West Bergholt, United Kingdom

The Normans reached the village in 1067, after their conquest of 1066. The village had already been named Bergholta by the Anglo-Saxons, meaning "wood on a hill" (the woodland in reference here is believed to be the modern Hillhouse Wood on the outskirts of the village). The village also already had a church, in the form of a wooden single-celled building on the site of the current "Old Church", although was one of the least populous parishes in Lexden Hundred in the Middle Ages. The combined total of free tenants, unfree tenants, and slaves was 27 in 1066 and probably 32 in 1086. In 1377 only 105 inhabitants paid the poll tax.

Until the arrival of the Normans the village was split between two landowners: Leofwin Croz, Lord of the Manor, and Alfays Goding. They were replaced by Norman barons, Roger de Poitou and Richard fitz Gilbert. Roger de Poitou rebelled against the King Henry I in 1102, was banished to Normandy and his lands were removed. Richard fitz Gilbert was aligned with King Henry, and was allowed to retain his land.

The village changed its name to Bergholt Sackville in 1119 after Robert Sackville, son of Herband de Sackville, became Lord of the Manor. The Sackville family came to England during the time of the Norman Conquest and Robert was a member of the Royal Court and close friend of King Henry fighting for him at the Battle of Tinchebray in 1106. He was a religious man who became the first official rector of St. Mary's Church and donated a 240-acre (0.97 km2) estate in the village to St John's Abbey of Colchester. This estate was run by the Almery Priest, who gave the profits from the running of the Almery Farm to the poor of the village. Over the years there has been a confusion in the name of this farm and it has now become commonly known as Armoury Farm. After the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII the estate was sold to Richard Duke in 1544, who was one of the civil servants responsible for administrating land seized by the King. However, the estate was finally brought back into the Sackville family by John Sackville in 1544.

Bergholt has not always managed to maintain good relations with the Crown. During the Reign of King John, Jordon Sackville got on the wrong side of the King (Jordon was a rebel Baron and said to be an assistant to one of the twenty-five Peeres of the Reamle to see the Magna Carta signed) and had all of his land removed, including the Bergholt Manor, even though his father and previous Lord of the Manor, Geoffrey Sackville, was knighted by John. However, fortune landed on Jordon's side, as when King Henry III came to the throne in 1216 Jordon was granted all his land back. Although then his grandson, also called Jordon, assisted in the Barons' Revolt against King Henry III, claiming that he was not fit to rule the country in his 60s and was taken prisoner at the Battle of Evesham in 1265. However, as the King was a friend of his grandfather, he was pardoned after a year. Jordon's heir, Andrew Sackville whose sonne and heire, named Andrew Sackuill, was underage at the time of his father's death and was placed under the King's Ward, was likewise imprisoned in Dover Castle. Nevertheless, by the special command of the King, he married an Honourable Ladie of the household to Queen, whereby he not only gained the King's favour, but the greatest part of his inheritance, gaining the family's land in East Sussex. He died before 1291 and Bergholt Hall passed to his son, another Andrew de Sackville. The second Andrew held the manor until his death in 1316 and was succeeded by his son, a third Andrew de Sackville, who, in 1347, was given free warden in Bergholt by Edward III, allowing him to kill game in his manor. He died in 1370, and Bergholt Hall passed to his widow Maud. During Andrew's reign as Lord of the Manor Bergholt had become one of the poorest parishes in the Lexden Hundred by 1327 with the highest individual taxpayer be assessed being 7s. ½d, this was before the boom in the cloth industry which brought wealth to the village.

Maud married Edmund de la Pole, brother of Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, who took control of the Manor during her lifetime, but after her death in 1393 the manor passed to Sir Thomas Sackville, the son, possibly illegitimate, of Andrew de Sackville (d. 1370), as both of his legitimate half-brothers – Sir Andrew the younger (c. 1340–1366) and John – died in their father's lifetime. However, this only occurred after an eight-month dispute as to whether he or the Sackvilles of Fawley were the rightful heirs.