The Reformation to the 18th Century

In the 1530's Henry VIII broke with the Church of Rome and established the Church of England. The Reformation had begun. Some changes may have taken time to work through but one change that took effect immediately was the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1534 the religious communities in England were closed down and their assets seized by the State. Gapton Hall manor, once the property of Leighs Priory, was passed to Richard Cavendish. Under the Cavendish family the manor grew, gaining land in several neighbouring parishes.

When the Civil War broke out in 1642 most of East Anglia sided with Parliament against the King. Lord of the manor of Gapton Hall was Sir John Wentworth, whose family had acquired most of the Lothingland manors at the end of the 16th century. Sir John, who lived at Somerleyton, was a Parliamentarian but there were Royalist supporters in Lothingland. They arrested him and held him at Lowestoft, a Royalist town. He was not in prison for long, though, as troops led by Oliver Cromwell captured the town without meeting any resistance and set him free. Sir John died in 1653 and Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660. In 1672 one of Sir John's former captors, Thomas Allin, bought the Wentworth estates. Allin, who had fought for the King, had ended up on the winning side. He had gained a knighthood and been made an admiral. He now lived at Somerleyton and owned land in Ashby, Belton, Bradwell, Carlton Colville, Corton, Flixton, Fritton, Gorleston, Mutford and Lound. One event which stands out in the 17th century is the Great Plague of 1665. Although it is associated with London, the epidemic was not confined to the Capital. Other towns suffered too. Belton has Parish Registers recording christenings, weddings and burials from 1588. The Register for 1665 records 13 burials, seven described as 'plague'. These were in April and May. This may not sound very many but around this time three or four burials a year was normal. The hearth tax returns for 1674 show 36 households in Belton. This suggests a population of 150 to 200 people at the time of the plague. The plague deaths represent a big increase on the usual number of deaths and must have been a great worry to the community.

In 1666 Parliament decreed that everyone who died should be buried in a shroud of English woollen cloth. If you buried a family member without doing so you could be fined £5. This was to encourage the English cloth trade. The local minister had to keep a register of burials in woollen and the relatives had to produce an affidavit sworn before a magistrate that this had been carried out. In the Belton Parish Registers the phrase 'buried in woollen by Affidavit' appears, recording that this had been done.

Apart from the Church, the only building surviving in Belton from this period is the thatched cottage on Station Road South which dates from around 1600. Unusually some of its original window frames seem to have survived.

One prominent local family in the 17th and 18th centuries were the Symonds. Some of them were merchants in Great Yarmouth and had taken a leading role in the town's affairs. Another branch of the family settled in Browston around 1600. One of them, James Symonds died in 1624 and is buried in Belton church. The Symonds were benefactors to Belton. When Nathaniel Symonds of Great Yarmouth died in 1720, he bequeathed £5 per year, for 15 years, to buy religious books for the poor who could read in Belton and other villages where he had interests.

Around 1690, the Symonds rebuilt Browston Hall and the old manor house. During the following century three very ornate ceilings were installed. Over the entrance hall is a large plaster eagle and a smaller eagle on the ceiling of an adjoining room. In a third room there is a sun face in the centre of the ceiling with the Four Ages of Woman and symbols of the seasons in the corners. This third room has a village scene in the window bay depicting fishing, swimming, boating and courtship. There is a cottage in the background and a church with a round tower.

Around 1800 further improvements were carried out to the gardens and 'graperies, pineries and an extensive peachery' were built. J. H. Druery writing in 1826 ,records that Browston Hall contained an extensive picture collection including works by Dutch masters and the Norwich School. He describes Browston itself at this time as 'an inconsiderable hamlet attached to (Belton). It contains a few small houses.

In the 18th century there was an increased awareness of archaeology. One local man who devoted his short life to this study was John Ives, the son of a wealthy Yarmouth merchant. His grandfather owned land at Belton and had built or enlarged a house there. John Ives had a passionate interest in local history and archaeology and published books on these subjects. Unfortunately he had been in poor health since childhood and died at the age of 25, in1776. In his short life he had become a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He had also been made Suffolk Herald extraordinary because of his knowledge of genealogy and heraldry.

His collection of books, pictures, coins, manuscripts and stained glass were sold at auction in London in 1777. The sale took seven days and made over £2,000, which went to his widow Sarah. In his will he asked to be buried in Belton Church , near the North wall in line with his grandfather's grave. His monument has the Ives family arms and an oak tree, broken in the middle. A few acorns only have fallen to the ground. This is to symbolise a life cut short. His father, also called John Ives, outlived him. In 1778 he bought land at Belton, Bradwell and Burgh Castle and in 1780 bought the house that is now the Elizabethan House Museum in Great Yarmouth. He died at Hobland Hall in 1793, aged 74. His monument in the church records that he was 'possessed of great property in this hundred.'

His widow Mary, married Thomas Fowler who bought the Gunton estate near Lowestoft. Thus Thomas Fowler became a major land owner in Belton at the end of the 18th century. Belton's most striking house from the 18th century is the Old Hall on Station Road South. This dates from the early 1700's and its classical architecture is meant to impress on us that its builder was a person of learning and taste.