Place:Woodton, Norfolk, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Woodton is a village and and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some 7 km northwest of the Suffolk town of Bungay, and 20 km southeast of Norwich in Norfolk.

The civil parish has an area of 8.85 km2 (3.42 sq mi) and in the 2001 UK census had a population of 472 in 194 households, increasing to 482 at the 2011 UK census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the District of South Norfolk.

The village's name indicates a settlement in the woods (wudu, ‘woods’ + tun ‘enclosure, settlement, farm’). Over the years different variants of the name have been used, including Wdetuna, Wodetuna, Wodetone, Wudetuna, Uidetuna and Wootton. A number of bronze age ring ditches dating from between the 23rd century BC and the 7th century BC have been identified in the area.

The church of Woodton All Saints is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk.

In 1575 Robert Suckling became Lord of the whole of Woodton. Various members of the Suckling family lived in the parish, including John Suckling (poet), down to Catherine Suckling, mother of Admiral Lord Nelson.

Wootton Hall was built in 1694 by Robert Suckling and his wife Sarah Shelton but was demolished in 1841-2.

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for Woodton. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• A map illustrating the individual parishes of Loddon Hundred may be useful.
• GENUKI also advises that the following lists for Norfolk are to be found in FamilySearch:

• England, Norfolk, Parish Registers (County Record Office), 1510-1997
• England, Norfolk Archdeacon's Transcripts, 1600-1812
• England, Norfolk Bishop's Transcripts, 1685-1941
• England, Norfolk Marriage Bonds, 1557-1915
• England, Norfolk Non-conformist Records, 1613-1901

• Ancestry.co.uk has the following lists as of 2018 (UK or worldwide Ancestry membership or library access required). With the exception of the index to wills these files are browsible images of the original documents. The files are separated by type and broken down into time periods (i.e., "Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812" is more than one file). The general explanatory notes are worth reading for those unfamiliar with English parish records.

• Index to wills proved in the Consistory Court of Norwich : and now preserved in the District Probate Registry at Norwich
• Norfolk, England, Bishop's Transcripts, 1579-1935
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1915
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1990
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1940

• FindMyPast is another pay site with large collection of parish records. As of October 2018 they had 20 types of Norfolk records available to browse including Land Tax Records and Electoral Registers.