Caston 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 English 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 ...

. Caston is located south-east of Watton and 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 ...

History

Caston's name is 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 "Catt'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 ...

, Caston is recorded as a settlement of 56 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 ...

of Wayland. The village was divided between the estates of King William and William de Warenne. The remains of a fifteenth century stone cross are mounted on the village green, this monument was originally larger and more ornately carved until it was smashed by

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

during the seventeenth century. The stone was originally a waypoint for pilgrims travelling to the Walsingham Shrines. During the sixteenth century, Caston was the residence of Edward Gilman, who was one of the earliest recorded ancestors of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. Caston Windmill was built in the nineteenth century for Edward Wyer. Today, the mill is in private ownership and is Grade II listed.

Demography

By 1848, the village had a population of 513.According to the 2021 census, Caston has a population of 480 people which shows an increase from the 443 people recorded in the 2011 census.

Transport

The B1077 road, between Carbrooke and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, runs through the parish. The village is served by Konectbus routes 81, 82 and X6, part of the

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...

scheme.

Notable buildings

Church of the Holy Cross

Caston's parish church dates from the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, stands at the junction between Stow Bedon and Attleborough Roads and has been Grade I listed since 1958. The church was heavily restored in 1850s and features several Medieval, stained-glass roundels which were re-set after damage during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The church also boasts a grand candelabra which originally came from Hampton Court Palace and came to Caston via

Cheshunt Cheshunt (/ˈtʃɛzənt/ CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, situated within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London. The town lies on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering th ...

, Hertfordshire.

War Memorial

Caston's war memorial is a wheel-cross made of Aberdeen

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

on the Village Green which was unveiled in 1920. The memorial 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, the following from the

Governance

Carbrooke is part of the electoral ward of All Saints & Wayland 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 ...

of Breckland. The village's national constituency is Mid Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's George Freeman MP since 2010.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Norfolk Lincoln family Civil parishes in Norfolk Breckland District