At the time of Edward the Confessor, the manors of Ruislip and Ickenham belonged to a Saxon named Wulfward White, a thane of the king who owned land in 11 counties. Ruislip parish included what are now Ruislip, Northwood, Eastcote, Ruislip Manor and South Ruislip.[3] Wulfward lost much of his land during the Norman conquest of England; Arnulf de Hesdin took control of Ruislip – his ownership is recorded within the 1086 Domesday Book. Ruislip appears in Domesday Book as Rislepe, thought to mean ‘leaping place on the river where rushes grow’, in reference to the River Pinn. It is formed from the Old English ‘rysc’ and ‘hlȳp’. Under Edward the Confessor, Ruislip had been valued at £30, though the reduction to £12 by the time Ernulf de Hesdin took possession is believed to have been caused by a passing unit of the Norman Army taking crops. This led to the construction of buildings at Manor Farm to protect produce. Before leaving England to fight in the Holy Lands, Ernulf de Hesdin gave ownership of Ruislip to the Benedictine Bec Abbey in 1087. He died fighting and is commemorated in annual masses held in June at Sacred Heart Church and on the remains of the motte-and-bailey at Manor Farm.

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