At the time of Edward the Confessor, Watton consisted of two manors, the head manor held by the freewoman Aldred, and the other held by Ralf FitzWalter, which was a gift of the King. By 1139 it was in the possession of Robert de Vaux. After passing to various descendants, Richard de Rupella (elsewhere Rokele) was granted the manor in 1249 as a reward for his service as a knight, and it came to be known as Rokele’s Manor. In 1414, Watton fell under John, Lord Roos of Hamlak, and by 1462 the manors were owned by Richard Rosse and Robert Wessingham.

In 1608, Sir Edward Barkham bought Curson’s manor (parcels of Watton Hall and Rokele manors), and in 1632 he was cited as the lord of Watton Hall, which he kept until after 1660. On 25 April 1674 a great fire broke out destroying sixty houses, the Butchers Shambles and other buildings, amounting to an estimated £7450 (equivalent to £1,400,000 in 2023) in structural damage. The town was rebuilt, and was visited by Thomas Baskerville in 1681 who noted the new buildings and a new bowling green at the “George” inn.