Colton's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Cola's farmstead or settlement.

[1] Colton was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Coletuna,[2] a settlement of 2 households in the hundred of Forehoe.

[5] The Norfolk Lurcher pub on High House Farm Lane[6] which first opened in 1991 was called the Ugly Bug Inn until 2007.

The village's national constituency is South Norfolk which has been represented by the Labour Party's Ben Goldsborough MP since 2024.

Colton's war memorial are two plaques (one stone and another brass) located inside St. Andrew's Church.