History

Who was St. Botolph?

Here are ten facts you should know!

   1. St. Botolph was an Anglo Saxon born in 620 AD.
   2. He grew up in a monastery which was within the walls of BurghCastle.
   3. BurghCastle was near Great Yarmouth and was in some woods close to the sea.
   4. The men of Mercia raided the area constantly and so St. Botolph was evacuated, firstly to Colchester and then to Northern France.
   5. St. Botolph’s ambition was to found a monastery somewhere in East Anglia.
   6. He was offered some rich land but he turned the offer down because he wanted to build on some wild area of land.
   7. In 654 AD using split tree trunks from a nearby wood, he built a Benedictine Monastery at Ikenhoo.
   8. He made many expeditions from the monastery travelling all over the marshlands and fenlands of East Anglia along raised causeways made of stone.
   9. St. Botolph died in 680 AD.
  10. After his death he was the favourite saint of farmers and people going on long journeys.
 

Why is our school called after St. Botolph?

St Botolph has a connection with Orton Longueville (the village in which our school is situated) because part of Holy Trinity Church was built with stones from the church at St. Botolph’s Bridge.

The late Rev. Anthony Taylor, Vicar of Holy Trinity, Orton Longueville researched the history in 1983 when the school was amalgamated. He said at the time, “St. Botolph seems to me to be a St. David, St. Patrick and St. Christopher all rolled into one and undoubtedly genuine, like St. George! It is thanks to him that the school has preserved its Church of England status and has been given a distinctive name rooted in East Anglian history”.