Episode 4 – Abbess Roding

Saxon History

The village of Abbess Roding is in the county of Essex, north-east of London. It is among a group of eight hamlets and villages in the area with the name ‘Roding’, and the area as a whole is called ‘The Rodings’. The pronunciation is like the word ‘Road’. The other Rodings are: Aythorpe, Beauchamp, Berners, High, Leaden, Margaret and White.

For a glimpse into the nature and beauty of this area, I can highly recommend this YouTube video walking between White Roding and Chipping Ongar.

The name’s origin reveals the area’s first settlers, a band of Saxons called the Hrođingas (the đ sounds like ‘th’ in ‘than’ – Hrothingas), the people of Hrođa. It seems this Hroda sailed up the river Thames, before turning up a tributary around where the London district of Barking is today. They continued up the river until they found a quiet, fertile area to settle and call their own, forging a small kingdom. As well as the eight settlements, they also gave their name to the river Roding that flows past many of the villages. The Saxons could have used the river as a highway – much easier to travel than muddy paths, especially in winter. [1]