[citation needed] North Weald Bassett in approximately 20 miles (32 km) north-east from the centre of London.

Peter de Valognes' manor in North Weald was said to contain woodland sufficient for 1,500 swine, showing how wooded the area was.

The parish church, St Andrew's, which dates from the 14th century, is ½ mile east of Weald Hall.

It may date from the 16th century but there is some evidence that the central block was an earlier open hall with a screens passage at its south-west end.

Two ancient timber-framed cottages which formerly stood on the north side of the main road near the end of Church Lane were destroyed in a German air raid in 1941.

In the 19th century the population followed the trend normal in rural Essex until about 1861: there was an increase to 886 in 1831 and a subsequent slight decrease.

New places of worship in the 19th century were the Congregational chapel in Weald Bridge Road, built about 1830 but closed about 1874, the Chapel of Ease at Hastingwood (1864), the Iron Mission Church at Thornwood (1888), and the Wesleyan churches at Thornwood (1883) and Weald Gullet (1888).

In 1865 coach travel in this area was superseded by the opening of the railway through Epping to Ongar, with a station at North Weald.

[14] The population rose very little during the first 20 years of the 20th century, and was only 1,239 in 1921 with the Post Office Radio Station established at Weald Gullet in 1921.

[19] The village Parish Council is based in Thornwood (as of 2024) and is responsible for maintaining allotments, local cemeteries, and public spaces (including parks, the Debt of Honour memorial, and benches), and providing first-stage planning scrutiny of developments and applications.

The 2024 district council election was notable in that it produced the first Independent councillor for the village since Harry Waterman in 1973 who won the most votes by a considerable margin.

In 2010, North Weald was adopted into Brentwood and Ongar, whilst Thornwood remained in Epping Forest.

which encompass patches of surviving pre-18th-century and 18th- 19th-century fields and a large area of ancient landscape to the south of the village.

Also to the west and east of North Weald Airfield, sensitive areas of historic landscape comprise surviving pre 18th century and 18th- 19th-century fields.

The service was further undermined when the Greater London Council removed the running subsidy for the line because it was not within the boundary of Greater London, and no comparable subsidy was forthcoming from the local government agencies in Essex, which meant that fare levels were much higher than on the rest of the Underground network.

A final request was made in 1994 with a proviso that the line was to be sold to a private organisation which would continue to run the services.

With the promise of continued services, the government finally agreed to London Underground closing the line.

After officially opening in 2012 as a heritage service Because London Underground would not provide platform space at Epping, North Weald is currently the westernmost terminus of the line, though a shuttle runs further west as far as Coopersale, though there are no station facilities there.

The westbound platform has been restored, with a new accessible ramp installed and an original GER latticework footbridge (formerly from Woodford) erected.

The branch once again runs locomotive-hauled trains between Ongar and North Weald, with a diesel shuttle towards Coopersale and connecting heritage buses to Epping.

A number of major arterial roads (B181 to Epping and A414 to London, Newmarket and, in the opposite direction, to Chelmsford) run nearby.

The main road from London to Newmarket and Norwich runs through the west and that from Epping to Chelmsford through the south of the parish.

Although unlicensed, it is home to many private aircraft and historic types and is host to a wide range of events throughout the year, including the Air-Britain Classic Fly-in and smaller airshows.

North Weald is home to several vintage and veteran aircraft such as the Spitfire, Mustang, Kittyhawk, Dakota, Skyraider, Seafire and Harvard,[citation needed] and also home to early ex-military jets such as the Hunter, Venom, Vampire, Gnat, Jet Provost, along with general aviation types such as the SportCruiser, Cessna 172, Piper PA28, Aero AT3 and the Cirrus SR22.

[citation needed] Resident organizations include Area 51, Hangar 11 Collection, Aces High, and Kennet Aviation.

The county council also runs a small library which doubles up as a meeting room for the parish council.Richard Biscoe (d. 1748), a nonconformist minister who later conformed and became chaplain to George II and Boyle lecturer 1736–38, was Vicar of North Weald from 1738 to 1748.

[38] In the 1990s, the Aces High hangar was used as the home for Channel 4's TV game show The Crystal Maze, which had moved from Shepperton Studios because of lack of space.

Channel Four's television show Chewing Gum filmed part of their second series (broadcast 2017)[41] down Vicarage Lane.

The shoot included both afternoon and evening filming of a train composed of stock of various arrangements from the chosen vintage period, giving backdrops for a wide range of scenes.

[42] In 2017, the BBC filmed an advert at North Weald station to advertise their online glossary about their coverage of Brexit.