Dunton Wayletts (also known as Dunton) is hamlet and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Basildon, in the Basildon district, in the county of Essex, England. It is on the western outskirts of Laindon, Basildon. In 1931 it had a population of 661.
The name Dunton has Saxon origins ("dun" meaning hill and "tun" meaning town). Wayletts is also derived from the Saxon ("Weylete") and Old English ("Weg-gelaetu") both meaning a place where ways or roads meet.
There have been many reported names for Dunton, including:
Dantuna
Dunton
Dunton(a) juxta Herwardstoke
Dunton(a) Weylate
Duntune
Dont(h)on(e)
Dounton
Dounton Weylate
Dounton Waylate
Downton Waylate
Denton
The earliest reference to Dunton is found in the Domesday Book of 1086 when 'Dantona' was held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux (half brother of William the Conqueror). During the Middle Ages, the parish of Dunton was divided into two manors: Dunton Hall and Fryern Manor. In the 12th century Dunton came under the ownership of the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin. In the 1440s the manor of Dunton was granted to King's College, Cambridge. The manor of Dunton remained in the possession of King's College until well into the 18th century.
In 1801 the population of Dunton was 121. In 1837 the Parish of Dunton comprised 2,000 acres of land out of which 1,719 was cultivated land, 222 acres meadow pasture, 37 acres woodland, 22 acres was common land and 17 acres belonging to the Rector. In the 1841 census the population of Dunton was 194. In 1871 Dunton had 33 houses with a population of 174. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Little Burstead and Brentwood.
In 1967 the Ford Motor Company opened the Dunton Technical Centre on former agricultural land at the north end of Dunton.
Dunton's amenities declined during the 1970s. The village school closed in 1977 and the one village shop closed a year later.
Friern Manor, to the north of Lower Dunton Road, was built in the 18th century. It was owned by the governors of St Bartholomew's Hospital in the 19th century.
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