Coney Weston is a village and

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 authorit ...

in Suffolk, England, within the West Suffolk district. It is a primarily

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

residential town that has

dormitory town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

status. It is north of

Ixworth Ixworth is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England, north-east of Bury St Edmunds on the A143 road to Diss and south-east of Thetford. The parish had a population of 2,365 at the 2011 Census. History I ...

and from Bury St Edmunds

Etymology

Coney Weston has a different meaning to other towns with the name

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

: it is not a true Weston (where the origin is from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''west-tun'' "western farm, village or estate") but is a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

name, from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''konungr'' "king" (cognate with

''cyning'' "king") and

''tun'' "farm". The name was recorded as ''Cunungestuna'' 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 ...

in 1086.

History

Coney Weston was recorded 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 "Cunegestuna" in 1086 with a population of 16 households; 12 freemen, 3 smallholders, & 1 slave. RAF Knettishall was built close to Coney Weston from late 1942 by W&G French and occupied by the USAF 388th Bomb Group from June 1943 until April 1945. Flying Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft they completed 306 missions, losing almost 180 aircraft to enemy action and other causes. Perhaps their most famous aircraft was called

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

(named after a son of nearby Thetford). Named at a civic ceremony in honour of Paine’s subsequent contribution to the young American colony’s quest for independence. This aircraft survived many missions until it overshot the runway and ended up in a field. Despite repairs it was subsequently retired from active service. Robert Clarke, a farm labourer, invented the tin whistle in Coney Weston in 1843. The recent invention of tin plate induced him to commission a local blacksmith to make a design in metal of the wooden whistle fipple flute. The design worked and he left to go to Manchester to have them factory produced. The resulting cheap and easy to play instrument was a huge success and he eventually was wealthy enough to return to Coney Weston and buy the farm he had once been a labourer on. Source: https://www.clarketinwhistle.com/our-history

Current Day

Coney Weston
is stretched along two roads, Thetford Road (going from the north west to south-east) and The Street (heading east). In 1988 the population of the village was doubled by a boundary change which officially incorporated the Swan end of Barningham into Coney Weston. At present there are 323 people on the electoral roll living in around 150 houses. The small church o

(OS grid TL9778) is of the English

Decorated style English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

of the mid-14th century. Its nave roof is thatch on the original scissor truss roof. The tower fell in 1690 and was not rebuilt. It is not known for certain why the church stands a mile to the east away from the village. The church has regular services and is part of th
United Benefice of Stanton, Hopton, Market Weston, Barningham & Coney Weston
There are no shops but there is a pub (Swan IP31 1DN), three farms, two builders yards, hairdressers,
cattery

and timber yard, a wood sculpture yard, a nursery, a game farm and a telephone exchange. The Swan, on the Thetford Rd has hoste
Frogstock
in 2009 and may return sometime in the future and an incredibly well funde

club. For recreation there is a playing field which had a small children's playground. There is also a well-used village hall. There are fiv

The village school was closed in the 1950s but there are primary schools at Barningham and Hopton and secondary schools at Blackbourne Middle School at Stanton and Thurston Upper School. There is no doctor’s surgery in the village but there are surgeries locally at Hopton and Stanton. Two miles from the Norfolk/Suffolk border.

Notable residents

* John Patteson (1790-1861); judge. *

Robin Leonard Bidwell Robin ''("Rob")'' Leonard Bidwell (25 August 1927 or 1929 in St Giles, London – 1994 in Coney Weston or Bury St Edmunds) was an English orientalist and author. He published many books about Yemen and Arabia as well as about French and British c ...

(1927-1994); orientalist and author. * Charles FitzRoy, 10th Duke of Grafton (1892-1970); aristocrat, soldier, politician, and farmer. *

Robert Clarke Robert Irby Clarke (June 1, 1920 – June 11, 2005) was an American actor best known for his cult classic science fiction films of the 1950s. Early life Clarke was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He decided at an early age that h ...

(1816-?) inventor of the tin whistle.

References

External links

Map of Coney Weston
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Borough of St Edmundsbury