Dunston's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for Dunn's or Dunni's settlement.

In 1086, the village was divided between the estates of Alan of Brittany, Roger Bigod, Godric the Steward, Ralph de Beaufour and an unnamed freeman.

[2] Dunston Hall was built in the Elizabethan style in 1859 by John Chessell Buckler and later by Edward Boardman in 1878.

Dunston's village church is dedicated to Saint Remigius and dates from the Thirteenth Century.

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