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The earliest written mention of Loddon (Lodne) is in the will of Ælfric Modercope written in 1042 or 1043. In the will Ælfric split his land holdings in Loddon, Bergh Apton and Barton between the Bishops of Bury, Ely and St Benet of Holme. Ælfric held 450 acres of land in Loddon and was by far the biggest landowner. His manor house is believed to have been close by the church overlooking the river and the fields are known as Manor Yards.

The Parish Council adopted Ælfric for Loddon's town sign in 1961 and the bronze statue still stands on Farthing Green.

There was a mill mentioned at Loddon in the Domesday Book and a watermill at Chedgrave in the early 1330s, but there is no evidence for the sites of these mills. The present mill, Loddon watermill near the town centre which is no longer functioning, was built in the 18th century with the river diverted to run underneath it. Loddon watermill was sometimes known as Chedgrave mill and is one of the earliest recorded buildings in the town. It was built of weatherboard with a pantiled roof and was situated quite close to the centre of the town. The mill pool was never very big, but was apparently a widened and deepened Y shaped section of river up stream of the mill. This produced adequate power for the miller to meet the needs of the local farmers and villagers. The mill still retains 19th-century milling equipment.

When the mill was built it was found that the best position for it involved diverting the river Chet to the south of its natural course. This involved considerable effort and expense and in times of severe flood the river attempts to revert to its original channel.