Denbigh was named for Denbigh Plantation, which was patented by Captain Samuel Matthews, who came to Virginia before 1618, filled several important posts, and became the father of Lt. Col. Samuel Mathews, a colonial governor of the Virginia Commonwealth from 1656 to 1660.
1659 – May 1, 1706) lived at the plantation until sometime after receiving a land grant for several thousand acres just south of this area 1678.
Denbigh was also the name given to the colonial Anglican Parish in the area, which existed from 1635 until it was disestablished by the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786.
The colonial port was located at Deep Creek and the Warwick River on 50 acres (200,000 m2) of Samuel Mathews' land.
After the American Revolution, in 1809, Warwick Towne was abandoned, and the county seat was moved to the area near Stoney Run.