Fritton, Great Yarmouth

Fritton is a village and former civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, situated some 9 km (5.6 mi) south-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and 11 km (6.8 mi) north-west of the Suffolk town of Lowestoft. It should not be confused with the village of the same name near Morningthorpe in Norfolk. In 1961 the parish had a population of 192.[1]

Fritton

The Decoy Tavern near Fritton Lake
Fritton
Location within Norfolk
OS grid referenceTG467000
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townGreat Yarmouth
Postcode districtNR31

Today the village forms part of the civil parish of Fritton and St. Olaves, which in turn is within the district of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. However prior to the Local Government Act 1972, the village was within Lothingland Rural District in Suffolk. The parish of Fritton was abolished to form Fritton and St. Olaves on 1 April 1974.[2]

History

The villages name means 'Protected farm/settlement' or 'Frithi's farm/settlement'.[3] Fritton was recorded in the Domesday Book as Fridetuna.[4]

Its church, St Edmund's, is one of 124 Round Tower Churches in Norfolk.

Caldecott Hall, now a hotel rebuilt in the Victorian era, was a substantial manor house as early as the fifteenth century. It belonged to Sir John Fastolf, the original of Shakespeare's Falstaff. The Paston Letters record the bitter struggle between the Paston and Debenham families over its inheritance.

During World War 2, Fritton Lake in Norfolk was requisitioned by the 79th Armoured Division for the secret training tank crews of DD tanks, specially amphibious modified tanks, which would play a significant role in the D Day Landings of 6 June 1944. Between the spring of 1943 and the summer of 1945, over 2000 men from a number of British, Canadian and American regiments / battalions came to Fritton Lake to be trained in the operation of these tanks.

References
  1. "Population statistics Fritton AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  2. "Lothingland Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  3. "Key to English Place-names".
  4. "Suffolk F-H". The Domesday Book Online. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  • ^ Ordnance Survey (2005). OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads. ISBN 0-319-23769-9.
  • ^ Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 1 Part II Non-metropolitan counties.


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