Mayfield History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Mayfield family

The surname Mayfield was first found in Staffordshire or Sussex where we find parishes named Mayfield. The Staffordshire parish dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was known as Medevelde. 1 The Sussex parish was originally known as Magavelda in the 12th century. Both parishes have very different histories.

The Sussex parish dates back to “Henry III. [who] granted a charter for a market and two fairs to be held here; the former has long been disused, and the latter are on May 30th for pedlery, and November 13th for cattle and pedlery. A great fire broke out at Mayfield in 1389, which burned the church and the greater part of the village. ” 2

The Staffordshire parish dates back to Roman times where “this place, from the discovery of Roman antiquities in the immediate vicinity, is supposed to have been occupied by the Romans: in digging a morass, vestiges of a paved road were discovered, and traces of an old fortification have been found at a place called Clines. ” 2

Both parishes literally mean “open land where madder grows,” from the Old English “maeddre” + “feld.” 3 4 5 Rose Madder or Common Madder or Dyer’s Madder, is a herbaceous perennial plant species belonging to the bedstraw and coffee family Rubiaceae.

Ironically, we must look to Kent to find the first record of the family. For it is here that Phillip de Maleville was recorded 1210-1212. Much later, William Mayfeild was listed in Devon in 1642. 6

More recently, the surname is common in Nottinghamshire and this may an additional point of origin. 7