History

Cottenham has a long history. There is evidence of a possible significant Romano-British settlement at Bullock's Haste, to the north of the village. The lumps and bumps on the fields are thought to have been a major port and possibly an administrative and religious centre. The course of the Car Dyke also passes through this site. This is also mentioned in a useful short history of Cottenham here on Wikipedia 

According to The History, gazetteer and directory of Cambridgeshire published in 1851:

"The Danes, nevertheless, overpowering them by numbers, proved victorious, and ravaged the whole kingdom of the East Angles during three successive months. They plundered the rich monasteries of the fens, and among other devastations they burnt Oakington, Drayton, and Cottenham manor houses belonging to Croyland Abbey, and Cambridge fell again a sacrifice to the flames."

As well as this "and the vicinity of Cottenham is famous for a peculiar kind of cheese of very good flavour. "

In regard to Crowland Manor it says :

[In  1109]  Petrus Bhesensis Jeffrey abbot of Croyland, having lost his monastery by fire, partly to raise money to re-build it, and partly to settle his monks in the meantime, sent four of the most learned of them to his manor of Cottenham. These four monks who were named Gilbert, Odo, Terricus, and William,- being well versed in philosophy and other sciences repaired often to Cambridge where they taught their several arts in a hired barn, and succeeded in drawing a great number of scholars to their lectures, which were arranged after the manner of the university of Orleans. The scholars were wonderfully pleased with the learning and diligence of these monks and rewarded them so liberally that they returned 100 marks yearly to their abbot for the re-building their monastery. Jeffrey seeing his monks thus successful went to them, and joined in his preaching with them, and by their united labours Cambridge became of a sudden a noble seat of learning."