[2] The name Ewood (Iwode in Feet of Fines 1312) occurs in the parish and might derive from Old English for a forest of yew-trees, in which case the 'N' survives from a prefix such as 'in' (O.E.

[3] In early history Newdigate was at the western heart of the Weald a much more dense wooded forest occupying the space between the North and South Downs.

The place does not appear at all in the 1086 Domesday Book, and the connection with Copthorne is a probable result of the land holding by the Montfort family of Newdigate together with Ashtead Manor, while Parkgate was held with Reigate and Dorking by the Earls of Warenne and Surrey.

[6] Ewood (Yew Wood) was described during the medieval period as a "park" which was an enclosure of the forest for the purpose of deer hunting – the patent rolls of 1312 refer to it.

In 1564 Trinity College, Cambridge's estate at Newdigate was divided amongst various tenants who paid quit-rents, heriots, and owed suit of court.

In 1702 its manor house and farms of Naylors, Horseland, and Bearland, in good repair, were let to Dr. Akehurst, remained in the possession of Trinity College until the middle of the 19th century.

[2] In 1298–9 Walter de la Poyle died seised of the site of the manor of Cudworth or Cudford, in Newdigate and Rusper, Sussex which he held of the Abbot of Chertsey in socage.

[8] A description given in 1911 for the Victoria County Histories topological summary is in terms of land use: "The parish is still thickly wooded, and is purely agricultural, except for brick and tile works.

[8] From the 1930s to the early 1980s Newdigate was home to the Schermuly Rocket Pistol Apparatus Limited, manufacturer of devices for firing rescue lines to stricken ships.

[10] Endemic to the soil in Newdigate are a number of thick clay beds making the area was home to numerous brickmaking businesses.

[12] Due to a controlled number of properties in good condition, village amenities and Endowed Infant School, the house prices in Newdigate are considerably higher than in nearby North and South Holmwood.