Flowton

---

title: "Flowton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-suffolk", "civil-parishes-in-suffolk", "mid-suffolk-district", "bosmere-and-claydon-hundred"] description: "Village and civil parish in Suffolk, England" topic_path: "general/villages-in-suffolk" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village and civil parish in Suffolk, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox UK place"]

Field	Value
country	England
coordinates
official_name	Flowton
static_image	Flowton - Church of St Mary.jpg
static_image_width	240px
static_image_caption	Church of St Mary
population	117
population_ref	(2011 Census)
civil_parish	Flowton
shire_district	Mid Suffolk
shire_county	Suffolk
region	East of England
post_town	Ipswich
postcode_area	IP
postcode_district	IP8
dial_code	01473
os_grid_reference	TM082468
constituency_westminster	Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
::

| country = England | coordinates = | official_name= Flowton | static_image = Flowton - Church of St Mary.jpg | static_image_width = 240px | static_image_caption= Church of St Mary | population = 117 | population_ref = (2011 Census) | civil_parish = Flowton | shire_district= Mid Suffolk | shire_county = Suffolk | region= East of England | post_town= Ipswich | postcode_area= IP | postcode_district = IP8 | dial_code= 01473 | os_grid_reference= TM082468 | constituency_westminster = Central Suffolk and North Ipswich

Flowton is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England, with a population of 117 people. The name 'Flowton' originally derives from the word 'Flocctun', meaning a flock of sheep or a sheep farm. The parish is located around six miles north west of Ipswich, which is the county town of Suffolk. Flowton contains the hamlet of Flowton Brook, and consists of rural farmland accompanied by scattered farm houses and a few newer builds situated nearby the parish church of 'St Mary's'. In the 1870s, Flowton was described as:

:"Flowton, a parish in Bosmere district, Suffolk; 3½ miles WNW of Bramford r. station, and 5½ NW by W of Ipswich. Post town, Bramford under Ipswich. Acres 495. Real property, £994. Pop., 151. Houses, 34. The property is divided among a few. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £140.* Patron, Henry Thornton, Esq. The church is good."

St Mary's Church

Flowton's parish church, 'St Mary's' was built in the 13th century and has been a Christian place of worship for around 700 years. The church holds many fundraising events, gaining goodwill and financial support from the village, as well as from the wider population. St Mary's Church is a Grade I listed building, made of flint rubble walling with freestone dressings and buttressing. It consists of a nave, chance, south porch and west tower. Evidence from medieval mass can be seen east of the porch on buttresses where there are mass dials carved into the stone. These dials would have previously shown the villages the time at which the service would be held. Changes to the church have been made over the centuries with its most recent known addition being around the late 18th century when a vestry was added to the north of the chancel. It is thought that this vestry was used as a school room for the village children. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Flowton_Historical_Map.PNG" caption="Historical Map from the 20th Century Showing the Civil Parish of Flowton"] ::

Rev. John Charlesworth (1782–1864), an evangelical Christian and abolitionist, was rector of Flowton, 1815–44.

Manorial history

Flowton Priory

Flowton Priory was in the village of Flowton for 400 years, after being built in 1525. In 1928 it was moved brick by brick to Harpenden, Hertfordshire, after its owner, a wealthy family member, ordered it to be deconstructed and reassembled. "The great thing is that when it was moved, every beam, brick and tile was checked and made good. And it was put on solid foundations with a damp-proof course." It is listed as being a Grade II Tudor Mansion.

Population Structure

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Population_Time_Series_in_Flowton_1801-2011.jpg" caption="Total Population of Flowton Civil Parish, Suffolk, as reported by the Census of Population from 1801 to 2011"] ::

There is an irregular change in both Flowton's total population and the number of houses between 1831 and 1861. The population graph shows that there is an increase in the number of houses between 1831 and 1851, with a decrease in population. This is then followed by a further decline in population, along with a decrease in the number of houses in 1921. Flowton's population grows rapidly 1811 and 1831, it then remains fairly steady until 1851. Therefore, indicating that Flowton's community was developing, as there was also an increase in the number of houses.

Employment

Occupational history

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/A_Graph_Showing_1881_Male_and_Female_Occupations_in_Flowton.jpg" caption="accessdate=25 April 2015}} The graph shows females were employed in a wider range of industries compared to males at the time, with only one male not being employed in agriculture."] ::

Recent Occupational Structure

Flowton's traditional industry of agriculture still employs a small number of its population. However, census data collected in 2011 shows how the population of Flowton has diversified in terms of employment. Around a third of the population were employed in the manual labour industry in 2011, which now includes construction and mechanical work. Men are now employed within a total of nine census industry categories, whereas the graphs shows in 1881 they were only shown to be employed in two. A majority of Flowton's population in 2011 were employed in public sector work, such as health and social work, education, admin and financial. The most recent census data shows how female employment has changed since 1881. Women in 2011 were shown to be employed in a variety of industries, some of which would have traditional been seen as male orientated in 1881, such as in agriculture and construction.

Flowton Community

Flowton's villagers often hold fundraising events, with its church often being at the centre of this. The village annually holds an open garden event, where visitors can walk around participating villagers gardens. Alongside this a flower festival takes place within the Church, both lasting two days. Flowton charges a small joint fee is for a ticket to both events. The church is also part of Suffolk historic churches trust annual cycle ride, where money is raised for its upkeep and maintenance.

References

References

1. "Flowton (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics.
2. "About the Church".
3. (1870). "Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales". A. Fullerton & Co..
4. "Church of St Mary, Flowton". britishlistedbuildings.
5. "John Charlesworth". Jo Edkins.
6. "Flowton Parish". Savills Harpenden.
7. (18 February 2014). "Home of the month – a slice of Tudor life". Hertfordshire Life.
8. (22 August 2014). "Brick by brick moving: historic buildings find new homes". The Telegraph.
9. "Housing Statistics, Total Houses".
10. "Total Population".
11. "Key Figures for 2001 Census: Key Statistics".
12. "Parish: Flowton". Suffolk city council.
13. "VI. OCCUPATIONS".
14. "Industry, 2011".
15. "Industry Occupation data classified into the 24 1881 'Orders', plus sex".
16. "Open Gardens & Flower Festival".
17. "Information for Residents".
18. (October 2025). "Sponsored Bike Ride 2014".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::