Dunton's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a farmstead or settlement either situated on a hill or with ducks.

[1] In the Domesday Book, Dunton is listed as a settlement of 25 households in the hundred of Brothercross.

Dunton's parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter and was largely built in the Fifteenth Century.

[6] The church possesses good examples of Nineteenth Century stained glass depicting scenes from the works of mercy installed by Heaton, Butler and Bayne and a depiction of Christ and Mary Magdalene by Ward and Hughes.

The village's national constituency is Broadland and Fakenham which has been represented by the Conservative Party's Jerome Mayhew MP since 2019.