Fyfield in Essex 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.
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