The first recorded history of Rayleigh refers to the year 604AD with the heathen Saxons receiving the Christian faith from Cardinal Mellitus, the first Bishop of London and third Archbishop of Canterbury.



The first notable man in Rayleigh appearing in the reign of Edward the Confessor before the Norman Conquest was Robert FitzWimarc. He was a standard bearer and Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire and a close friend of William the Conqueror. Thanks to his help in paving the way for the invasion he was rewarded with gifts of land and further strengthened his friendship with William.

Rayleigh's Castle is the only one in Essex referred to in the Domesday book, the 900th anniversary of which was celebrated in 1986.

The name Rayleigh appears in the archives in the region of 50 different spellings. One form is Rayley which indicates two distinct roots. Roa is a Saxon word for Robuck and lea a pasture probably for goats, which leads one to deduce the beginnings of the town were an animal clearing.

From the time of FitzWimarc there were strong connections with royalty. Swein, his son, carried on a good relationship and made Rayleigh his headquarters for the administrative post as Sheriff of Rayleigh and he built the Castle on the Mount site.

Swein's son, Robert de Essex, was very influential in shaping the history of Rayleigh for the ensuing centuries. King John visited Rayleigh in 1214 and granted the Honour of Rayleigh to Hubert de Burgh, which was confirmed by Henry III in 1217.

In about 1230 De Burgh received a licence to build Hadleigh Castle and during the 14th century it gained prominence over Rayleigh Castle until in 1394 Richard II gave permission for the foundations of the old castle to be used by locals for their own purposes. Some for their property and some for the tower of Holy Trinity Church and perhaps some for Hadleigh Castle. The next account of Rayleigh Castle is in 1631 when it is mentioned as ‘a ruined castle’.

There is strong evidence that the town was long surrounded by forests and continued as the administrative centre for the Rochford Hundred. Rayleigh was given to Philippa Queen of Edward III in 1338. She was responsible for the erection of a Court House which was later destroyed by the town's inhabitants.

Royalty continued to be involved in the town of Rayleigh as records show that Queen Elizabeth 1 hunted in the forests which surrounded the town and stayed at Rayleigh Lodge which is situated in The Chase.

During the major part of the 17th century the estate of Rayleigh remained in the ownership of the Riche family. However in 1678 the estate was bought by the Earl of Nottingham who then sold it to a Robert Bristow in whose ownership it remained until the 18th century when he relinquished the title following a financial settlement.

Rayleigh Town Council has an excellent Heritage Trail leaflet that can be viewed and/or downloaded from http://www.essexinfo.net/rayleightowncouncil/heritage/