England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Dunton cum Doughton St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Dunton, which absorbed the parish of Doughton in very early times, lies in northwestern Norfolk about 3 miles west of the market town of Fakenham. Dunton sits just a half mile south of the A148 road which connects Fakenham through to the port of King's Lynn. There is very little to Dunton, no village as such, just a group of farms and cottages by the redundant church. Ever a small congregation Dunton's population was cut markedly in modern times as a large portion of the northern part of the parish was co-opted for the construction of Sculthorpe Airfield during World war 2, the area is still fenced and uninhabited. Like most Norfolk villages Dunton was an arable farming community,a few pastures along the course of the infant Wensum varied that slightly. The Wensum drains the parish eastwards passing through the city of Norwich to meet the Yare and thence to the North Sea through the port of Great Yarmouth. Dunton is sited at close to 50 metres above the sea in fairly level land, once away from the Wensum valley, where local heights do not rise significantly for some distance. Dunton parish was fairly typically sized for its area, covering just over 1,700 acres it would only have supported around 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Dunton was held directly by King William, it was equally small then holding just 2 ploughs but there was a mill.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the western side of the lane which leads to Dunton from the A148. Like many Norfolk churches it has a mixture of Decorated & perpendicular styles indicating a church built in the period 1300 to 1450. A few windows and the southern porch show the earlier style whilst most else is of the latter. Documentary evidence in the form of bequests in wills document the building of the tower as the final piece with bequest dates in the 1440s, a date suitable for the architectural style displayed. The church was declared redundant in 1978 and was leased to a charitable trust for its continued upkeep and care. The church sits behind a typical flint & brick wall with gates at the southern end of the site, it is possible to get a car off the road onto the verge here, once within the churchyard has few obstacles to photography.