A Brief History of Denton
(The following text is largely taken from the book "A Snapshot of Denton" compiled in 2000 as part of the village Millennium celebrations. Some additions and corrections have been made)
The name Denton is derived from Anglo-Saxon and believed to mean "home in a hollow" or "village in a valley". Given the original location of the village centre down by the church, this would make sense. It is believed to date from Saxon times. In the north-west of the village along Darrow Green Road there are the remains of an old motte and bailey Castle believed to have been built by William d'Albini who then went on to build the rather grander castle at New Buckenham. This may have been his hunting lodge. The name Darrow Green probably derives from 'deerhaugh' meaning 'deer park' which confirms the use of the area round the castle as a medieval deerpark. Wild deer can still occasionally be spotted on the road. (The site of the castle was bought by the National Trust a few years ago.)
St Mary's Church at the southern end of the village dates from the 12th century and is very large for such a small parish. It has a magnificent stained glass east window. In the fourteenth century many peasents lived in cottages in the valley to the west of the church. When the Black Death struck in the 1340's many village people died and their houses may have been burned down as part of the cleansing of the area. 'New' houses were built further up the village away from the area of disease. Several of these timber-framed houses are still standing today - although some hide their origins behind much more modern frontages.
The well-known author Rider Haggard, writing at the turn of the nineteenth century, had a strong connection with Denton. He owned Haggards Farm on Chapel Hill (currently owned by the Fairhead family) which is mentioned in his famous book 'A Farming Year'. The Skinner family, still resident in Denton, are also mentioned in the book as his tenants.
Denton United Reform Chapel dates back to 1658. It was founded by a 'wandering preacher' from Wattisham who founded the original congregational chapel. The present building dates from 1821. All the surrounding chapels (Bungay and Harleston) were 'offspring' of the mother chapel in Denton.
At the opposite end of Darrow Green Road from Denton Castle there was a wooden Post Mill active until the 1890s. Three nearby houses Mill House, Mill Farm (now Mutts Farm) and Mill Cottage (now Mill Farm) would probably have housed families associated with the mill.
During the second world war there were a number of United States Army Air Force airfields in this area including one at Hardwick whose perimiter touched the boundary of the village. This was the base of 93rd Bomb Group, part of the US 2nd Air Division. They flew Liberator bomber missions from early 1943 until the end of the war. The sudden effect of 2000 young American males being stationed less than a mile away as the crow flies had a huge impact. Some of them cycled to Denton on Wednesday evening to the village 'social'. Mrs Knights the schoolteacher thumped out waltzes and quicksteps on the piano at more or less the same tempo. One memorable night a USAF lorry arrived complete with American band and musical instruments. There was much laughter and jitterbugging but the local chaps were not so keen to see their village 'invaded'. There wasn't any actual fighting but choice words were exchanged between the Americans and the locals. By the next week it was back to Mrs Knights and her waltzes. By the end of the war some 80,000 British women had become GI brides including three from the village of Denton.
Denton House at the southern end of the village was used as a convalescent home for servicemen during the war years. Like most Waveney valley villages, the parish boundaries, which are Saxon in origin, extend down to the river. The parish thus includes stretches of the A143, Bury St Edmunds to Great Yarmouth, road and the old Waveney Valley Railway line. Serving nearby stations at Homersfield and Earsham, the railway opened in 1855 and closed in 1960. Within Denton the course of the railway is now occupied by the realigned main road.
Denton Village Hall was built in 1923. Prior to its building the Women's Institute met in the chapel vestry and whist drives were held at the school. During World War Two it was used as a school for evacuees. It remained very much as it was originally built until the early 1990s when it was modernised and extended. Following the closure of the last pub in the village, the Kings Head in Norwich Road (Denton's other pub, the Watch House on Trunch Hill, had closed its doors some years before), the Bowls & Social Club obtained a club licence to sell drinks to its members. In 1992 a purpose built bar and new toilets transformed the Hall and enhanced its role as the hub of village life.
In 2004 another extension to the Village Hall provided more secure storage and, more importantly, a games room aimed at the younger residents of the village.