It's ten years ago this week since we gave an update on the restoration work being undertaken at a historic hall in Epping Forest.

The former glory of a community hall that played an important part in saving Epping Forest is gradually being restored.

The roof of the Lopping Hall in Loughton High Road is close to being repaired and even the weathervane on top is getting a fresh coating of gold leaf as part of the first major restoration there for decades.

Perry Eales, whose company Perry Signs London is restoring the Victorian weathervane, said: “It’s a very old craft.

“The metal has to be cleaned, gilded and burnished before being lacquered. There are not a lot of people who still do it.”

The Lopping Hall was built in 1884 to compensate the people of the town for having their right to fell trees in Epping Forest taken away when the Corporation of London took the forest into its care.

Chris Pond, chairman of the hall’s trustees said the refurbishment was part of a long-running project funded through grants and a business loan, aimed at opening the hall up to a wider section of the community.

“Last year, we installed a new disabled lift,” he said. “That should make it accessible for more groups.

“We hope to get a grant for a complete refurbishment of the kitchen, because at the moment, it’s like something out of the 1940s.”

A recent find that the trustees hope to add to the hall in the near future is a large lamp that once hung outside and has been given back to the trustees by an elderly man living in Wanstead who had it in his home.

“We don’t think we can put it back outside because it’s a large glass thing and it would overhang the footpath and be a target for vandals,” said Mr Pond. “We hope to be able to put it somewhere in the hall.

“The bracket had to be specially made by Loughton smith Edwin Van Ryne, who operated in the High Road, near where Papa John’s pizza place is now.”