The village was recorded in the
Domesday Book of 1086 as
Depeduna (deep valley), and became known as Debden at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. After the
Norman conquest the manor of Debden was granted to Ralph Peverel, but reverted to the crown after Peverel's grandson,
William Peverel the Younger, poisoned the
Earl of Chester. King John later granted the manor to
Geoffrey Fitzpeter, 1st Earl of Essex and it descended in that family until becoming Crown land again. Henry VIII granted it to
Lord Audley, from whom it descended to his grandson,
Thomas Howard, Baron Howard de Walden and Earl of Suffolk. It was acquired in 1715 by wealthy merchant
Richard Chiswell, MP and remained in the Chiswell family for some 100 years. It then passed by marriage to the Vincent family who held it until 1882 when Mrs Cely-Trevilian, the last member of the family, sold it to
William Fuller-Maitland of
Stansted Mountfitchet Hall. By the First World War it had come into the possession of
Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal. Later owners found
Debden Hall too expensive to maintain, and so the house was demolished and part of the estate sold off in 1935. The
Church of England Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin and All Saints is Grade I listed. A flint and stone church is 13th century but with considerable 18th-century restoration and rebuilding after the 1698 fall of the central tower which destroyed the chancel. The clerestorey and chancel were rebuilt in 1793 when the west bell turret, spire and parapets of the nave and aisles were probably added. The restoration and rebuilding was done by
Richard Muilman Trench Chiswell of Debden Hall, whose elaborate tomb in the chancel was designed by
John Carter. Since 2007 the village has been
twinned with the village of Tang Ting in rural
Nepal. Image:Debden church.JPG|Church of St Mary the Virgin and All Saints Image:Debden village sign.JPG|Village sign == Notable people ==