The station was opened as "Theydon" by the Great Eastern Railway (GER) on 24 April 1865 but in December that year it was renamed to its present name. It opened as an intermediate station on their Loughton–Ongar extension; the GER became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923. 'Milk trains' to Liverpool Street were a regular feature in the timetable until the underpass from Leyton to Stratford was built.
As part of the New Works Programme, 1935–1940, the LNER branch was transferred to London Underground, to form the part of the eastern extension of the Central line.
In 2015, advocacy by a local group forced a proposed 80-space commuter car park to seek planning permission before being constructed on land adjacent to the station.[9]
The station today
The station was one of the first on the Underground network to operate without a staffed ticket office.[citation needed]
^Hardy, Brian, ed. (March 2011). "How it used to be – freight on The Underground 50 years ago". Underground News (591). London Underground Railway Society: 175–183. ISSN0306-8617.
