Like all old places, Chadwell St. Mary has its traditions. One of these says that Saint Chad came here on a mission to South Essex and that he baptised his converts in the well at the foot of Chadwell hill—so the name Chadwell.

Alas, this tradition does not seem to be founded on fact. The most likely origin for the name of Chadwell is connected with the "well" but not with Saint Chad.

In the Domesday Book the village is called "Celdewella", which means cold spring.' Without much difficulty we can see how this developed into Chadwell. The centre of village life is the church, and it is from the church that Chadwell obtained the rest of its name. It is possible that there was an Anglo-Saxon church on the site of the present church, but there is no trace of it nor have any other Anglo-Saxon traces been discovered in Chadwell.

The present church was first built in the 12th century by the Normans and was extended in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. During the recent restoration work, the builders found that much of the stone they had to take out and replace had been used before in another church, probably on the same site. The cool clear water from the foot of the hill, and the church dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin at the top of the hill, combined to give the name Chadwell St. Mary. This name represents the two most important things in the life of the people - good water means good health, and the church is a centre of spiritual health.