Winfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Winfield family

The surname Winfield was first found in Suffolk at Wingfield, an ancient Saxon village that dates back to c. 1035 when it was listed as Wingefeld and probably meant “open land of the family or followers of a man called Wiga,” from the Old English personal name + “-inga” + “feld.” 1

“The Wingfields of Wingfield and Letheringham, both in Suffolk, a distinguished family of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, are traced nearly to the Conquest, though they do not appear to have been lords of the manor or castle of Wingfield before the reign of Edward II. ” 2

Wingfield Castle, was the ancestral home of the Wingfield family and their heirs. Of note was Sir John de Wingfield (died c. 1361), Chief Administrator to Edward the Black Prince, a title received c. 1351 as a result of his devotion his prince including Crecy in 1346 and in the Normandy campaign in 1347-1348. Wingfield College “was founded on the south side of the church [of Wingfield] by the will of Sir John Wingfield, in 1362, for a provost and nine priests.” 3