The history of the park and garden was researched by Kate Felus in 2007. It is now owned by Essex County Council and has been adapted for youth activities by Essex Outdoors. The mansion sits within the historic landscape of Danbury Country Park, a former medieval deer park, with later additions dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. The house has now been converted into apartments. Subsequently the house was in private hands, used as a maternity home during the 1939–45 War, acquired by the local authority as a college and then disposed of to developers. It was acquired by the Church of England in 1845 and became a residence of the Bishop of Rochester, known as Danbury Palace, until 1892. The original building has disappeared but another was built in 1832 in the Tudor Revival style, with red brick. Sir Walter Mildmay was the founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and built Danbury Place in 1589. The church also contains some memorial slabs to the Mildmays. Many pews feature distinctive poppy heads. The pews today still include at least 3 medieval ones.
The Church was closed for over a year and seating capacity was increased from 434 to 569. A much more significant restoration began in 1866 when George Gilbert Scott was engaged for the project. The Church had fallen into some decay by the early 19th century when efforts were made to repair it. Scott visited the village and stayed at the Griffin Inn in order to attempt his first venture into romantic fiction. In 1808, Sir Walter Scott was asked to complete the book by his publisher John Murray. Strutt also attempted to write a romance with a book called Queenhoo Hall. In 1779 the tomb of a knight was disturbed, and the body therein was discovered to be perfectly preserved in what was described as "pickle", but this was contested by Joseph Strutt, Member of Parliament (MP) for Maldon. In 1968 it was taken to be exhibited at the Louvre in Paris. There are three wooden effigies in the church which date back to the thirteenth and fourteenth century One has been identified as being that of William St Clere. The village has a long connection with the Sinclair family, known locally as St Clere. According to the legend, the Devil passed between the legs of a parishioner as he departed, and the man later died of a wasting disease. There is a local folk tale that the church's spire was damaged by the Devil in the guise of a monk in the year 1402. The church of St John the Baptist is the oldest building in the village, dating from the 13th century, and is grade I listed. There was also a small part of a third, now extinct, manor of Gibcracks. In medieval times Danbury developed from two manors, St Cleres/Herons and Runsell. The Griffin Inn where Sir Walter Scott stayed in 1808