The name Willy-Watt is derived from Willow ait or Willow Island . The word ‘ait' meaning small isle, especially in a river refers to the Mill Holme.

The marina has been here for 30 years; it is based round the old watermill, which is called Woodford Mill. There is a record of a mill being here in the Domesday Book but the present mill has been here since before the monasteries were dissolved in 1539 by Henry VIII, before that Croyland Abbey owned it.