Place Name
Takes its name from a small house called Little Gaynes which was a hundred yards or so past the junction with the Grove towards Hacton Lane. This is a corruption of the d’Engayne family name, lords of the manor in the 13th and 14th centuries (the name has also been spelt de Engen or Engaine, and even Gaines). The Upminster estate was the largest of three manors in the area, at the time of the Domesday Survey it covered the whole parish except the north-eastern and the southern extremities, making up some 1,600 acres including forest. Before the Norman Conquest the manor was held by Swein the Swarthy and by 1086 it belonged to Walter of Douia. It passed down the family line and eventually, by 1215, inherited by Vitalis (Viel) Engayne, losing them for a short time after he joined the barons in the rebellion against the unpopular King John. They were back in his possession by 1218. When he died in 1248 they were passed to his sons John and Henry Engayne. In 1297 John Engayne (later Lord Engayne) inherited them from his father of the same name. The manor remained in the family until the death of the last male, Sir Thomas Engayne, in 1367. Leases to the estate were then granted to Simon de Havering for 10 years. Gaynes remained with the de Havering family until around 1378 when it was acquired by Alice Perrers, the young mistress of Edward III in his dotage. She was widely despised for the great influence she had at the ageing monarch’s court from about 1369 – 1376. Alice lived at Gaynes and was buried at St Laurence church when she died in 1400. There have been various interpretations of the d’Engayne family name. It has been suggested that the family de Engen or Engaine, originally coming from Engen near Boulogne with William I. For a time it was believed to have been that of the man who managed the engines of war for William the Conqueror and was called de Ingeniis. Another suggestion is that it may be due to some personal quality of brilliance on the part of the man who held it, the Latin word ingenuus meaning clever or talented. Certainly the name stuck, Gaynes Road was named after Great Gaynes, the residence of Henry Joslin of Gaynes Park manor house, Upminster. Gaynes Park, also known as Park Hall, Gaines or Genis, was part of a medieval deer park belonging to the manor of Theydon Garnon.
