Drayton is a suburban 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 ...

. It is located in the district of

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 ...

, 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 ...

and south 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 ...

. Today, Drayton is largely dominated by the Thorpe Marriott housing estate built in the late twentieth century.

History

Drayton'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 "a farmstead or settlement where logs were dragged." In the early twentieth century, several Roman artefacts including coins and pottery were unearthed close to the village, with a further Anglo-Saxon cemetery being discovered on the banks of the nearby

River Wensum The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England, Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservatio ...

. The cemetery has yielded Anglo-Saxon brooches, daggers and pottery. 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 ...

, Drayton is listed as a settlement of ten 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 ...

Taverham Taverham is a large village and civil parish in Norfolk, in England. It is approximately 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Norwich. Taverham sits on the River Wensum. Taverham forms part the wider Norwich Built-up area. In 2001, Taverham ha ...

. In 1086, the village was part of the estates of Ralph de Beaufour. Throughout the mid-fifteenth century, Drayton was part of the estates of Sir John Fastolf, a prominent English soldier in the Hundred Years War and the basis of Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff. Fastolf built Drayton Lodge in 1437, as a fortification overlooking the Wensum. By the time of Falstolf's death in 1459, his estates passed into the hands of John Paston, which was fiercely contested by John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk whose estates consisted of the neighbouring village of

Costessey Costessey ( ) is a town and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, and is north west of Norwich. The civil parish forms part of the Norwich built-up area, Norwich Urban Area. History Costessey lies in the valleys o ...

. The clashes resulting from the dispute are documented in the Paston Letters. Though Drayton Lodge was partly demolished in 1465, the ruins are still visible today. To the west of Drayton is a rare example of a private fallout shelter built to Government specification during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Drayton has a population of 5,392 people which shows a decrease from the 5,489 people recorded in the 2011 census. Drayton is bisected by the A1067, between

Fakenham Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north-west of Norwich. The town is at the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to N ...

and

, with the A1270, the Norwich ring-road, also briefly passing through the parish. The River Wensum also passes through the parish.

St. Margaret's Church

Drayton's parish church is dedicated to Saint Margaret the Virgin and dates from the nineteenth century, with some medieval features still surviving. St. Margaret's is located on School Road and has been

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

since 1984. St. Margaret's was largely rebuilt in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

after a catastrophic tower-collapse in 1850. The church also boasts a good collection of stained-glass depicting Anna the Prophetess,

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and Saint Elizabeth, which were designed by an unknown German workshop as well as J & J King of Norwich. There is also a window depicting the

Ascension of Jesus The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate ) is the Christianity, Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus entering heaven alive, ascended to Heaven. Christian doctrine, as reflected in the major Christian creeds and confessional stateme ...

Ward and Hughes Ward and Hughes (formerly Ward and Nixon) was the name of an English company producing stained-glass windows. History Ward and Hughes was preceded by the company Ward and Nixon, whose studio was at 67 Frith Street, Soho. They created a large w ...

Amenities

Drayton has a petrol station (all night), estate agent, two post offices, butcher, doctors’ surgery, late night pharmacy, chemist, a dental practice, baker, patisserie, florist, four hairdressers, beautician, dress shop and two

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

outlets. There are several public houses including the ''Cock Inn'' and the ''Red Lion'', along with the Stower Grange hotel and restaurant. It also has two industrial estates. The village also has the Longdale and King George V playing fields, the Bob Carter Sports and Community Centre. Drayton also has Low Road Potato Farm, which serves the local community and businesses with potatoes and vegetables. R G Carter construction and farms' businesses are located here. Furthermore, nearby Thorpe Marriott has its own shopping centre at Acres Way, including a fish shop, mini Tesco, the ''Otter'' public house and an estate agent. Drayton has two schools: * Drayton Community Infant School: for children aged 4 to 6. It was given a 'Requires Improvement' rating by

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

in 2022, * Drayton Church of England Junior School: for children aged 6 to 11, which was rated as 'Good' in 2013. Thorpe Marriott is served by Trinity Ecumenical Church (Methodist & Anglican) and by St Margaret's Drayton and St Edmund's Taverham, which partner with local methodists in the Trinity LEP (Local Ecumenical Partnership). St Margaret's, together with Drayton Methodist and Trinity Church, are members of ''Churches Together in Drayton, Taverham & Thorpe Marriott''.

Transport

Drayton railway station opened in 1882 as a stop on the

Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway The Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway (M&GNJR) was a railway network in England, in the area connecting southern Lincolnshire, the Isle of Ely and north Norfolk. It developed from several local independent concerns and was incorporated i ...

route between Melton Constable and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

; it was closed in 1959. Today, the former trackbed forms part of Marriott's Way, a long-distance

shared-use path A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is "designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists". Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, Bridle path, bridleways and ra ...

between

and

. First Eastern Counties, Sanders Coaches and Konectbus operate local bus routes, linking the area with Norwich,

, Hellesdon and Thorpe Marriot.

Governance

Drayton is split into two

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

for local elections: Drayton North and Drayton South, which are both within 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 Norwich North, which has been represented by the Labour Party's Alice Macdonald MP since 2024.

Notable residents

* General Robert Napier Raikes (1813-1909), soldier, born in Drayton * Captain Harry Cator VC MM (1894–1966), soldier and civil servant, born in Drayton * Trevor Painter (1949-2012),

and Colchester United footballer, lived & died in Drayton * Dave Bussey (b.1952), radio DJ, born in Drayton * Aaron Sillis (b.1983), dancer and choreographer, born in Drayton.

War memorial

Drayton's war memorial is a carved stone plaque inside St. Margaret's Church, which 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 ...

: The following are listed from 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 war memorial also lists three civilians (Thomas Bell, R. H. Clarke and S. G. Fox) who were killed by unknown enemy action.

References

External links

Just Drayton
{{authority control Broadland Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk