Chilton's history dates back to the
British Iron Age, when it was founded as a
Celtic agricultural settlement. The name Chilton is
Old English for "Child's Town". When the
Domesday Book was produced in 1086,
Robert Malet (a member of
William the Conqueror's court) was the village's
tenant-in-chief. It was located in
Babergh Hundred. It is unclear why the village was abandoned, though it is speculated that it may have been caused by the
Black Death, the
enclosure of
Chilton Hall's
deer park, or agricultural depression. The
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (part of the
University of California, Los Angeles) has a handwritten manuscript of wedding sermon preached at Chilton by
Matthew Lawrence,
Ipswich Town Preacher. Until the 1960s a single house remained standing adjacent to the church. Although the church is redundant, services are still held three times a year. During
World War II an airfield was built largely within the parish. Initially called Airfield 174, it was later renamed
RAF Sudbury. It was completed in 1943 and handed over to the
USAAF on 23 March 1944. With three runways, the airfield was home to the USAAF 486th Bomber Group (now evolved into the
486th Air Expeditionary Wing). The
hangars are now used largely for grain storage. The hall, previously home to the grandmother of
Robert Walpole (the first
Prime Minister of Great Britain), is today home to
Lord Hart of Chilton. ==Listed buildings==