[1][2] The earliest record of Ickleton Priory's existence is a commission issued between 1174 and 1181 by Pope Alexander III.

[2] This was in response to the priory's claim that in about 1163 Thomas Becket, then Archbishop of Canterbury, had granted the nuns in income of 40 shillings from the parish church of nearby Fowlmere.

[2] In 1151, the manor of Ickleton was given to the Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford as a wedding gift by King Steven and Queen Maud for his marriage to Euphemia.

The priory dominated Ickleton for three and a half centuries and held the parish's principal manor, which by 1536 covered 714 acres (289 ha).

[2] The priory's other Cambridgeshire lands were in the parishes of Ashdon, Elmington, Great Chesterford, Greshall, Littlebury and Strethall.

[2] By 1227 the prioress had the right to hold at Ickleton a weekly market, an annual fair[1][2] and a court leet.

The second was on 16 June 1381 in the Peasants' Revolt, when rebels attacked the priory and burnt the prioress's court rolls and documents.

[2] The Victoria County History states that Abbey Farm, east of Duxford Road, is on the site of the priory.

[1] In the 18th and early 19th century it was a one-day event on the feast day itself, trading mainly in horses and cheese.