Living and Working in Watton

The market town of Watton, Norfolk has lots to offer families and couples looking to make the move to a rural area for a life in the countryside. With beautiful surroundings and nature on your doorstep, there is a lot to love about Watton.

Considering a role at Wayland Academy? Thinking about living in Watton or the surrounding area? Here’s an insight as to what life is like in this country town…

History

The town sign of Watton depicts two children shown under a tree on the sign, taken from the “Babes in the Wood” legend. Also shown on the sign is a Hare leaping over a Barrel, this derives from two ancient local words with the word “watt” meaning a Hare and the word “tun” meaning a barrel. 

The nearby Wayland Wood, a short drive from Watton town centre, is thought to be the alleged site of the “Babes in the Wood” legend. The legend tells a tale of a brother and sister who were abandoned to die in a woodland - following the death of their father they are left in the care of their uncle. They were to inherit their father’s fortune when reaching maturity, but If they were to pass before then the wealth would go directly to the uncle, and as such, the uncle paid two ruffians to abandon the two children so he could stake a claim to the wealth.

As part of development in Watton, recently an excavation was carried out by Northamptonshire Archaeology on land south of Norwich Road in Watton. The land was known as a position of a Middle Bronze Age barrow. Five cremation burials were discovered North of the site, with small artefacts relating to the Neolithic and Bronze ages also found.

Lifestyle

Living in Watton has all the essential shops to keep you going, and is quite small with a population of roughly 7,500 people, there is a Tesco Superstore and a range of pubs, restaurants and shops along the high street to the centre of town. Some of the stand-out places for eating out are The Willow House, located in the centre of town and The Waggon and Horses, situated in Griston just South of Watton.

Watton also is home to The Dragonfly Gallery which has art exhibitions and a visitor centre, with artwork showing off paintings, photography, mixed media and glasswork. The space is run by dedicated volunteers and is open on weekdays and some weekends. If you are looking to do some browsing for interesting things then the Watton Antique and Collectables Centre holds a range of different antiques and collectables for all tastes and interests. 

Surrounding Watton there is plenty of country walks to explore, including Thetford Forest Park and Brandon Country Park, both within a 30-minute drive of Watton. Here you can find visitor centres and long walks through the countryside on guided trails. Thetford Forest Park also boasts many activities at the High Lodge centre, including Archery, Adventure Golf, Go Ape attractions and cycle hire to name but a few. 

Travel and Transport Links

Further afield there are good transport links to Norwich (a 45-minute drive) and trains from nearby stations at Thetford (a 25-minute drive) and Attleborough (20 minutes drive). These trains can take you to London Kings Cross (roughly 2 hours) and London Stansted Airport (roughly 90 minutes) directly, with other changes at Ely and Peterborough to access even more destinations across Norfolk and Suffolk.

House Prices (Rightmove - July 2024)

Properties in Watton are on average £242,704 over the last year, with the predominant type of housing sold being detached properties which have an average selling price of £290,634 over the last year. 

Other types of properties sell for less on average with terraced properties selling for an average of £190,032, and semi-detached properties averaging £213,345.

Norfolk has an overall average price of £281,422, so buying in Watton is generally cheaper compared to the rest of the county, it is also cheaper than the nearby town of Attleborough which averages £277,829. On the other hand, Thetford, a larger town just south of Watton is cheaper than the average in both Norfolk and Watton with properties selling for £232,074 on average. 

Want to know more about our school? We’re happy to have a chat - give us a call on  01953 881514.

You can check our latest vacancies here.