Beadwan is thought to be a Celtic word of uncertain meaning,[2] possibly "birch stream" or a reference to the goddess Badbh.

It contains a 14th-century 'Devil's door', dating to the time when medieval Christians believed the North of side of a church to be the abode of the Devil.

[5] Thomas Hooker who founded the colony of Connecticut lived in the village and was a school teacher there before going to Holland and then to New England.

Missionary John Eliot, ‘Apostle to the Indians’, served here as Hooker’s assistant.

[6] Eric Eastwood settled in Little Baddow after he started work at Marconi Research Laboratory in 1948.