Sutton is a civil parish in Herefordshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) north-east from the county town and city of Hereford.

Spirites was the sub-tenant predecessor of the lands of Nigel the doctor, but was exiled for undetermined crimes as the Conquest began.

St Nicholas' Church, with a "substantial tower containing four bells", comprised a north porch, a chancel a nave, and a south transept which was commonly called the Lady (or Ladye) Chapel and in which was the font.

The living was a rectory, with a residence and 23 acres (9 ha) of glebe, an area of land used to support the parish church and priest.

[9][10][11] The extant earthwork remains of a supposed Roman camp called 'Sutton Walls' was described as "very perfect", of oval form, with a single ditch, a rampart 40 feet (12 m) high, four entrances, and an area of 27 acres (11 ha).

Their daughter, Elfrida, was sought in marriage by king Ethelbert of the East Angles who, when visiting the palace, was murdered by Quindreda in the year 793.

Sutton Walls remained the residence of the Mercian kings until the overlordship of Egbert, who in 827 consolidated the Heptarchy of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

[9][10][11] Residents, trades and occupations in the 1850s were, at Sutton St Michael: seven farmers, one of whom was a "steam thrashing machine proprietor" at Busy Hill, and a wheelwright who was also a carpenter, and a shoemaker.

At Sutton St Nicholas were the rector, the priest of the Independent chapel, the schoolmistress, four farmers, a blacksmith, a carpenter, and the licensee of the Golden Cross Inn who was also a shopkeeper.

St Michael's church had been restored in 1865 (some sources state 1867) with "the seats... all free and open", and was now a vicarage, with a glebe increased to 29 acres (12 ha).

For 1880's directory purpose St Michael lists six farmers, a shoemaker, and a machine owner; St Nicholas lists seven farmers, a wheelwright, a machine owner, a blacksmith at Mill pool, the licensee of the Golden Cross Inn who was also a shopkeeper, and a shopkeeper who also ran the parish post office.

The parish post office was also a money order and savings bank, and was granting Inland Revenue licenses.

There still existed the licensee of the Golden Cross public house, a cider merchant, a threshing machine proprietor, a wheelwright, a blacksmith, a beer retailer, and a shopkeeper who also ran the post office.

[1][17] Sutton is represented in the UK parliament as part of the North Herefordshire constituency, held by the Conservative Party since 2010 by Bill Wiggin.

Sutton borders the parish of Marden at the north and north-west, Moreton on Lugg and Pipe and Lyde at the west, Holmer and Shelwick at the south, Withington at the south-east and east, and Preston Wynne at the north-east.

Also on Bayley Way at St Nicholas is the village hall, which provides events and classes, and holds meetings of the parish council.

At the extreme east of the parish on Wyatt Road is a cake making business and a holiday converted barn rental establishment.

[20][22] The parish is served by two bus stops on the 426 Hereford to Leominster route, one at the south on the road to Shelwick Green, at Wergins Bridge over the River Lugg, and one at the Golden Cross Inn in St Nicholas village.

The interior contains a barrel vaulted ceiling to the nave which is separated from the south transept by a double-arch arcade.

On a rectangular two-step base, the memorial is Celtic Revival, with a wheel-head cross and relief-carved interlaced decorative details.

[33] Also within churchyard, at 3 yards (3 m) north-east from the church, is the Grade II chest tomb to William Spencer, who died in 1780, with floriate and gadroon elements and a 19th-century pyramid slab.

The first dates to the 12th century, and comprises a "round bowl, cylindrical stem and four carved lions with emphasis on their fur on the base".

The second font, on the window cill of the nave at the south-east and c.1645, is small and "urn-shaped... gadroon rimmed [and] supported by a possibly 15th-century angel holding a book".

At the west of the nave south wall is a monument to Elizabeth Cotton (died 1645), with a "broken pediment supported by barley-sugar columns" and includes two female figures and a semi-reclining cadaver.

[37][38] Freens' Court is an Historic England scheduled monument, listed since 1992, and described as a 'magnate's residence', 700 yards (640 m) west from St Michael's Church, and as "fairly good."

The house on the site was demolished in 1957, but in 1932 was described as 15th century built by the Lingen family, and of "three tenements,... two storeys, timber-framed and with slate or stone-covered roofs".

The house was two-storey, timber-framed, and 'H' plan with cross wings facing the east and west, both extended in the 16th and 17th century.

[40][41][42][43] Sutton Walls hillfort, at the north of the parish adjacent to the parish of Marden and 600 yards (549 m) north from St Michael's church, is a traditional possible location for the palace or part of the royal estate of the eighth-century king Offa of Mercia, although no archaeological excavations to date have supported this.

An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Herefordshire posits that such evidence points to the site being "occupied in late Celtic, Roman and Anglo-Saxon times.