The villages are recorded in the "Domesday Book" of 1086 as "Rodinges" in the Hundred of Dunmow. In the time of Edward the Confessor, it was held by the Abbey of St Æthelthryth of Ely; however, after the Norman Conquest, part was taken by William de Warenne. Part was also held by the de Veres and de Mandevilles families, who became the Earls of Oxford and Earls of Essex. By the 14th century, the boundaries and names of the villages had become fairly established. Abbess, Beauchamp and Berners Roding now form a single parish in the district of Epping Forest.