‘special’ to Ongar
1963    Last Ongar Agricultural Show
1964    Green Walk & Woodland Way built
1964    New police station built
1965    Civil Parish of Ongar formed
1966    New fire station built and freight trains discontinued from Ongar
1968    Budworth Hall became a Community Association
1968    Ongar Junior School moved to Greensted Road
1968    Shelley House demolished (Four Wantz)
1969    The Wilderness demolished (now the library car park)
1970s  Springfield Close built
1970    Secondary School becomes Ongar Comprehensive School
1970    First World War Memorial Hospital closure threat
1971    St Helen’s Church extension, altar changed ends
1974    Epping Forest District Council formed
1974    Kettlebury Way built
1977    Ongar Sports Centre opened
1980    Turners Close and Stanley Place built
1980    Tube changes to peak hours only service
1980    Gas holder dismantled at the bottom of Coopers Hill
1983    Chipping Ongar School becomes a primary school
1984    Ongar twins with Cerizay, France
1985    Ongar Infants move from behind Budworth Hall to the Greensted Road site
1989    Ongar Comprehensive School closed after a 3-year campaign
1990    Smiths Brasserie replaces Red Cow public house
1992    Old infants school demolished
1993    Shelley new school opened
1994    David Livingstone Walk created
1994    Railway closed from Epping to Ongar
1995    Great Stony School closed
1995    Tesco Express opened
1996    New library opened on The Wilderness site
1997    High Street enhancement – resurfacing of roads and pavements
1998    Railway sold to a private company
1998    Sainsbury’s supermarket opened, built on the site of Ongar Infant’s School
1998    Great Stony Park becomes a housing estate
1999    Ongar Arts & Education Centre opened at Great Stony
1999    Oaklands (Greensted Road) built
1999    The award winning book Aspects of the History of Ongar was published by OMHS
2000    Ongar’s Millennium Walk was established by OMHS
2001    Hunters Chase built
2002    Clock on Budworth Hall electrified to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee
2004    Ongar Campus (the site of the Ongar Comprehensive School) demolished
2004    20th Anniversary of Town Twinning with Cerizay celebrated
2009    Office of National Statistics shows Ongar’s population as 6,407
2010    OMHS first website
2011    Zinc Arts Centre opened on the site of Great Stony School
2012    Epping Ongar Railway opened as a Heritage line
2012    Nature reserve renamed the Jubilee Nature Reserve to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee
2013    Ongar Health Centre opened on the site of Ongar War Memorial Hospital
2015    New Ongar Academy opened
2015    17th Century King’s Head restored and opened as a restaurant
2018    First Ongar Town Festival
2019    Cock Tavern relaunched to become a pub and kitchen
2020    Town decorated for VE Day 75th anniversary and celebrated with garden parties due to Covid-19 

Please note that authors of this timeline have made some assumptions and estimated some dates due to lack of (or conflicting) documentary evidence.

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