Nowton is a small village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the southern edge of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was estimated to be 140.[2] At the 2011 census 163 people were recorded as living in the village.
The village is situated to the south of the vast Nowton Park. The park is almost 200 acres in size and is landscaped in typical Victorian style. It is owned by West Suffolk district council and managed for recreation, leisure and nature conservation. It was once part of the Oakes family estate, and contains wild flower meadows, mixed woodland, wildlife ponds and an arboretum featuring trees from around the world. It is renowned for The Lime Avenue with its 100,000 daffodils that emerge in spring.[3]
St Peter's church, is the parish church of the village and dates from the 12th century. It was enlarged and repewed in 1843, at the cost of H.J. Oakes, Esq and J.H Porteus Oakes, Esq[4] and is a Grade II* listed building.[5] The church is a neat building that contains a nave and chancel and a good collection of late medieval Flemish glass windows.[6] The bell tower contains 6 bells.[7]
To the south of the park lies Nowton Court which was built in 1837 and was owned by the Oakes family. For several years it was run as a boarding prep school until it closed and pupils and staff moved to Old Buckenham Hall School in Brettenham. Its most famous alumnus is Nigel Havers.[8] Nowton Court is now a retirement home called 'Nowton Court Village'.[9]
The village is also the location of Grade II listed Nowton Hall. The former farmhouse is dated 1595 on the chimney-stack, with the initials A.P. for Anthony Payne (d.1606). The house stands on the remains of a roughly E-shaped moated site. Prior to the Dissolution, the manor belonged to the Benedictine Abbey of St. Edmundsbury.[10]
