[citation needed] Probably the most influential at that time was Wills Ayley where Monks from Saffron Walden had been granted 60 acres of land in 1070.
In 1090 Geoffrey de Mandeville, Lord of Saffron Walden, granted 60 acres of land to Sigesward reputedly his food taster.
Ten years after his death in Belgium in 1114, his grandson, Albold de Pouncyn applied to have the land reinstated to him.
[citation needed] In the mid 14th century the Black Death reached Sewards end and the population of the village reduced from 400 to 100.
[citation needed] In common with many other rural villages of its size, Sewards End has seen many changes in recent decades.
The 2nd half of the 20th century saw the village moving away from its rural roots where a high percentage of the population either worked on the land or in local industry, to the role of dormitory village, the population frequently commuting to Cambridge or further afield to London via road and rail links.
[citation needed] These changes have inevitably led to alterations in the social fabric of the community and they are evidenced by the closure of the village's two pubs (The Fox and the Green Dragon), its local shop, post office and garage as well as the downsizing of its once vibrant cricket club during the last 3 decades of the 20th century.
[citation needed] The increasing affluence of the area has also seen several examples of sympathetic restoration to local properties such as "Campions", "Satis House", "Wheel Hall Cottage" and more recently "Sewards End Farmhouse".
[citation needed] The Hundred Parishes Media related to Sewards End at Wikimedia Commons