In the second half of the 19th century The Rodings came part of the Dunmow and Ongar Unions – poor relief provision set up under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. The parishes were in the rural deaneries of Roding and Ongar, the Archdeaconry of Essex, and the Diocese of St Albans. In 1914 the parishes came under the Diocese of Chelmsford. There were occasionally found Roman remains in the area. Crops grown at the time were chiefly wheat, barley and beans, on a heavy soil with a clay subsoil.