Epping Forest

Dick Turpin used Epping Forest in the 1730s as a base and hideout for violent robberies, and it was there that the romantic legends surrounding his "cave" and ghostly apparition later grew. Epping Forest was the hunting ground of the notorious Gregory/Essex Gang , in which Turpin was active as a deer thief, burglar, and later as a highwayman who attacked travelers on the roads bordering the forest.
His career as a highwayman began with a series of robberies between Epping Forest and Mile End around April 1735.

The proximity of London made the forest ideal for quickly disappearing with loot.

According to tradition, Turpin had a cave deep in the woods, hidden among ferns and brambles near Wellington Hill in High Beech, from which he could watch the road and select victims.
19th-century maps placed "Turpin's Cave" near Loughton Camp, an Iron Age fort, but archaeologists never found an actual cave there: today, all you see is a shallow depression in the forest floor beneath the trees.

Turpin built a career in Epping Forest as an "upgrader": from deer smuggler and burglar, he progressed to armed robberies on horseback on the forest roads, encouraged by his initial escape with impunity. His gang was notorious for torture practices at farms around the forest: victims were beaten, scalded with hot water, or placed on the hearth to extract money.

One of the most frequently cited crimes surrounding Epping is the brutal robbery of the widow Shelley near Loughton, in which she and her son were threatened with violence to part with their savings. Turpin is also linked to the fatal shooting of Thomas Morris, a gamekeeper's servant, at High Beech; that incident contributed to the substantial royal bounty on his head.

In folklore, Turpin still haunts the forest: there are stories of his ghost on Traps Hill, riding his horse Black Bess and sometimes dragging a woman behind him.

Many romantic details (the knightly robber, the faithful Black Bess, the heroic night ride) are 19th-century embellishments that have little to do with the historical Turpin.
The real Dick Turpin was more of a violent career criminal than a Robin Hood, robbing primarily vulnerable, isolated residents around Epping Forest and leaving a trail of fear across Essex.

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