Troston is around five miles north-north-east of Bury St Edmunds. It's parish church, St Mary’s, is a Grade I listed church, containing medieval wall paintings conserved by an expert in 2009. They show St George and the Dragon, St Christopher and the martyrdom of St Edmund, as well as other interesting features including a fragment of a Doom above the chancel arch, historic graffiti and its pulpit and rood screen.
Early Anglo Saxon pagan burial grounds (450-500AD) have been found in the valley of the River Blackbourne and it is possible that the people who first settled Troston came that way.
Professor Ekwall, in his book Oxford History of Place Names gives Troston as an Anglo Saxon settlement, as were most surrounding villages. An old will of 989 AD shows that the early name was Trostingtun, 'tun' being the Anglo Saxon word for farmstead or settlement. 'Ing' from 'inga' meaning 'of the people' , and 'Trost' (or Trosta) the name of the headman. Thus Trostingtun becomes 'the settlement of the people of Trost(a)' Some historians think that places ending with 'ing' in the name denotes early Anglo Saxon occupation. If this is so, Troston could have been established as early as 500AD.
If anybody would like to expand this series please do. I would just ask that you let Smokeypugs know first so they can keep track of the Village Sign numbers and names to avoid duplication.