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 authority ...

in the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

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 ...

. It is around south of

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London as the crow fli ...

in the

East Suffolk East Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * East Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * East Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * East Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...

district. The parish lies either side of the A145 road and is crossed by the Ipswich to Lowestoft railway line.Ringsfield and Weston
Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2020-02-09. Neighbouring parishes include

Ellough Ellough is a civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk, located approximately south-east of Beccles. The area is sparsely populated with a mid-2005 population estimate of 40. The parish, which has an area of , b ...

Ringsfield Ringsfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk. It is south-west of Beccles in the East Suffolk district. The parish had a population of 323 at the 2011 United Kingdom census. It borders the parishes of Beccles, West ...

Willingham St Mary Willingham St Mary, also known simply as Willingham, is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk located about south of Beccles in the East Suffolk district. At the 2011 United Kingdom census it had a population of 152. T ...

and

Shadingfield Shadingfield is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located around south of Beccles in the north of the county. The village is spread along a stretch of the A145 road between Beccle ...

. The village is largely dispersed with a population of around 230. The village has few services and a joint parish council covers both Ringsfield and Weston.Ringsfield and Weston Parish Council
Retrieved 2009-04-20 The village once had a school, on King's Lane, and a public house, the Duke of Marlborough on the main A145.Weston, Duke of Marlborough
Suffolk Pubs, CAMRA. Retrieved 2020-02-09. Both are now closed and the major centre of population in the parish is to the west where it borders Ringsfield Corner.Weston
Hundred River Benefice. Retrieved 2011-06-27. The parish church is medieval in origin and dedicated to

St Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

.Church of St Peter, Weston
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-06-27. It has a primarily Norman core and is a Grade I listed building.Knott S (2021
St Peter, Weston
Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-04. The parish was combined with that of

All Saints Church, Ellough All Saints Church is a redundant Anglican church in the parish of Ellough, Suffolk, England. The church is medieval in origin and is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under ...

in the 1970s.

History

The village is named 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 manusc ...

as ''Westuna'' and formed part of the

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

's estate, with land also being held by

Roger Bigot Roger Bigod (died 1107) was a Norman knight who travelled to England in the Norman Conquest. He held great power in East Anglia, and five of his descendants were earls of Norfolk. He was also known as Roger Bigot, appearing as such as a witness to ...

, Hugh de Montfort and Geoffrey de Mandeville.Weston
Open Domesday. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
The Domesday book online. Retrieved 2011-06-27. The village, which formed part of the Hundred of Wangford, had a population of around 30 families and paid around 2 geld in taxation. The manor passed through many hands, including, in the reign of

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...

, the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

William Longchamp. Suckling AI (1846) 'Weston' in ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: volume 1'', pp. 97–101. Ipswich: WS Crowell.
Available online
at British History Online. Retrieved 2011-06-25.) Weston Hall was built in the late 16th century for the Rede family and partly demolished following a fire in 1821.Weston Hall, Weston
British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2011-06-27.

Lewis S Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

(ed) (1848) 'Weston (St. Peter)' in ''A Topographical Dictionary of England'', pp. 519–524.
Available online
at British History Online. Retrieved 2011-06-23.) The population of the parish was 211 in 1841, rising to 261 in 1871 and remaining at around that level until after the second world war. Wilson JM (1872) 'Weston' in ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'', quoted a
Weston, Suffolk
Vision of Britain. Retrieved 2011-06-27.

The church of St Peter

The main body of the church is

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

in origin, built of local flint and mainly dating from the 12th century. It has a square 15th century tower and 15th century porch with a 13th-century chancel and doorway to the nave. Suckling describes the church as "in a wretched state of repair and neglect" in 1846, at which time it was thatched. The building was restored in the 1860s, including the renewal of many of the windows, although remnants of earlier windows remain. Inside, the church has a high 15th century octagonal

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

carved with representations of the

seven sacraments There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those ...

. The font stands over six feet above the floor of the church on a

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...

. A series of 15th century carved bench ends and the remnants of three 16th century wall paintings also remain within the church, which also features a rare example of the Arms of

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

on the south nave wall.

Notes

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk Waveney District