Originally there were two settlements, Stainton (where the present church is) and Wadingham, which were on either side of the Waddingham Beck which runs through the village. Both settlements are mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.[3] Both places have Anglo Saxon names: Stainton is derived from The Old English "Stan" (stone), and the Old English "Tun" (farm), meaning stony farm.[4] Waddingham is derived from two common OE suffixes: "ing" (person), or "ingas" (people), and "ham" (village or settlement), meaning the village of, or belonging to, the Wada family or tribe.[5]
Waddingham had a post office and village shop, which closed in late August 2022, and a Methodistchapel. Opposite the Jubilee Hall (built to commemorate HM Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977) is Waddingham Primary School. The village public house is now closed.
Mills, A.D. (2011) [first published 1991]. A Dictionary of British Place Names (First edition revised 2011 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780199609086.