permission by Sylvia Dalton. The village of Snailwell lies on the edge of East Cambridgeshire. The parish has borders to the West with Suffolk and the parish of Exning, to the north is Fordham, to the east is Chippenham, and to the very south of the parish is Moulton.
The River Snail has its source in the village; this water is probably the reason a settlement started here. The river gives Snailwell its name, according to Conybeare the name comes from the Old English Snaegel-weille or snail stream, used of a sluggish stream. The 'little
river Snail, which 'crawls away into the adjacent fen'.
Snailwell's written history begins about 990 to 995 AD in the reign of Ethelred the Unready, when a gift or grant was made to the Abbey of Ely, consisting of the estates of Shelford and Snailwell. It was made by the parents of Leofsin who was entering the monastery at Ely. He later went on to become the Abbot of Ely.
More details of Snailwell's history can be found in Sylvia's book.
