Fyfield is a small historic settlement whose exact beginnings are lost in the mists of time.
The name itself comes from the Saxon word Fyfe, which means five, and Hyde
which is the amount of land an able-bodied man could reasonably be
expected to plough in a day with a good team of oxen. Historically, the
first mention of the village is in the Doomsday Book of 1086.
The parish has remained almost entirely an agricultural community
throughout history to the present day. Intensification of farming and the
arrival of the railway in Ongar in the 1900s led to changes in the modern
landscape. Small fields with plenty of hedgerows have now given way to
large scale farming, leaving only relics of an ancient landscape. Despite
its closeness to London, Fyfield retains a distinct rural character.
Ownership of the parish ‘tithes’, or land, has had a rather chequered
history. The most notable of these owners was the Scrope (or Scroop)
family from Masham, in the north of England, who took ownership after
1331. Henry le Scrope came under suspicion for treason due to his
political links with the French in the reign of Henry V. Following a
speedy trial at Southampton he was beheaded for being, in the words of
Shakespeare, ‘a vile traitor’. His headless body is said to be buried
in the Church of St. Nicholas, under the site of the existing organ.
The parish still contains many clues to the past. Both the village and the
surrounding countryside provide enough to tempt the amateur historian and
those keen on natural history. With its mixture of small woodlands,
ancient hedgerows, ponds, streams and the River Roding, there is a wide
range of good habitats, home to a diversity of wildlife.
Many of the buildings in the parish are of great historical interest, in
particular the church, Lampetts and Fyfield Hall, which is the oldest of
three manor houses in Fyfield.
|
|
St. Nicholas Church
Fyfield Bridge
Fyfield Pea
Roding - notes on a name The Dole Path
Dr Walker - a brief
biography The Postal Service
British
History online
- excellent historical outline with references to significant houses
Essex |