the village probably sprang up during saxon times, when the wooded area began to be cleared for farming. by the time of the norman conquest the lands were owned by the king, the abbot of ely and a woman named eddeva. the normans gave eddeva's lands to alan, count of brittany, who passed them to the manor of swavesey. by 1109, the lands were all granted to the newly formed bishopric of ely.