Great Canfield civil parish contains Grade listed buildings and historic landscapes, and records dating back to the Domesday Book of 1086.

One entry found in the Domesday Book describes Great Canfield as having a "Value to the Lord in 1066 [of] £6"[2] and agricultural resources from years 1066 to 1086: "Meadow 51 acres.

[3] The society aims to raise awareness of the area's character and history and conserve and protect its historic buildings, natural landscape and culture.

The remains are set within a wooded area bounded south-east to north-east by a bend of the River Roding, a feed from which was used to supply water to the castle moat.

Between the years 1831-1881, Great Canfield recorded an increase in the total number of houses from 93 to 104;[7] the population rate during this time decreased.

Historically the measurement of employment within parishes such as Great Canfield has been varied in terms of categorizing workers within different industries.

[11] This allowed for future census data to categorize these approximately 3000 job titles into more varied and accurate areas of industry.

Within the 1800s it is accurate to state that Great Canfield was mostly made up of people employed within the agricultural industry, most of whom would have been on a low income.

The second majority in distribution of employment as of the 2011 Census is within the 'skilled trades occupations' sector, making up 17% of the working population.