Farm. A new manor called Watkins Hall was created and was first known to be held by Thomas Munden in about 1540. Philip Boteler (Butler) inherited the Woodhall estate in about 1375 and later descendants to have the title included Philip Butler and John Boteler who held the Watton, Woodhall and Crowborough manors. The three estates were in possession of the Botelers (Butlers) until as late as 1780. In 1662 brothers Maurice Thomson and Sir William Thompson, who had grown up in the village, founded Watton's first free school for 20 poor children. After Woodhall was mostly destroyed by fire in 1771, from which an elderly John Boteler was able to escape, building of the new house began in 1775. The notorious Thomas Rumbold took possession of Woodhall in 1777, followed by Paul Benfield in 1793. The estate was then bought in 1801 by Samuel Smith and the Smith family later combined the Watton, Woodhall and Crowborough manors into one and still holds it today. In later years, the natural springs in the area once made the village a popular spa town. The village has a number of dwellings dating from early Tudor, such as Watton Place, through to late Georgian constructions. Church of St Mary and St Andrew The parish church is dedicated to St Andrew and St Mary. It stands on thirteenth-century foundations and dates from the early-mid fifteenth century, and is built in the Perpendicular style. A chapel was added to the north side of the church in the late fifteenth century. The building is constructed from flint, and is protected by a Grade II* heritage listing. Notable residents The evangelical author and social campaigner Edward Bickersteth was rector of the church for twenty years from 1830 until his death in 1850. His one-time curate was the theological scholar Thomas Birks. Jack Meyer, the Somerset cricketer and founder of Millfield School grew up in the old Georgian red-brick rectory overlooking the cricket field, his father was the vicar of the church. In the summer of 1923, Alan Turing and his family stayed with their friends the Meyer family for six weeks at the rectory, Alan being the founder of computer science and the leading cryptologist at Bletchley Park in World War II. Andrew Hodges in his biography: Alan Turing: The Enigma tells of how a gypsy fortune teller at the church fête foretold that he would be