Theberton

The Sign
The sign depicts the church and the Zeppelin which crashed in the village on the morning of 17th June 1917. The windmill was dismantled many years ago. It was made by Graham Chaplin of Buxhall in 2009.

The Name and Population
Called Thewardetuna in 1086, Tiberton in 1176 and Teberton in 1200. The name means "The farmstead or estate of a man called Theodbeorht", from Old English. It had a population of 279 at the 2011 census.

Other Points of Interest
The Victorian photographer Robert Howlett was born in Theberton in 1831, the second of four sons of the Rev. Robert Howlett and Harriet Harsant. He is renowned for his iconic photograph of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The church has a round tower and is dedicated to St Peter.

Sixteen members of the zeppelin crew died in the crash; three survived but one later died from his injuries. The bodies of the crew were buried in a dedicated plot adjacent to the churchyard, with women munition workers voluntarily digging the graves. Local people tended the graves until 1966, when they were reinterred at Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery in Staffordshire. A memorial plaque remains across the road from the church, where part of the Zeppelin framework is mounted in the porch and a comprehensive history can be seen inside the church.

Theberton St Peter round tower church