PHOTOS hidden deep in the archives of Essex Record Office revealed here by the Guardian reveal the past of some of Epping Forest's high streets.

F Bosworth's Butchers shop was a fixture in Church Hill, Loughton for over 100 years after being founded in 1886.

It was one of the oldest family firms in Loughton before sadly shutting its doors for the last time in 2011.

As for the King's Inn in High Street, Ongar, it has proudly stood in the same spot since 1697.

The pub closed in 2008 in need of urgent repair, but the haunted building is yet to be touched.

Ex-licensee and medium Anne Wright experienced some of the strange goings on herself.

She said: "There was these greasy handprint, the size of a childs, on the stairway, which no matter how often you cleaned it away it would appear the next morning.

"I would also get woken up at six o'clock every morning and pushed out of bed - I think that was the time the maids used to get up. So much used to happen."

Epping High Street has hardly changed over the years apart from the coming and going of different businesses and shops.

Staff at the office in Chelmsford are painstakingly making the miles of archived material kept on their shelves digital and the districts history can now be viewed online.

To search the documents, drawings and photos visit seax.essexcc.gov.uk.