THURTON

Thurton

Thurton is a small parish situated some 4.5km southwest of the River Yare, in the Local Government district of South Norfolk. It is 13.5km southeast of Norwich on the A146, and in 2001 had a population of just over 550 people. The name ‘Thurton’ is thought to derive from the Old English for Thorn Enclosure.

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The earliest recorded objects are three Neolithic polished axeheads, two Neolithic flaked axeheads, and a possible Bronze Age copper alloy axehead.

The earliest recorded monuments are a number of round barrows, a group of which can be seen in the west of the parish, and across the border at Burgh Apton. These are thought to represent a Bronze Age round barrow cemetery. Other ring ditches can also be seen closer to the centre of the village.

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Only one record of Roman period activity has been recorded, and this is a hoard of Roman copper alloy coins which was recovered in 1707. This hoard was thought to have been deposited in the third century, and contained coins minted under the emperors Gallienus, Victorinus, Tetricus and Quintillus.