 Until a few years ago, the houses (subdivisions) at the local village college were named after Merton, Downing and Clare.Downing College acquired the land as a result of a bequest in the will of Sir George Downing, who lived in a mansion, Gamlingay Park, on his Gamlingay estate.In 1600, 64 houses—comprising much of the village–were destroyed in the "Great Fire of Gamlingay", as described in an extract of a letter from the Privy Council to Sir Thomas Egerton