Toponymy The place name "Wisbech" is first attested in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 656, where it appears as Wisbeach. It is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Wisbeach. The name Wisbech is popularly believed to mean "on the back of the (River) Ouse", Ouse being a common Celtic word relating to water and the name of a river that once flowed through the town. A more scholarly opinion is that the first element derives from the River Wissey, which used to run to Wisbech, and that the name means 'the valley of the river Wissey'.Eilert Ekwall, The Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.526. A wide range of spellings is found on trade tokens in the Wisbech & Fenland Museum and in newspapers, books, maps and other documents, e.g. Wisbece, Wisebece, Wisbbece, Wysbeche, Wisbeche, Wissebeche, Wysebeche, Wysbech, Wyxbech, Wyssebeche, Wisbidge, Wisbich and Wisbitch, until the spelling of the name of the town was fixed by the local council in the 19th century.
Toponymy The place name "Wisbech" is first attested in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 656 where it appears as Wisbeach It is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as Wisbeach The name Wisbech is popularly believed to mean "on the back of the (River) Ouse" Ouse being a common Celtic word relating to water and the name of a river that once flowed through the town A more scholarly opinion is that the first element derives from the River Wissey which used to run to Wisbech and that the name means 'the valley of the river Wissey'Eilert Ekwall The Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names p526 A wide range of spellings is found on trade tokens in the Wisbech & Fenland Museum and in newspapers books maps and other documents eg Wisbece Wisebece Wisbbece Wysbeche Wisbeche Wissebeche Wysebeche Wysbech Wyxbech Wyssebeche Wisbidge Wisbich and Wisbitch until the spelling of the name of the town was fixed by the local council in the 19th century