The village is recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Hemegretham meaning the homestead or village of Hemma's meadow.[4] This is derived from the old Frisian word grēd meaning meadow or pasture.[5] The parish was located in Thingoe Hundred.[6]
Biodiversity
The botanist Thomas Gage lived in Hengrave Hall and produced an account of plants, moss and lichen which he had found in the village, which was published in The History and Antiquities of Hengrave in Suffolk[7] (1822) by his uncle, the historian John Gage Rokewode, who also lived in Hengrave Hall.