Ampton 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

West Suffolk District West Suffolk District is a local government district in Suffolk, England. It was established in 2019 as a merger of the previous Forest Heath District with the Borough of St Edmundsbury. The council is based in Bury St Edmunds, the district's ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England, about five miles north of

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

. According to

Eilert Ekwall Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall (8 January 1877 in Vallsjö – 23 November 1964 in Lund) was a Swedish academic, Professor of English at Sweden's Lund University from 1909 to 1942 and one of the outstanding scholars of the English language in the firs ...

the meaning of the village name is 'Amma's homestead'. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 63, including

Little Livermere Little Livermere is a village and civil parish in England situated about north of Bury St Edmunds, in an area of Suffolk known as the Breckland. The population at the 2011 Census is included in the civil parish of Ampton. In 1688 the Rector, ...

and

Timworth Timworth is a village and civil parish north east of London and east of Cambridge in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around two miles north of Bury St Edmunds, its 2005 population was 50. At the 2011 Census the ...

, increasing to 171 at the 2011 Census. The parish is grouped with Little Livermere and Timworth to form a parish meeting. Ampton currently has 13 listed structures within it, 12 of them Grade II listed and SS Peter & Paul's church being Grade I listed. At the church hang four bells, with the heaviest weighing 8-1 cwt and dating from 1405.Dove's Guide
Retrieved 2012-03-21. Most of the village was designated as a

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

on 5 March 1987. The village's racecourse hosts the South Suffolk Show, an annual one-day agricultural show which was first organised in 1888. Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy FRS, the scientist who achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS ''Beagle'' during

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

's famous voyage, was born in the village. He also coined the phrase ‘Weather Forecast’ when he founded the predecessor to the

Meteorological Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...

History

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 ...

of 1086 records the population of Ampton in 1086 to be 23 households. The parish was part of

Thedwastre Hundred Thedwastre (also Thedwestry) was a hundred (subdivision), hundred of the county of Suffolk, England covering an area of . It formed part of the Liberty of Saint Edmund, under the jurisdiction of the abbots of Bury St Edmunds. The hundred is abo ...

Historial writings

In 1870–1872,

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteers. The '' Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (published 1870–1872), was a substantial topographical dictionary in six volumes. It was ...

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales The ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales. Its six volumes h ...

described the village as: In 1887,

John Bartholomew John Bartholomew Jr (25 December 1831 – 30 March 1893) was a Scottish cartographer. Life Bartholomew was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, John Bartholomew Sr, started the cartographical establishment in Edinburgh, and he was train ...

also wrote an entry on Ampton in the Gazetteer of the British Isles with a much shorter description:

Ampton Hall

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, Hi ...

Jacobean style The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James's reign, the ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

built in 1892 on the site of the previous hall. The main residence of the Ampton estate which owns 700 acre park and a large majority of the housing in the area.

Ampton Charities

School

Ampton Charity School Trust was established by James Calthorpe (1649–1702) in 1692 for the education of six poor boys of Ampton and the neighbouring parishes. The Old School House, dated 1705, is a

Grade II listed building 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 ...

a bears a plaque commemorating its principal benefactor in a Latin inscription. By 1844 the school was part of the National Schools system.

Almshouses

In her will dated 18 May 1693 Dorothy Calthorpe left £1,000 for the construction of almshouses in the village for "six poor old widows or old maids"Michelle M. Dowd & Julie A. Eckerle (2011) The Devotional Writings of Dorothy Calthorpe, ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, 24:1-2, 89-98, DOI: 10.1080/0895769X.2011.540539

Notable residents

* James Calthorpe (until 1658),

Roundhead Roundheads were the supporters of the Parliament of England during the English Civil War (1642–1651). Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I of England and his supporters, known as the Cavaliers or Royalists, who ...

Sheriff of Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...

. *

Dorothy Calthorpe Dorothy Calthorpe (1648–1693) was a philanthropist and an author of poetry known for an autograph manuscript volume containing poems, a prose romance, and two devotional prose narratives. Early life and family Calthorpe was born in Ampton, Suff ...

(1648-1693), early female author * Algernon May (until 1704), Member of Parliament for

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

. *

Reynolds Calthorpe Reynolds Calthorpe of Elvetham in Hampshire (12 August 1655 in Ampton – 1719) was a Whig Member of Parliament for Hindon. He was the third and youngest son of Sir James Calthorpe (died 1658) and Dorothy Reynolds, second daughter of Sir Jam ...

(1655–1719), Member of Parliament for Hindon. * James Calthorpe (1699–1784), politician and courtier, Gentleman Usher Quarterly Waiter in Ordinary, Yeoman of the Removing Wardrobe, and Member of Parliament for Hindon. *

Henry Venn Elliott Henry Venn Elliott (1792–1865) was an English Anglicanism#Anglican divines, divine. Early years Elliott was born 17 January 1792, the son of Charles Elliott of Grove House, Clapham, and his second wife, Eling, daughter of Henry Venn (Clapham S ...

(1792–1865), an English

divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

. *

Henry George Boldero Henry George Boldero (1794–1873) was a British Army officer and a Tory (British political party), Tory Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency), Chippenham. The second son of the Re ...

(1794–1873),

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and a Member of Parliament for

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

. *

Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of ...

(1805–1865), English officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, pioneering

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

and founder of the

Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...

, captain of HMS ''Beagle'' during

's famous voyage. *

Henry Cotterill Henry Cotterill (1812 – 16 April 1886) was an Anglican bishop, serving as Bishop of Grahamstown, South Africa from 1856 to 1871, and as Bishop of Edinburgh in the Scottish Episcopal Church from 1872 until his death. Early life Cotteril ...

(1812–1886),

Bishop of Grahamstown The Bishop of Grahamstown is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Grahamstown in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The Bishop's residence is at Bishopsbourne, Grahamstown. List of Bishops of Grahamstown Diocesan bishops # John Armstron ...

and

Bishop of Edinburgh The Bishop of Edinburgh, or sometimes the Lord Bishop of Edinburgh, is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Scottish Episcopal Diocese of Edinburgh. Prior to the Reformation, Edinburgh was part of the Diocese of St ...

in the 1800s. * Pierce Lacy (1872–1956),

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 ...

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

, chairman of the

Birmingham Stock Exchange The Birmingham Stock Exchange originally opened in 1845. The imposing offices on the corner of Great Charles Street and Margaret Street, now a Listed buildings in Birmingham, Grade II listed building, were home to the city's stock exchange from ...

References

External links

* * * Historical Social Data on Ampto

Villages in Suffolk Borough of St Edmundsbury Civil parishes in Suffolk Thedwastre Hundred {{Suffolk-geo-stub