Impington

Impington is a settlement and civil parish about 3 miles north of Cambridge city centre, in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It forms part of the Cambridge built-up area. In 2011 the parish had a population of 4,060. The parish borders Girton, Histon, Landbeach, Milton and Orchard Park. Impington shares a parish council with Histon called "Histon & Impington Parish Council". The name of the village has been recorded in various guises. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Epintone, but it has also been recorded as Empinton, Ympiton, Impinton, Hinpinton and Impynton. The name is probably Anglo-Saxon and made of three parts, each corresponding to a syllable. The meaning of the second and third is 'belonging to' ('-ing') and 'farmstead or place' ('-ton'). The first part may refer to a person, 'Impa' or Empa', so the village name means 'Impa's place or farm'. But given the Domesday Book spelling 'Epin', the first part might have the same meaning as in 'Epping' - 'a platform or raised place'. Impington might even mean 'place belonging to the imps', since 'imp' had its modern meaning in Anglo-Saxon. 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 Celtic Britons. The settlement was taken over by the Roman conquest of 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. The first area of settlement in the village was to the extreme south of the current village, close to current road junction of the Cambridge and Kings Hedges Road (once called Arbury camp, this land has now been developed as part of the large Orchard Park housing development).