History
Settlement in the parish dates from at least the Neolithic period, when the alluvial plains of the Thames made the area fertile for agriculture. The Romans were present in the village as evidence of a ceremonial site and road survive. Excavations have revealed rough Saxon huts of the early stages of Anglo-Saxon colonization, but their most important enduring monument in Sutton was the massive causeway and weirs that separate the millstream from Sutton Pools. The causeway was probably built by Saxon labour.
Written records of Sutton's history began in 688 when Ine, King of Wessex, endowed the new monastery at Abingdon with the manor of Sutton. In 801, Sutton became a royal vill, with the monastery at Abingdon retaining the church and priest's house. It is believed that this was on the site of the 'Abbey' in Sutton Courtenay. The Domesday Book of 1086 shows that the manor of 'Sudtone' was owned half by the King and farmed mainly by tenants who owed him tribute. There were three mills, 300 acres (1.2 km2) of river meadow (probably used for dairy farming) and extensive woodlands where pigs were kept.
Sutton became known as Sutton Courtenay after the Courtenay family took residence at the Manor in the 1170s. Reginald Courtenay became the first Lord of Sutton after he had helped negotiate the path of the future king, Henry II, to the throne.
Read more about this topic: Sutton Courtenay
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