The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin and means 'river crossing near a spring'. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 966 it was recorded as Hlincgelad.
In 1251 a royal charter was granted to William de Beauchamp to hold a weekly market in Linchlade, on account of the place being a site of major pilgrimage. The resort for the pilgrimage was an ancient holy spring, though it was unconsecrated and thus was declared unholy by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1299, and the vicar who encouraged the pilgrimage was tried and executed as a heretic. The royal charter to hold the market was removed shortly afterwards.
The parish church in Linslade is dedicated to St Barnabus.