Stanway Heath is originally shown on the 1777 Chapman & Andre Historic Map, located where the settlement of Stanway is now. The heath is shown on this map to be an irregular shape, with an area of 90.22ha. The map shows a number of buildings on the edge of the heath. However, as none of these buildings have been listed it is difficult to tell if any of them survived. The heath was originally connected to Lexden Heath, and although they both have separate names, it is impossible to tell on this map where one heath ends and the other begins. <1>

Stanway Heath is then shown on the County Series at 1:2500 Scale Epoch 1 Historic Map (1874-1887), which shows the heath to be a lot smaller and more compact than it used to be. It has lost most of the land to the north to farmland and has shrunk to an area of 59.17ha. The heath is no longer connected to Lexden Heath, as it too seems to have lost some of its land as well. In modern times the heath seems to have disappeared completely, with only pockets of similar land surviving. This is due to increased urbanisation, and the land being used for farming. The site has seen a number of archaeological work over the years, including a number of Portable Antiquities Schemes, a desk based assement, trial trenching and a magnetometry survey. <2>