Booton 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Broadland Broadland is a local government district in Norfolk, England, named after the Norfolk Broads. Its council is based at the Broadland Business Park on the outskirts of Norwich. The district includes the towns of Acle, Aylsham, Reepham, Spro ...

district of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. Booton is located south-east of Reepham, south-west of

Aylsham Aylsham ( or ) is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, England, nearly north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea ...

and north-west of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

. The civil parish of Booton also includes the smaller village of

Brandiston Brandiston is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Brandiston is located south-east of Reepham and north-west of Norwich. Brandiston's civil parish also includes the small hamlet of Guton. History Brandiston ...

History

The origin of Booton's name is uncertain. It is either of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin and derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for ''Bota's'' farmstead or settlement or of

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

origin, deriving from the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

for ''Bo's'' farmstead or settlement. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, Booton is listed as a settlement of 7 households in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

Erpingham Erpingham ( ) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Erpingham is located north of Aylsham and north of Norwich, along Scarrow Beck. The parish also includes the nearby village of Calthorpe. History Erpingham's na ...

. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Tihel of Hellean. Within the village is Booton Hall, a red-brick structure which dates back to the Seventeenth Century though has significant Eighteenth Century re-modelling. There is also an Eighteenth Century threshing barn located nearby. There are two Grade II listed structures on 'The Street', including Town Farmhouse and a nearby barn. A postmill was constructed in the village by Mr. R. George in 1848. It stood until it was largely dismantled in 1900. In 1940, a polygonal bunker was built as part of the defences against a possible

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

invasion of Britain.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Booton has a population of 216 people which demonstrates an increase from the 196 people listed in the 2011 census.

St. Michael the Archangel's Church

Booton is dominated by its parish church which is dedicated to

Saint Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

. St. Michael's was built largely due to enthusiasm of

Whitwell Elwin Whitwell Elwin (26 February 1816 – 1 January 1900) was an English clergyman, critic and editor of the ''Quarterly Review''. Life He was the son of Marsham Elwin, a country gentleman of Thurning, Norfolk, Whitwell Elwin studied at Caius Coll ...

who built over the much smaller Medieval church. The church has been Grade I listed since 1961.

Governance

Booton is part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Great Witchingham for local elections and is part of 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

. The village's national constituency is

Broadland and Fakenham Broadland and Fakenham is a Norfolk constituency, which has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the 2019 general election by Jerome Mayhew, a Conservative. Prior to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, ...

which has been represented by the Conservative Party's

Jerome Mayhew Jerome Patrick Burke Mayhew (born 11 April 1970) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Broadland and Fakenham since 2019. He briefly served as Shadow Minister for Business and Trade between ...

since 2019.

Notable Residents

- (1816-1900) clergyman and critic, lived in Booton. *

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

- (b.1957) actor and comedian, grew up in Booton.

War Memorial

Booton's war memorial takes the form of a grey marble plaque in St. Michael's Church. It has gold lettering and a grey wreath of poppies carved at the top, it lists the following names for the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

: And: William Hall, John Long, William Roberts, Herbert Wells and William Douglas.

References

External links

Villages in Norfolk Broadland Civil parishes in Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub