Norton

96. NORTON.

(O.S. 6 in. vii. N.E.)

Ecclesiastical

(1). Parish Church of St. Nicholas, stands at the N.E. end of the village, one mile N.W. of Baldock. The walls of the chancel and tower are covered with cement, but those of the nave are of flint rubble, bonded with clunch, and have patches of modern brick covered with thin cement. The roofs are of slate. The Nave is probably part of the church dedicated by Herbert Losinga, Bishop of Norwich, 1094–1119, but in the 15th century it was lengthened westwards about 8 feet and the walls were raised; at the same time a West Tower was added. In 1814 the Chancel was almost entirely re-built and the church repaired.

Architectural Description—The Chancel is modern, except the W. wall (3 ft. thick) and the early 12th-century chancel arch (7 ft. 10 in. wide), of one square order, with a chamfered string at the springing. The Nave (48½ ft. by 20 ft.) has walls apparently of early date. The N. wall has two 15th-century windows of two cinque-foiled lights with tracery, and a plain doorway, blocked in 1814. In the N.E. angle are the rood-loft stairs, with upper and lower doorways intact. The S. wall has similar windows, and a doorway, also of the 15th century, with continuous mouldings. The West Tower (12½ ft. square) is of three stages, with an embattled parapet and a S.W. stair-turret. The tower arch is of two orders, with shafts to the inner order. The W. doorway has traceried spandrels under a square head. The window above it has modern rough posts instead of mullions. The mullions and tracery of the bell-chamber windows have disappeared.

Fittings—Bells: three; 2nd, 15th-century, by Richard Hille, inscribed 'Sancte Petre ora pro nobis'; 3rd, 16th-century, with apparently meaningless inscription. Door: at foot of rood-loft stairs, probably 15th-century. Font: octagonal bowl, much scratched, re-worked panelled stem, 13th-century. Monument and Floor Slab: in the chancel, alabaster mural tablet, to Katherine Cole, 1648, and her daughter, 1652: in the nave, floor slab, to William Pym, 1685. Plate: includes a cup of c. 1570 without hall marks. Pulpit: of moulded oak, hexagonal, with a canopy, 17th-century. Seating: in the nave, with moulded rails and sills, of c. 1500.

Condition—Good on the whole, and under repair at the time of visit. Windows, etc., repaired with new stonework.

Secular

(2). Homestead Moat, at Nortonbury.