# Caston

Caston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Caston is located 3.2 miles (5.1 km) south-east of Watton and 18 miles (29 km) west of Norwich.

## History

Caston's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for "Catt's farmstead or settlement".
In the Domesday Book, Caston is recorded as a settlement of 56 households in the hundred of Wayland. The village was divided between the estates of King William and William de Warenne.
The remains of a fifteenth century stone cross are mounted on the village green, this monument was originally larger and more ornately carved until it was smashed by Puritans during the seventeenth century. The stone was originally a waypoint for pilgrims travelling to the Walsingham Shrines.
During the sixteenth century, Caston was the residence of Edward Gilman, who was one of the earliest recorded ancestors of Abraham Lincoln.
Caston Windmill was built in the nineteenth century for Edward Wyer. Today, the mill is in private ownership and is Grade II listed.

## Demography

By 1848, the village had a population of 513.According to the 2021 census, Caston has a population of 480 people which shows an increase from the 443 people recorded in the 2011 census.

## Transport

The B1077 road, between Carbrooke and Ipswich, runs through the parish. The village is served by Konectbus routes 81, 82 and X6, part of the Norwich park and ride scheme.

## Notable buildings
### Church of the Holy Cross

Caston's parish church dates from the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, stands at the junction between Stow Bedon and Attleborough Roads and has been Grade I listed since 1958. The church was heavily restored in 1850s and features several Medieval, stained-glass roundels which were re-set after damage during the Second World War. The church also boasts a grand candelabra which originally came from Hampton Court Palace and came to Caston via Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.

### War Memorial

Caston's war memorial is a wheel-cross made of Aberdeen granite on the Village Green which was unveiled in 1920. The memorial lists the following names for the First World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial |
| 2Lt. | Frederick C. Corley | 8th Bn., Border Regiment | 12 Apr. 1918 | Ploegsteert Memorial |
| Sgt. | Edgar Hannant | 1st Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 23 Apr. 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| Cpl. | Horace Tye | 13th Bn., Essex Regiment | 28 Apr. 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| LCpl. | Herbert Cooper | 108th Coy., Machine Gun Corps | 17 Aug. 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| Pte. | Leonard A. Tye | 7th Bn., Bedfordshire Regiment | 3 May 1917 | Arras Memorial |
| Pte. | Robert W. Reynolds | 8th (Winnipeg Rifles) Bn., C.E.F. | 2 Jun. 1916 | Woods Cemetery |
| Pte. | Reginald W. Partridge | 16th (Scottish) Bn., C.E.F. | 20 May 1915 | Vimy Memorial |
| Pte. | John Lawes | 8th Bn., Gloucestershire Regiment | 21 Oct. 1918 | Jeumont Cemetery |
| Pte. | Dick Hannant | 8th Bn., Middlesex Regiment | 25 Apr. 1915 | Menin Gate |
| Pte. | Harry Cator | 1/5th Bn., Norfolk Regiment | 19 Apr. 1917 | Jerusalem Memorial |
| Pte. | Edward J. Hunt | 9th Bn., Norfolk Regt. | 14 May 1917 | Nœux-les-Mines Cem. |
| Pte. | George W. Anthony | 4th Bn., Northumberland Fusilers | 26 Oct. 1917 | Tyne Cot |
| Pte. | Albert E. Reynolds | 5th Bn., Northumberland Fus. | 26 Oct. 1917 | Poelcapelle Cemetery |
| Spr. | James T. Bambridge | 4th (Prov.) Coy., Royal Engineers | 24 Apr. 1916 | Holy Cross Churchyard |
And, the following from the Second World War:
| Rank | Name | Unit | Date of Death | Burial |
| LAC | Robert G. Curtis | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve | 9 Jun. 1945 | Pioneer Cemetery |
| Gnr. | Reginald J. Lawes | 65 (Field) Regt., Royal Artillery | 22 Mar. 1943 | Medjez-El-Bab Memorial |
| Yeo. | Frederick H. Thorpe MiD | HMS Cleopatra | 22 Mar. 1942 | Chatham Naval Memorial |

## Governance

Carbrooke is part of the electoral ward of All Saints & Wayland for local elections and is part of the district of Breckland.
The village's national constituency is Mid Norfolk which has been represented by the Conservative's George Freeman MP since 2010.