Whitton is an area of
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
and once a separate village. It is now a
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
of
Ipswich Borough Council
Ipswich Borough Council, founded in 1974 after the abolition of the County Borough of Ipswich, governs the non-metropolitan district of Ipswich in Suffolk. It is the second tier of a two-tier system, fulfilling functions such as refuse collecti ...
in
Suffolk, England. The civil parish of
Whitton in Mid Suffolk district doesn't include the suburb. The site of a Roman villa, the village is thought to have been a
Saxon colony
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...
, possibly dating from the Saxon invasion of around 430 AD. It appears in the
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 manus ...
as Widituna, possibly meaning Hwita's farm or White's farm.
Whitton Church
Whitton is a village with Saxon origins and it is likely that a small place of worship has been here from the earliest times. At some point in the sixth or seventh century Christianity arrived in the area and this building would have been converted to Christian use. The Domesday Book (1086) lists a church at Whitton (Widetuna) as well as one at Thurleston (Turestuna).
Nothing of either the Saxon or the Norman building remains, however, the original ground plan of the present church seems to follow a traditional simple Saxon church pattern. This church was built during the thirteenth century in the Early English style which was faithfully repeated in the present Victorian reconstruction and enlargement during the 19th Century.
The parish church is dedicated to St. Mary and St. Botolph. The latter is a reminder of all that remains of the now demolished church at the tiny hamlet of Thurleston.
St. Botolph was still in use in 1500, but after being amalgamated with Whitton it fell into disrepair. It remained in use as a barn until 1862, when it was demolished and much of the building material used to construct a south aisle and tower for St. Mary's at Whitton.
The dedication (Name) of Whitton Church has been the subject of confusion over the years. At various points in its history it has changed back and forth between St Mary and St Botolph. The confusion arose because Thurleston Church, dedicated to Saint Botolph, was often mentioned in the same sentence as Whitton Church, which was dedicated to Saint Mary. This confusion became more pronounced when the stones of the old Thurleston Church were brought to Whitton in 1862 and used in the construction of the new south aisle and tower.
In 1990 it was decided to bring the confusion to an end, and an official application was made to change the name to St. Mary and St. Botolph.
The old village of Whitton was centred on what was the main Ipswich to
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
road. Some old buildings remain including the Whitton Maypole, a popular local pub. A map of 1889 shows a "corn" windmill at the top of what is now Shakespeare Rd. There was a post office which was in use until the 1980s and a police station built in 1905. This is now a private house next to the entrance of the former site of Thomas Wolsey School now a small housing estate with its entrance in Malkin Close. The village boasted a second pub almost opposite the police station, The Crown. This was demolished in 1994, replaced by a Landrover sales garage which in 2012 was bought by BMW.
Whitton Schools and The 'Poets' Estate
An 1891 map shows a "school" in the grounds of St.Mary and St.Botolph Church and another "school" is marked adjacent to the police station - Whitton 'Open Air School' for those suffering from TB which was to grow into Thomas Wolsey School. A smithy is also marked just to the north of the police station on the Norwich Road. The footpath from the Norwich Road to the cornmill remains today as a public right of way south of Ballater Close and north of the recreation ground; the area doubling as playing fields for the Primary School. Whitton Farm was a working farm on the corner of Norwich Road and Whitton Church Lane until the early 1980s. An Ordnance Survey bench mark of 132.8 ft is marked on the road opposite the Whitton Farm buildings. A building labelled White House is shown where Arnold Close and Coleridge Road now stand. This is not to be confused with another building just to the west of Norwich Road which bears the same name and after which the modern White House council estate was named.
Whitton estate was built around the village of Whitton in the mid 20th century, thereby joining it to the nearby town of Ipswich. Most of the street names are called after poets and playwrights.
Castle Hill and the Crofts
Part of the Ecclesiastical parish of
Whitton with Thurleston and Akenham is the newer housing area of
Castle Hill called 'The Crofts'
The remains of a Roman villa were excavated in 1931 and again in 1949 before residential building started. Coins were found along with a mosaic floor which is on display in
Ipswich Museum
Ipswich Museum is a registered museum of culture, history and natural heritage located on High Street in Ipswich, the county town of Suffolk. It was historically the leading regional museum in Suffolk, housing collections drawn from both the fo ...
. It featured on Channel 4's archaeological television programme ''
Time Team
''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...
'' in 2004. The dig helped provide more evidence to supplement that gathered in the 1949 dig by archaeologist
Basil Brown
Basil John Wait Brown (22 January 1888 – 12 March 1977) was an English archaeologist and astronomer. Self-taught, he discovered and excavated a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in 1939, which has come to be called "one of th ...
.
The parish of Whitton is bordered by Ipswich to the south, the parish of
Westerfield
Westerfield is a village in Suffolk, England. It lies about two miles north of the centre of Ipswich in the East Suffolk District, and is served by Westerfield railway station on the Ipswich– Lowestoft East Suffolk Line.
Amenities
Westerfie ...
to the east, the parishes of
Akenham (now part of the enlarged parish of Whitton with Thurleston and Akenham) and
Claydon to the north and
Bramford
Bramford is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is three miles west of Ipswich of which it forms part of the wider Ipswich Built-up area. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as "Brunfort" or "Branfort". The River Gipp ...
to the west.
Sport and leisure
Whitton has a
Non-League football club
Whitton United F.C. which plays at The King George V Playing Fields.
Whitton Sports Centre, run by Ipswich Borough Council, situated at the junction of Whitton Church Lane and Shakespeare Road has a Gym a sports hall, an all-weather bowls rink, a Cycle Racing track and several all-weather pitches.
Notable people
*
Alice Flowerdew (1759–1830), teacher, religious poet, and hymnwriter, died in Whitton, and was buried in the churchyard.
External links
''Time Team'' investigation of Castle HillThomas Wolsey SchoolWhitton Community School
Ipswich Districts