Willingham

The name Willingham probably originated from being the homestead of the family or followers of a man called "Wifel" and was called Vuivlingeham c. 1050 and Wivelingham around 1086. The name Wivelingham was also used to refer to the village until the 18th century. The area at the edge of the fens to the north of the present village was already occupied by the 2nd century, though these were at some point abandoned. The Aldreth causeway, which formed the main route between Cambridge and Ely in medieval times and perhaps dating from the Bronze Age, runs through the east of the parish past Belsar's Hill, and until the opening of the Cambridge-Ely turnpike in 1768, carriage traffic would have run…