Belton with Browston is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

part of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, the parish consists of the villages of Belton and Browston Green, and is situated some 5 miles (8 km) south-west of the town of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

and 6 miles (10 km) north-west of the

town of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

. The civil parish has an area of 3.23 square miles (8.36 square km) and in the 2001 census had a population of 4,098 in 1,589 households, the population reducing to 3,805 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish today falls within the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. However prior to the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the parish was within

Lothingland Rural District Lothingland was a rural district in East Suffolk, England, named after the ancient half-hundred of Lothingland which was merged with Mutford half-hundred in 1763 to form Mutford and Lothingland. The rural district was formed in 1934 by the mer ...

in Suffolk. It is connected to Yarmouth by bus services 6B and 7 and to Norwich by the X11 service, operated by

First Norfolk & Suffolk First Eastern Counties is a bus operator providing services in Norfolk and Suffolk in eastern England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. It has seven depots which are part of five operating areas spread out across East Anglia. The five operat ...

History

The earliest evidence of human inhabitation is a flint axehead from the

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

period. The

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

at nearby Burgh Castle along with finds of coins and pottery indicate that the area was inhabited throughout the Roman Britain period. Belton (as Beletun) and Browston (as Brockestuna) are both mentioned in

Domesday book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, published after the Norman Invasion of 1066. The population was probably around 50–60 in each of the villages. During the medieval period, Belton and Browston were essentially agricultural communities and evidence has indicated that Browston could have been the larger of the two during this time. There is no mention of a church in Belton at the time of Domesday book. The earliest record of the church is in the time of Henry I who ruled from 1100 to 1135. Judging by architectural style, the current church building dates form the 1300s with major restoration work taking place from 1837 Rev Revd Francis Howes and his family. The tower was rebuilt in 1849. Belton was affected by the Great Plague of 1665, even though it is associated with London. The parish register lists 13 burials with 7 listed as "plague". At the time, three or four burials a year was normal. Belton continued as a small farming community and in 1858, Belton Station was opened, giving the village a railway link to

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. This helped the local farming industry as Belton became a

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or s ...

providing to markets in nearby Yarmouth and as far as London.

Belton at war

Belton Common was used by the Suffolk Regiment for military and training purposes during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. As German U-Boats disrupted imports, Belton was used to grow produce with various schemes such as growing potatoes in allotments and gardens. During World War II the

Royal Norfolk Regiment The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

were billeted in Belton with many local people sharing their homes with the soldiers. Belton's most famous incident of the war was when American

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bomber "Belle of the East" crash landed near Sandy Lane. The crew survived the crash and were aided by the villagers.

A plaque on the Tavern pub commemorates the incident with a nearby street bearing the name "Belle of the East Way". Belton hosted evacuees from

Romford, Essex Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

and a few settled in the village. Belton experienced at least one air raid with around two thousand bombs being dropped mostly on the village common.

Post war

After 1950 the population of the village increased greatly, especially during the rapid expansion of the 1970s. On 26 September 1990 the parish was renamed from "Belton" to "Belton with Browston".

Notable residents

Sir John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

— Actor. Spent his early years in Belton as his father was the headmaster of the village school. He recalled on

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...

many years later that his first public performance was in a concert in the village institute organised by his father. * Jessica-Jane Applegate - Paralympic swimmer. A

gold postbox To commemorate British gold medal winners at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics, various post boxes in the home towns of the medal winners around the United Kingdom, plus one each on Sark and the Isle of Man, were repainted go ...

close to the Tavern pub in the village recognises her Paralympic Gold in 2012.

War Memorial

Belton's war memorial takes the form of two plaques located inside Belton Church. The following names are listed for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: * Corporal Alfred J. Arrowsmith (1886-1918), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment * Private James H. Sharman (d.1918), 6th Battalion,

Leinster Regiment The Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 100th (Prince of Wales's Royal Canadian) Regiment of Foot and the 109th Regiment of Foot ...

* Private Walter E. Young (1894-1917), 27th Battalion,

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

* Private Robert W. Fuller (d.1916), 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment * Private Ernest C. Brooks (1892-1916), 9th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment * Private George A. Saul (d.1918), 1st Battalion,

Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army based in the county of Kent in existence from 1881 to 1961. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, originally as the Quee ...

* Trimmer F. Robert Newark (1893-1915), ''HM Drifter Frons Olivae'' Saul, K. (2015). Retrieved October 31, 2022. https://beltonhistory.co.uk/?p=1189

References

* Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads''. . * Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001).
Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes
'. Retrieved 2 December 2005. *

, Schedule 1 Part II Non-metropolitan counties. The illustrator A Hards resides in Browston.

External links

All Saints on the European Round Tower Churches Website
* for Belton. * for Browston Green. {{Civil Parishes of Great Yarmouth Civil parishes in Norfolk Borough of Great Yarmouth