At 02:00 on the morning of 17 June 1917 the German Zeppelin airship L48 was shot down by Robert Saundby and others while it was on a bombing raid. Sixteen members of the 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 there was a reinterment at the Cannock Chase German War Cemetery in Staffordshire. A memorial plaque can still be seen across the road from the church. Part of the framework of the Zeppelin itself is mounted in the porch of the church. The village primary school was closed around 1970 and is now used as the village hall, which was renamed Jubilee Hall in 2000 and extensively refurbished in 2012.
People
At Theberton Hall
, founding father of Adelaide, South Australia, was sent from Penang in about 1792, aged six, to be educated by friends of his father, George and Anne Doughty, who lived at Theberton Hall. George Doughty was Sheriff of Suffolk, and it was he who had had Theberton Hall built. His wife, Anne Goodwin, was heiress of Martlesham Hall. Their son was Rev. George Clarke Doughty, also of Theberton Hall. Charles Montagu Doughty the traveller and writer, best known for his 1888 travel book Travels in Arabia Deserta, was born at Theberton Hall and is commemorated in the church by a plaque. Theberton Hall was also the birthplace of his nephew, Lt-Col. Charles Doughty-Wylie, who was born in 1868 and killed in battle in Gallipoli in 1915. His bravery earned him the Victoria Cross, awarded posthumously.
The Victorian photographer Robert Howlett was born in Theberton in 1831, the second of four sons of Reverend Robert Howlett and Harriet Harsant. He is renowned for his iconic photograph of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Heritage buildings
Theberton Hall
Theberton Hall was built for George Doughty in 1780 or 1792. In 1852 there were extensive alterations and extensions, in Italian Renaissance style, but nearly all of the additions were demolished in the 1920s. It is a two-storey building of yellow brick, stone and with stucco decoration. The central doorway has a porch with square pillars and Ionic columns, and the parapet bears the motto "PALMA NON SINE PVLVERE", with the coat of arms above. It remained the home of Charles Montagu Doughty and on 25 October 1951 it was listed as a Grade II heritage-listed building. The motto comes from the Roman poet Horace, with the literal meaning "no palms without dust". It is usually translated as "no reward without effort" and sometimes more recently as "dare to try". In 1928, Mrs Doughty-Wylie offered "to commemorate the old friendship between the family of the late Colonel Doughty-Wylie and that of Colonel William Light", Theberton Hall and the estate to Adelaide City Council. The estate was described as " in extent, including of matured woodlands", while the house had "six reception rooms and 18 bed and dressing rooms". The Council referred the matter to High Commission of Australia, London for consideration. The investigators reported that home was said to be in poor repair, and would require immediate expenditure of £7,000 to £8,000, as well as ongoing expense, so the Council declined to accept the offer.
