Barton Mills
Encyclopedia
Barton Mills is a village and civil parish
in the Forest Heath
district of Suffolk
, England
. The village is on the south bank of the River Lark
. According to Eilert Ekwall
the meaning of the village name is Corn farm by the mill.
Another possible meaning is that the village was originally called Little Barton, a village with a water mill, but over time the travellers from London to Norwich used Little Barton as a half way house. Not knowing the real name for the village it affectionately became known as the Barton Mills. Hence the modern name we know now.
The Domesday Book
records the population of Barton Mills in 1086 to be 24.
The village is near the Fiveways Roundabout, at which the A11 trunk road becomes single carriageway.
The village was once the holiday retreat for Alexander Fleming
, and there is a plaque on the wall outside his country home in the main street.
Barton Mills also enjoys celebration of the biannual Scarecrow
Festival, held in July. The main road through the village is closed to traffic (except to residents) and a two day-long festival which includes musical bands, food, dancing, car boot sales at the local playing fields, and of course, the viewing of scarecrows created by any resident who wished to do so. This festival has also been featured in Guinness Book of World Records
, boasting the most scarecrows ever built at any one time.
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in the Forest Heath
Forest Heath
Forest Heath is a local government district in Suffolk, England. Its council is based in Mildenhall. Other towns in the district include Newmarket....
district of Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The village is on the south bank of the River Lark
River Lark
The River Lark is a river in England, which crosses the border between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. It is a tributary of the River Great Ouse, and was extended when that river was re-routed as part of drainage improvements. It is thought to have been used for navigation since Roman times, and...
. According to Eilert Ekwall
Eilert Ekwall
Bror Oscar Eilert Ekwall , known as Eilert Ekwall, was Professor of English at Lund University, Sweden, from 1909 to 1942, and one of the outstanding scholars of the English language of the first half of the 20th century...
the meaning of the village name is Corn farm by the mill.
Another possible meaning is that the village was originally called Little Barton, a village with a water mill, but over time the travellers from London to Norwich used Little Barton as a half way house. Not knowing the real name for the village it affectionately became known as the Barton Mills. Hence the modern name we know now.
The Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
records the population of Barton Mills in 1086 to be 24.
The village is near the Fiveways Roundabout, at which the A11 trunk road becomes single carriageway.
The village was once the holiday retreat for Alexander Fleming
Alexander Fleming
Sir Alexander Fleming was a Scottish biologist and pharmacologist. He wrote many articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy...
, and there is a plaque on the wall outside his country home in the main street.
Barton Mills also enjoys celebration of the biannual Scarecrow
Scarecrow
A scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...
Festival, held in July. The main road through the village is closed to traffic (except to residents) and a two day-long festival which includes musical bands, food, dancing, car boot sales at the local playing fields, and of course, the viewing of scarecrows created by any resident who wished to do so. This festival has also been featured in Guinness Book of World Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, boasting the most scarecrows ever built at any one time.