 It appears that the manor-houses of Marden and Lagham were centres of population until the inhabitants were nearly exterminated by the Black Death of 1349.Marden Park, formerly a manor, owned much of the area however was until some point after 1911 part of the parish of Godstone.This was half of the manor of Walkhampstead held by Richard de Lucy, had also come into the possession of the St. Johns of Lagham by the middle of the 13th century.