Norton - Norton-Bavant

Norton

NORTON, a township, in the parish and union of Runcorn, hundred of Bucklow, N. division of the county of Chester, 4½ miles (N. E.) from Frodsham; containing 294 inhabitants. A priory of Augustine canons, originally founded in 1133 at Runcorn by William Fitz-Nigell, was removed hither by his son William, constable of Chester; the establishment was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and at the Dissolution had a revenue of £258. 11. 8. It was subsequently a private residence, and was besieged by the royalists in the early part of 1643. A modern mansion, called Norton Priory, built on the same site, is the property and seat of Sir Richard Brooke, Bart.: the vaults of the ancient priory are the base of the mansion. The township comprises 2047 acres, the soil of which is partly clay, and partly sand, with moss. The Mersey and Irwell and the Duke of Bridgewater's canals pass through. The great tithes have been commuted for £112.

Norton (St. James)

NORTON (St. James), a parish, in the union of Ecclesall-Bierlow, hundred of Scarsdale, N. division of the county of Derby, 4 miles (S. by E.) from Sheffield; containing 1908 inhabitants. The parish is on the road to Chesterfield, and comprises by measurement 4255 acres, of which about 3000 are arable, 464 woodland, and the remainder meadow and pasture; the surface is undulated. Norton House, an ancient mansion, one room of which bears date 1623, is situated in a park of fifty acres, surrounded with beautiful scenery. The population is partly engaged in the making of files, and stone is quarried for building. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Rev. Henry Pearson, incumbent; net income, £270; impropriator, Offley Shore, Esq. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £20, and the impropriate for £14. 8.; there are nearly 26 acres of glebe. The church contains a Norman font, and among the several monuments is an altar-tomb to the memory of the parents of John Blythe, Bishop of Salisbury, and Geoffry Blythe, Bishop of Lichfield, both which prelates were born here; the former died in 1500, and the latter in 1534. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Unitarians. A free school was founded and endowed in 1654, by Edward Gill, and subsequent benefactions have been added, making the total income £67 per annum. Story Wingfield, in 1725, devised a farm in the parish of Dronfield for the establishment of a lectureship here, now producing £115 per annum. Sir Francis Chantrey, the celebrated sculptor, was born in a farmhouse a little out of the village, in 1781; he died in London in 1841, and was buried here, beside the remains of his father, mother, and grandfather. He left £50 for the instruction of 10 boys, £10 each per annum to 10 men and women, and £50 per annum to the vicar.

Norton (St. Mary)

NORTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Stockton, S. W. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 2 miles (N.) from Stockton; containing 1628 inhabitants. The parish comprises by computation 4000 acres of land, in its general aspect level. The soil immediately surrounding the village is of a light but rich loamy nature, and well adapted for market-gardens, for which this place is celebrated, while to the north and west is a strong red clay, producing in favourable seasons excellent wheat: the substrata are beds of sand and gravel. The portion of woodland is very small, and the scenery presents little of a striking character, but embraces in the distance fine views of the Cleveland hills. There are some brick and tile manufactories, a glue factory, and a tannery. The road from Stockton to Durham used to run through the village, but was diverted a mile to the west about 1830; the main line of the Clarence railway passes on the north, and the Stockton branch diverges from it at the tollgate, in its course to the river Tees. By an act of the 12th of Queen Anne, the townships of Stockton, East Hartburn, and Preston were separated from this parish, and formed into the parish of Stockton. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £31. 11. 5½.; patron, the Bishop of Durham; impropriators, William Wharton, Esq., of Durham, and others. The rectorial tithes have been commuted for £271, the vicarial for £80; and there are about 260 acres of glebe valued at £289, exclusively of the vicarage-house and gardens valued at £40. The church which was collegiate, and from 1227 till the Dissolution had eight prebendaries, stands upon elevated ground, and is partly Norman, and partly in the early English style, bearing traces of its antiquity and former importance, particularly in its square central tower springing from four circular arches. The south transept was called Pettie (or little) porch, and by some was named Pity porch, from an altar of the Virgin Mary; in Blakiston porch, which forms the north transept, was a well-carved recumbent figure in armour, now removed to the south side of the communion-table, and supposed to be a memorial of the Blakiston family. The edifice was repaired, and two galleries were added, in 1826. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and the Society of Friends. Norton enjoys the privilege, with Stockton, of one of the scholarships founded in the university of Oxford, in 1536, by John Claymond, vicar of the parish, and first president of Corpus Christi College. A free grammar school, which has an income of £40 a year, appears to have existed since the year 1600. Bernard Gilpin, "the Apostle of the North," was instituted to the vicarage on his return from the continent, in 1552. Jeremiah Moore, who had in early life been made a slave to the Turks by the cruelty of his brother, and who was subsequently distinguished for his philanthropy and benevolence; Christopher Middleton, the first navigator employed by the lords of the admiralty to discover a North-West passage; Admiral Policarpus Taylor, eminent for his naval services; and the Rev. John Wallis, author of the History of Northumberland, all died here.

Norton (St. Mary)

NORTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the Upper division of the hundred of Dudstone and King's-Barton, union and E. division of the county of Gloucester, 4 miles (N. E. by N.) from the city of Gloucester; containing 427 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £51; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. The tithes were chiefly exchanged for land in 1806, and the remainder have since been commuted for a rent-charge of £50; the glebe comprises 238 acres. The church is a small structure, principally in the later English style.

Norton

NORTON, a township, in the parish and union of Bromyard, hundred of Broxash, county of Hereford, 3 miles (N. E. by E.) from the town of Bromyard; containing 588 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Bromyard to Stourport. The rectorial tithes have been commuted for £147, and the vicarial for £124. 18.; there is one acre of glebe.

Norton (St. Nicholas)

NORTON (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Hitchin, hundred of Cashio, or liberty of St. Alban's, county of Hertford, 1 mile (W. N. W.) from the town of Baldock; containing 403 inhabitants, and comprising 1800 acres. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 8.; net income, £96; patron, the Rev. J. Burges Watson; impropriator, G. Hicks, Esq. The glebe comprises 6 acres. A school is supported by an endowment of £16 per annum.

Norton (St. Mary)

NORTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Faversham, Upper division of the lathe of Scray, E. division of Kent, 3¼ miles (W.) from Faversham; containing 107 inhabitants. It comprises 902 acres, of which 113 are meadow, 79 wood, and 16 in hop-grounds. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 18. 4., and in the gift of the Bishop of Rochester: the tithes have been commuted for £375, and the glebe contains 31½ acres, with a house. The church is principally in the early English style.

Norton (All Saints)

NORTON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Daventry, hundred of Fawsley, S. division of the county of Northampton, 2½ miles (E. N. E.) from Daventry; containing, with the hamlets of Muscott and Thrupp, 582 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2926a. 2r. 10p.; the substratum is gravel, of which great quantities are dug for the roads and other purposes. The Grand Junction canal and the London and Birmingham railway are within less than a mile of the village. The living is a vicarage; net income, £270; patron and impropriator, Beriah Botfield, Esq. The church is an ancient structure, and contains the remains of a daughter of the Duke of Somerset, Protector during the reign of Edward VI. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; also a parochial school.

Norton

NORTON, a township, in the parish of Cuckney, union of Worksop, Hatfield division of the wapentake of Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham, 4¾ miles (S. by W.) from Worksop; containing 362 inhabitants. It comprises 1297 acres; the village is situated in a fertile vale, near the confluence of the river Poulter with the lake in Welbeck Park.

Norton (St. Andrew)

NORTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Stow, hundred of Blackbourn, E. division of Suffolk, 3½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Ixworth; containing 879 inhabitants, and comprising by admeasurement 2422 acres. In the reign of Henry VIII. a search was made here for gold, under the directions of that monarch, upon whom an imposition had been practised; the excavations still remain. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £14. 3. 9., and in the gift of St. Peter's College, Cambridge: the rectorial tithes have been commuted for £605, and there are 21 acres of glebe. The Rev. Cox Macro, D.D., in 1776 bequeathed £600 stock, since exchanged for £724. 8. 8., three per cents., the dividends on which are distributed in coats and gowns to poor men and women.

Norton (St. Egwin)

NORTON (St. Egwin), a parish, in the union of Evesham, Lower division of the hundred of Blackenhurst, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Evesham; containing, with the tything of Chadbury and the chapelry of Lenchwick, 385 inhabitants. The abbey of Evesham had lands here before the Conquest. The parish is situated on the right bank of the navigable river Avon, and is intersected by the road from Evesham to Alcester; the number of acres is 2636. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 17. 8½.; net income, £157; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The church, with the exception of two curious doorways of transition Norman character, is in the later English style. The nave, which more than a century past had fallen down, was restored in 1844 to its ancient state, under the superintendence of the vicar, the Rev. William Brown: the interior is fitted up with open seats, adorned with carved oak finials, and presenting an antique, uniform, and pleasing appearance. The adjoining chapel, built at first for a north transept, was at the close of Henry VIII.'s reign used as a mortuary chapel, and contains the remains of members of the family of Biggs, highly distinguished for military services at that period; the monuments are in excellent preservation, and consist of recumbent figures, and others in a kneeling posture. In this chapel are also suspended the banners and armour of the Craven and Seymour families, of which it is the burial-place: a window of stained glass has been painted and presented by the Rev. Mr. Brown. The whole cost of repairing the church, with the chapel, amounted to £700, one-half of which sum was raised by a church-rate, and the remainder by subscription.

Norton

NORTON, a parish, in the union of Malton, wapentake of Buckrose, E. riding of York, ¼ of a mile (E. S. E.) from Malton; containing, with the hamlets of Sutton and Welham, 1644 inhabitants. This parish, which is separated from that of Malton by the river Derwent, comprises about 3076 acres; the soil is light and gravelly, the surface level, and the substratum abounds with freestone of good quality. The road from York to Scarborough passes through the village, and a handsome stone bridge over the river connects it with the town of Malton. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100; patron, the Rev. Edmund Day, B.D. The church, a neat structure in the Grecian style, was erected in 1820, at an expense of £2500, raised by subscription, and contains 350 sittings, of which 150 are free. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. At the foot of the bridge was formerly an hospital, founded early in the reign of Henry II. by Roger de Flamville, and made subordinate to the priory of Malton. Many Roman coins have been discovered.

Norton

NORTON, a township, in the parish of Campsall, union of Doncaster, Upper division of the wapentake of Osgoldcross, W. riding of York, 8½ miles (N. by W.) from Doncaster; containing 628 inhabitants, and comprising an area of about 2200 acres. In the winter time a large portion of the township was frequently flooded, but it has been effectually drained within the last fifteen years. The Fellows of Catherine Hall, Cambridge, are lords of the manor, and owners of certain lands which belonged to a priory here. The village is situated in the vale of the river Went, about two miles north of Askerne. The tithes were commuted for land in 1814. Here is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Norton-Bavant (All Saints)

NORTON-BAVANT (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Warminster, Warminster and S. divisions of Wilts, 2¾ miles (S. E. by E.) from Warminster; containing 285 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Bath to Salisbury, and comprises by computation 2162 acres, of which about 1000 are arable, and the remainder pasture and downs. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 0. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £150; impropriator, S. Bennett, Esq. The church has been rebuilt in a neat style, and the interior is handsomely arranged.