For over 1000 years Letheringham has been a parish of ancient Loes Hundred.

Letheringham was recorded here in 1086 as a settlement in the hundred of Loose having 30 households (of which 16 were free).

The majority of lands were held under the local Lord, William of Bouville.

It remained under the patronage of the de Bovile family until the mid-14th century when it passed to the Wingfields.

After fire damage in the early 1600s, a descendant of his, Sir Robert Naunton, built a large mansion, Letheringham Abbey,[4] on the site to the south of the monastic church.