Histon

Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road which runs east–west. In 2011, the parish had a population of 4,655. Histon forms part of the Cambridge built-up area. Suggestions for meanings of Histon include: "farmstead of the young warriors" or "landing place". However, the latter of these is unlikely as Histon is situated above the floodline. The likely origin of the name is from the two Saxon/Old English words hyse and tun – hyse meaning "a young man or warrior", and tun meaning "house or farm". The village name has survived as unchanged as possible since the orthographic rules at the writing of the Domesday Book in 1086, when it was recorded as Histone, which demanded an e after an "n" culmination – see Middle English orthography, due to the focus on the downstrokes only in precious ink at the time. Some of the trackways that pass through these villages are believed to be prehistoric. Flint tools have been dug up in and around the area and aerial photographs show evidence of ancient settlements including Iron Age and Roman. Pieces of Roman pottery have been found in the area. The earliest part of Impington to be inhabited is near the junction of Cambridge Road and Arbury Road, where there is a large ancient settlement, thought to have been built by the Ancient Britons. The settlement was taken over by the Romans when they invaded Britain. There are several roads in Impington that are thought to be based on Roman roads. The Parish probably dates from about the sixth century, when a Saxon tribe called the Empings lived there. Over time, dukes have gone off to help prevent the Danes from invading, while William I sorted out an argument over the town (then 'Epintone') between the Norman Sheriff of Cambridge and the Church. Possibly the oldest surviving area of interest is Gun's Lane, which is named after a family who once lived in the lane.