With fens on three sides, early residents completed their defense by raising earthworks that are believed to have originally reached perhaps twenty feet in height.

The remains can still be found in the field by the church, and Beacon Mound that was used to relay messages in medieval times was added as part of them in c.14th century.

[3] The hoard of around 90 Iron Age gold coins dating from about AD 20 that was found in the area of Mortimer's Lane suggests that the village lay within the territory of the Iceni tribe.

During the Dark Ages the village may well have witnessed any of the many Saxon raids on the region and may be the origin of the many bones buried near the church.

[3] The first written record of the village dates from 896 when Alfred the Great gave "Freckenham in the County of Suffolk and my small estate in Yselham (Isleham)" to Burricus, Bishop of Rochester.

When the Vikings were finally expelled in 1046 the parish passed to Harold Godwinson and in 1066 to Odo of Bayeux brother of William the Conqueror.

[3] The draining of The Fens in the late 17th century radically changed the region, removing the fishing industry that dominated the area.

[3] It is likely that a place of Christian worship has existed on the site of the present church since the third century, though no archaeological trace remains.

[3] There is also a 1281 reference to the "Chappell of the Blessed Mary", indicating that the village was of sufficient size to merit a second place of worship.

[3] Due to a low population it contains limited facilities, but these include a 16th-century pub, The Golden Boar, a church, and a village hall.

He came from Snailwell, Cambridgeshire, and married Mary, daughter of Major Robert Thompson, of Newington Green, Middlesex (North London).