The village is noted for its early nineteenth century post mill.

Its name is recorded in the Domesday Book as Frisetuna and seems to come from Anglo-Saxon Frīsa tūn = "the farmstead of the Frisians"; some of them may have come with the Angles and Saxons.

After this point the population of Friston fluctuated but continued increasing before the huge decline in the village's population around the 1970s which was common in most rural areas due to people migrating to metropolitan areas with higher accessibility for social and economic activities.

Friston is close to a famous bird sanctuary in Minsmere and is also home to its own wind mill dating back to the 19th century called 'Frison Post Mill'.

Friston has a village Parish Council which hosts an annual general meeting with its seven members and the clerk.

The church also has a churchyard which has several graves of the Bowater family members, of which three were Lord Mayors of London.

[11] Friston post mill was built in 1812 and is the tallest of its type in England.

The Mill was updated in August 1983 and was described as: Post Windmill, Early C19; partly restored 1977.

Timber framed and weatherboarded body on 3-storey painted brick roundhouse.

The principal machinery, which drove 3 pairs of millstones, remains intact.