Prehistory and Roman settlement

Evidence exists of Neolithic and Bronze-age settlement of the Wymington area. Flint implements have been discovered in the area, and in the 1860s a hoard of 60 socketed axes was found on a farm near Wymington, possibly from an ancient bronze smith's stock.^[8]

Substantial evidence of Roman and Romano-Belgic settlement exists. A complex of enclosures visible today in the form of cropmarks and ditches as well as buried roof tiles and sherds about 700m south of the modern village probably dates from the 1st to 5th century.^[9] Additional evidence of Roman occupation has been discovered northwest of the village, where 3rd century pottery, a quern, building rubble, coins, belt buckles, and jewelry have been discovered.^[10]

Middle ages

Evidence of Saxon settlement was uncovered during an expansion of the Wymington school. Shards of early to middle Saxon pottery were discovered in ditches that had probably been dug in the 12th to 13th century.^[11] Wymington was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a parish within the Hundred of Willey, a part of the barony held by Alured de Lincoln, with a population of 23 households.^[12][5]

Renaissance and modern era

By the early 17th century, Wymington was home to two manors, both referred to as Wymington Manor. Only one manor house remains, dating from 1612 on the north side of the village. The other manor house was probably on the opposite side of the village, on the south side of the High Street.^[15] By 1621, ownership of at least one of the manors, possibly both, was under one William Bletsoe. It remained in the Bletsoe family until it passed to a John Sawyer in 1708. In 1713, the manor was sold to Major General John Livesay, who had purchased nearby Hinwick House in 1706 and was a former governor of Jamaica.^[5][16]

Wymington has hosted at least one football club in its history, the Wymington Stars. The organization was founded before 1896, and fielded teams at least through 1931.^[17][18]

In the mid 18th century, Wymington was referenced as a "obscure and ruinous village," with 35 stone thatched houses and a population of 216.^[5] By 1870, the number of houses in Wymington had risen to 71. ^[15] Also in 1870, a second church was built in the village. This church, a Wesleyan chapel, was built to house a congregation that had been meeting in homes since 1833.^[19]

During the Second World War, families in and near Wymington took in children evacuated from urban areas in response to bombing raids, as was typical of many rural towns and villages.^[20] In August, 1944 a damaged United States Army Air Forces B-17 "Miss Liberty Belle" based at nearby RAF Chelveston crashed while returning to base on its 65th mission. The aircraft, having sustained battle damage over Saarbrucken following a raid over Merkwiller, was placed into a holding pattern above the village while other aircraft could land at the airfield. While waiting for clearance to land, the aircraft lost power to all but one engine and began losing altitude quickly. The crew narrowly avoided the church tower and school, colliding with a stand of trees and landing in a field on the southern edge of the village. Eight villagers as well as a soldier of the Czech Army billeted nearby were able to pull all the crew members from the flaming wreckage, though only one survived.^[21][22] A B-17G on display at the Grissom Air Museum is painted with the markings of the aircraft that crashed in Wymington.^[23]

In the mid-20th century, much of the old 16th to 18th century housing was demolished as part of a development project headed by the Rural Council. Council housing was constructed in the middle of the village along the High Street, and a housing estate was built to the south.^[15] Following the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the late 20th century, the industrial estate at Wymington was one of 11 designated storage sites for meat and bonemeal resulting from culled cattle before incineration.^[24]