An ancient village listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, the name comes from the Old English Gamelingei, meaning "the enclosure of Gamela's people".

Another focal point was provided by the crossroads at the other end of Church Street and houses spread to the south and east of the junction.

Until a few years ago, the houses at Gamlingay Village College were named after Merton, Downing and Clare.

In 1600, 64 houses – comprising much of the village[4] – were destroyed in the "Great Fire of Gamlingay", as described in an extract of a letter from the Privy Council to Sir Thomas Egerton: "Whereas divers of the Justices of the Peace in the countie of Cambridge have certyfied us the lamentable accydent that hath fallen upon the inhabitantes of Gamlingay in the said countie, by casualltie of fire that happned on the 21St daie of Aprill last, whereby the moste parte of the said towne to the nomber of 76 houses with divers barnes and stackes of corne were suddainlie consumed."

By the 12th century, heathland had developed on the Lower Greensand and the poor drainage of the soil there meant there were two quaking bogs, on Gamlingay Heath (drained in 1855) and Cinques Common.

[citation needed] Farming, mainly arable, was the primary employer in Gamlingay for many centuries.

The closure of the brick and tile works probably caused the parish's population to fall in the aftermath of its sale in 1920.

[13] Two timber-framed buildings in the village date from the late 15th or early 16th centuries: Emplins,[14] a large house near the church, and Merton Manor Farm.

[4] A total of 60 buildings in Gamlingay parish are listed, including the Baptist chapel on Stocks Lane,[15] Merton Grange,[16] the Cock Inn,[17] a red telephone box outside the church,[18] and many buildings along Church Street, and 10 north lane The B1040 road runs through Gamlingay from Potton to the A14 near Hilton; minor roads lead to Hatley, Everton and Little Gransden.

Buses run from Gamlingay to destinations including Cambridge, St Neots, Great Gransden, Little Paxton and Sandy.

[20] (As Gamlingay Village College it was previously a Middle school and admitted pupils aged from 9–13).

It was built around the 12th century in the Early English style with a square tower (now containing eight bells) from field stones and local ironstone.

[25] There was also an Anglican mission church at Gamlingay Heath dedicated to St Sylvester, originally constructed in iron in 1879, which closed in the 1980s.

[4] Local amenities include a gym, two pubs, shops, two hairdressers, sports fields, a community centre, clubs and societies, cinema, nursery schools and a Grade II listed telephone box.