Cantley's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Canta's glade or meadow.[2]
In the Domesday Book, Cantley is recorded as a settlement of 58 households located in the hundredofBlofield. The village was owned by William I.[3] There are two historic manors, Cantley Netherhall and Cantley Uphall.[4] Currently the Lord of the manor of Cantley Netherhall is Franck Rallu resident in France.[5]
In April 1935, the parish absorbed Limpenhoe and Southwood into a larger parish.[6] In 1931 the parish (prior to the merge) had a population of 291.[7]
In 1912 the Cantley Sugar Factory was founded by the Dutch company Algemene Suikermaatschappij (ASMij). ASMij had been founded in 1908 to concentrate the Dutch beet sugar industry and remove surplus capacity. To achieve this, it also bought the already closed down Dordrecht Sugar Factory. The machinery of this factory was then shipped to England to become part of Cantley Sugar Factory.[8]
Cantley Sugar Factory was founded in 1912. It was not successful and closed down in 1916. After the English Beet Sugar Corporation was founded, Cantley Sugar Factory was reopened in 1920. The site is still in operation today by British Sugar, forming one of the four British sugar processing factories.[9]
Cantley's Parish Church is of Norman origin and is dedicated to Saint Margaret. The church was significantly rebuilt in the Fourteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.[10]
The majority of local children attend Cantley Primary School and is part of the Coastal Together Federation of local primary schools. In 2021, the school was rated as 'Good' by Ofsted.[11]
Cantley's war memorial takes the form of a marble and stone plaque located inside St. Margaret's Church. It lists the names of the following fallen for the First World War:
Second-Lieutenant Augustus C. H. Sillem (1889–1916), 52nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery
