" Two small parishes are supposed to have received this name, descriptive of their situation, from the Saxon pean, high; the name in Domesday is written Heni, Hanies, and Heines: in other records it is generally Heny or Henny . The Hennies are bounded northward by Middleton; by Wickham St. Paul's on the west; on the south by Twinstead; and on the east by the river Stour.

It is about five miles from Halstead, and fifty-two from London. Part of the soil is light, sandy, and productive ; and , in the heavier lands, hops are cultivated. * In Edward the Confessor's reign, this district belonged to Ulwin, and several freemen; and, at the survey, had been given to Ranulph Peverel; John , son of Waleran, and Roger Bigot.
The under tenants were Robert de Vallibus, Turold, and Robert.

" This parish is truly small; it extends from Great Henny to the river Stour, near Little which the manor-house was situated ; and received the name of Rye, or Ryes Hall, Ryes Hall. from the old word Rye, which, according to Camden, means the banks of a river.t John de Rye was living here in the reign of King Henry the Third , and took his surname from the place. In the time of King Edward the Second , this estate had become the property of Thomas de Heriech ; from whom , in 1321, it had passed to Thomas de Grey , who , by his wife Alice , had a son named Thomas , who held this estate of the honour of Clare, at the time of his death in 1361 : his heirs held it , in 1400 , of Aubrey de Vere , earl of Oxford , by the denomination of one knight's fee in Little Henny . It had passed to John Parker , in the time of Henry the Sixth : from the year 1497 to 1502 , it was holden in two portions , by Robert Crackbone and John Archer , whose son Nicholas succeeded , in 1502 , on the death of his father, and, dying soon afterwards, left an only daughter, his heiress.

In the commencement of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Ryes Hall was in the possession of Thomas Eden, Esq. clerk of the Star-chamber: he married Grisild, daughter of Edward Waldegrave, Esq. of Sudbury, by whom he had several children ; his eldest son Thomas succeeded, and held this manor in 1577. He was afterwards knighted, and marrying Mary , daughter of Bryan Darcy, Esq . had by her St. Clere, John, William , and seven daughters. He was succeeded by his son St. Clere, who , dying in 1624, his brother , John Eden , came to the family inheritance, and marrying Ann, daughter of Richard Harlackenden , Esq . had by her his only daughter and heiress, Anne Eden , who conveyed the estate to her husband , Geofrey Little , of Halstead , to whom she bore several children : John Little, Esq . was the eldest son, and married Rebecca, daughter of George Sawbridge , by whom he had John Eden Little, George, Sawbridge , and Hannah and Rebecca. The old manor house has been pulled down , and a good farm-house erected in its place ; and the present proprietor of the estate , N. Barnardiston , Esq . has erected a spacious and elegant mansion , Ryes which has received the name of Ryes Lodge.

This seat is in a pleasant part of the Lodge. parish, and surrounded by plantations and grounds richly cultivated .

The church of Little Henny was a small ancient building, thirty feet in length , and eighteen in breadth, within the walls ; it was about half a mile north - west from the church of Great Henny , in a field south of Ryes Hall : no vestige of it now remains .

In 1821, the parish of Little Henny contained fifty-nine, and, in 1831, fifty-three inhabitants . "