Ampton is about five miles north of Bury St Edmunds.

According to Eilert Ekwall the meaning of the village name is Amma's homestead. The Domesday Book records the population of Ampton in 1086 to be 23 households. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 63, including Little Livermere and Timworth also increasing to 171 at the 2011 Census.

The parish is grouped with Little Livermere and Timworth to form a parish council.

At the grade I listed church of St Peter and Paul there hangs four bells with the heaviest weighing 8-1 cwt and dating from 1405.

Most of the village was designated as a conservation area on March 5, 1987.

The village’s racecourse hosts the South Suffolk Show, an annual one day agricultural show which was first organised in 1888.

Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy FRS, the scientist who achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle during Charles Darwin's famous voyage, was born in the village. He also coined the phrase “Weather Forecast” when he founded the predecessor to the Meteorological Office.

Notable residents include Robert FitzRoy, Pierce Lacy, Henry Cotterill an 18th century Bishop, Henry George Boldero a British Army officer and a Member of Parliament for Chippenham; Henry Venn Elliott; Reynolds Calthorpe a Member of Parliament for Hindon, James Calthorpe a Yeoman of the Removing Wardrobe, James Calthorpe a Roundhead and Sheriff of Suffolk and Algernon May a Member of Parliament for Windsor.