Wisbech Ouse being a common Celtic word relating to water, and the name of a river that once flowed through the town. Alternatively, the first element may derive from the River Whissey which used to run to Wisbech or possibly ‘marshy-meadow valley or ridge’. OE Wisc or wisc + bece or baec. During the Iron Age, the area where Wisbech would develop lay in the west of the Brythonic Iceni tribe's territory. Icenian coins are known from both March and Wisbech. Like the rest of Cambridgeshire, Wisbech was part of the Kingdom of East Anglia after the Anglo-Saxon invasion. The first
Wisbech Film Archive. A 1963 drama filmed using boats from Wisbech. 1975 Anglia TV report about the first purpose-built traveller site in GB. EAFA. Wisbech is noted for its unspoilt Georgian architecture, particularly along North Brink and The Crescent. It has been used in BBC One's 1999 adaptation of Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield" and ITV1's 2001 adaptation of "Micawber", starring David Jason. In 2000 The Antiques Roadshow was recorded at the Hudson Leisure centre. A "Wisbech Rock Festival" appears in the 1998 British comedy film "Still Crazy"starring Stephen Rea, Jimmy Nail, Billy Connolly and Timothy Spall, Bill Nighy, Juliet Aubrey, Helena