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{{Short description|Village in Leicestershire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|official_name= Norton
| local_name= Norton Juxta Twycross
|coordinates = {{coord|52.6601|-1.5244|display=inline,title}}
|map_type= Leicestershire
|civil_parish= [[Twycross]]
|population =
|shire_district= [[Hinckley and Bosworth]]
|shire_county= [[Leicestershire]]
|region= East Midlands
|constituency_westminster= [[Hinckley and Bosworth (UK Parliament constituency)|Bosworth]]
|post_town= ATHERSTONE
|postcode_district= CV9
|postcode_area= CV
|dial_code= 01827
|os_grid_reference=
|static_image= Shelford Lane enters Norton Juxta Twycross - geograph.org.uk - 739795.jpg
|static_image_width= 200px
|static_image_caption= Entrance Sign to the village, with the Church in the background.
}}

'''Norton Juxta Twycross''', usually known as simply '''"Norton"''' ''(or "Norton-Juxta")'', is a village and former [[civil parish]], now in the parish of [[Twycross]], in the [[Hinckley and Bosworth]] district of [[Leicestershire]], England. The village is part of the church parish of [[Appleby Magna]], with the vicar based in Appleby.<ref name=Parish>{{cite web|title=Village Information: Norton Church|url=http://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.co.uk/content/category/5/32/52/|work=Norton Official Website|accessdate=6 June 2013}}</ref> In 1931 the parish had a population of 249.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10389008/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Norton Juxta Twycross AP/CP through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=12 December 2022}}</ref>

==History==
The village has traditionally, and historically, been known as "Norton": deriving from the Anglo-Saxon, meaning "North-Town"; with variable spellings including "Northton" and "Nortone".<ref name=HT/> The village, however, was also known for a brief period in the 17th century as "Hoggs Norton".<ref name=HT>{{cite news|last=Tomlin|first=Arthur|title=Norton|url=http://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.co.uk/content/view/22/27/|accessdate=6 June 2013|newspaper=Hinckley Times|date=7 January 1993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726223135/http://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.co.uk/content/view/22/27/|archive-date=26 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> The village's current name was acquired to differentiate the village from the several others in the county named [[Norton (disambiguation)#England|Norton]]. "Juxta" is Latin for "near",<ref name="Field1984">{{cite book|last=Field|first=John|title=Discovering Place-Names|date=1984-01-01|publisher=Shire Publications|isbn=9780852637029|page=35}}</ref> and [[Twycross]] is a small village approximately 2 miles southeast of Norton.

The village of Norton is thought to have been founded in the 8th or 9th century by the Anglo-Saxons.<ref name=HT/> The Anglo-Saxon [[Æthelred the Unready|King Æthelred]] granted the village a charter in 951, referring to it as "Northton"<ref name=HT/>

The village is listed in the [[Domesday Book]] as "Norton", and the Lord of the Manor was recorded in both 1066 and 1086 as [[Lady Godiva|Countess ''(Lady)'' Godiva]], widow of [[Leofric, Earl of Mercia]], famed (legendarily) for riding naked around the streets of [[Coventry]].<ref name=DD/> In both 1066 and 1086 the village is recorded as worth £0.3.<ref name=DD>{{cite web|title=Norton|url=http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SK3207/norton-juxta-twycross/|work=Domesday Map|accessdate=6 June 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130624191304/http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SK3207/norton-juxta-twycross/|archive-date=24 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The village is listed as a very small settlement, with only four households, but has a quite large taxable value of 6 geld units.<ref name=DD/> The Domesday Book records the village as home to 1 villager, 2 small holders and a priest, and is recorded as having land for 7 ploughs and 8 acres of meadow.<ref name=DD/>

In 1325 several people in Norton were arrested for the murder of Sir William de Monte Gomeri, which took place near to [[Merevale#Merevale Abbey|Merevale Abbey]].<ref name=HT/> Philippa, widow of the murdered Sir William, said that it was in the manor house at Norton, belonging to Walter de Monte Gomeri(unclear how they are related; may have been brother of deceased), that Robert de Gresley had sent his brother Peter to kill her husband.<ref name=BH>'Plea Rolls for Staffordshire: 18 Edward II', Staffordshire Historical Collections, vol. 10, part 1 (1889), pp. 57-62. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=52344 Date accessed: 6 June 2013</ref> He was struck over the head by a sword, and died in Phillipa's arms.<ref name=HT/> Philippa accused Joan, wife of Walter de Monte Gomeri of also being present at Norton Manor during that meeting, and of "aiding, abetting and procuring the death of her husband".<ref name=BH/>
<br/>Robert and Joan appeared before the County Court and were transferred for trial at the [[Court of King's Bench (England)|Court of King's Bench]].<ref name=BH/> Both stated they were not guilty but only Joan was given bail until the trial.<ref name=BH/> The jury of their trial returned a not guilty verdict for the pair.<ref name=BH/> Peter de Greseleye and another supposed accomplice William de Northfolk, both failed to appear before the County Court and were declared outlaws.<ref name=BH/>

In 1839 it was recorded as a chapelry within the parish of [[Orton on the Hill]]. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Twycross.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10389008|title=Relationships and changes Norton Juxta Twycross AP/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=12 December 2022}}</ref>

===Holy Trinity Church===
[[File:Norton Church.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Holy Trinity Church c. 1791, before the spire was demolished]]
The Village's parish church is dedicated to The Holy Trinity.<ref name=HTC>{{cite web|title=Holy Trinity Church|url=http://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=27|accessdate=6 June 2013}}</ref>

The original church was built of wood in the 12th century, and the village acquiring its first rector in 1220, whilst the church's [[Advowson]] was under the control of [[Belvoir Priory]].<ref name=HTC/>

The church seen today was built in the early 14th century, although it was heavily restored around 1841.<ref name=IoE/> The tower formerly had a small spire, but this was dismantled in 1890 as it had become unsafe.<ref name=HTC/> The tower had also originally contained 3 bells: 1640 and the other two in 1663. One, however, was recast in 1849.<ref name=HTC/> The tower's clock was made by Samuel Deacon's company in [[Barton in the Beans]]. It was installed on 1 September 1840, having cost £80.<ref name=HTC/> The church vesty was built in 1850 and cost £100 to construct.<ref name=HTC/>

The church is unusual in having two pulpits. The church's Gothic style barrel organ was built in 1819, in London, by James Butler: an apprentice of George England.<ref name=HTC/><ref name=IoE>{{NHLE|desc=Holy Trinity Church|num=1294757|accessdate=6 June 2013}}</ref> It was installed within the church in 1840 and restored in 1980, by John Burns of Nuneaton<ref name=HTC/>

In 1829, on the appointment of the Hon. Alfred Curzon as rector, the parish is revealed to have an annual income of £332 9s. 11¼d; £200 of which came from the rental of the church's [[Glebe]] lands and the rental of part of the parsonage house.<ref name=HNP/>

====Rectors====
Rectors of Holy Trinity Church, Norton:<ref name=HNP>{{cite web|title=History: Norton Parsonage|url=http://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.co.uk/content/view/29/27/|accessdate=7 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726231930/http://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.co.uk/content/view/29/27/|archive-date=26 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>John Nichols’, History and Antiquities of Leicestershire, Vol. 4, Pt. 2. pp 849-852</ref> ''(incomplete)''
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*Ralph de Querendon, - ''(resigned 1329)''
*William de Lobenham, - ''(1329 - ) Subdean of Sarum''
*Robert Bytham, - ''(resigned 1421)''
*Thomas Farmer, - ''(c. 1564)''
*Thomas Royle, - ''(died 1609)''
*Gabriel Rosse, - ''(1609 - 1658)''
*Josiah Whiston, - ''(1661 - 1685)''
*Theophilus Brookes, - ''(died 1711)''
*Reubens Clarke, - ''(1711 - 1728)''
*Lancelot Jackson, - ''(1728 - 1745)''
*John Clayton, - ''(31 May 1745 - 1791)''
*William Carson, - ''(27 June 1796 - April 1811)''
*The Hon. Alfred Curzon, - ''(14 October 1829 - )'' ''Son of the [[Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baron Scarsdale|2nd Baron Scarsdale]]: Lived mainly at [[Kedleston Hall|Kedlestone]], his role filled by a curate.''
*Andrew Bloxam, - ''(c. 1843)'' ''a Naturalist who in the 1820s had sailed on botanical expeditions to the South Seas, aboard [[HMS Blonde]])''
*William Thomas Pearce Mead King, - ''(1850)''
*Thomas Cox, - ''(1869)''
*John Thomas Walker, - ''(1877)''
*Herbert Coke Fowler, - ''(1891)''
*Thomas John Williams-Fisher, - ''(1907)''
*William Callahan, - ''(1916)''
*John Carpenter, - ''(1918)''
{{div col end}}

===Norton Rectory===
[[File:Norton Grange.jpg|thumb|right|The former Norton Rectory, built 1850]]

There have been several rectories (earlier known as parsonage houses) at Norton. In 1725 Reverend Reuben Clark built a new rectory, but this had fallen into disrepair by 1797.<ref name=HNP/> Reverend William Carsons ''(tenure 1746-1811)'' attempted to undertake repairs, but they were not completed.<ref name=HNP/> When The Hon. Alfred Curzon (son of [[Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baron Scarsdale]]) took over the position of rector in 1829, the house was still unsuitable.<ref name=HNP/> Curzon (who had gained his position through family connections to the local land owner, the [[Earl Howe]]) chose to reside instead in a house near to his birthplace at [[Kedleston Hall]], Derbyshire (over 27 miles away): his duties as priest fulfilled by a curate from the neighbouring parish of [[Appleby Magna]].<ref name=HNP/>
This lack of occupation is probably the cause of the rectory's ongoing dilapidation, which was confirmed again in 1835 when the Rectory was described as being in "a bad and dangerous state".<ref name=HNP/>

In 1842 the then Rector, Andrew Bloxham, applied to receive [[Queen Anne's Bounty]] in order to repair the rectory.<ref name=HNP/>

Plans to rebuild were obviously abandoned when in 1850 reverend William Thomas Pearce Mead King constructed a new vicarage to the South-West of the village.<ref name=HNP/> The old rectory and outbuildings still remained until at least 1887, however, when they were being used as a farm.<ref name=HNP/>

Pearce Mead King's new construction served as the village's rectory until Norton joined [[Appleby Magna]] Parish, at which point it became a private residence, known as Norton Grange. In 1963 Norton Grange and its 12-acre gardens, were purchased for £12,000 by zoologist [[Molly Badham]], who founded [[Twycross Zoo]] (at first known as The East Midlands Zoological Society) in the rectory's gardens.<ref name=TT>{{cite news|title=Obituary: Molly Badham|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1566902/Molly-Badham.html|accessdate=6 June 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=22 Oct 2007}}</ref><ref name=miss>{{cite web|title=Miscellaneous History|url=http://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.co.uk/content/blogcategory/16/40/|work=Norton Website|accessdate=7 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Norton Grange: Modern Photograph of Former Rectory|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2324119|accessdate=7 June 2013}}</ref> Molly and the Zoo are famed for her work training [[Common chimpanzee|Chimps]], most notably for use in the [[PG Tips|PG Tips Tea]] Television advertisements which ran from the 1960s to the 1980s.<ref name=TT/>

==Population==
The [[Hearth tax]] reveals there were 16 families living in the village in 1564 and a total of 40 inhabitants were charged the tax in 1664.<ref name=HT/>

In 1829 the parish of Norton is revealed to have had a population of 301; with an additional 74 living in an exclave of the parish at [[Bilston]].<ref name=HNP/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* Norton Village Website http://www.nortonjuxtatwycross.co.uk/

{{Commons category-inline|Norton Juxta Twycross}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:Twycross]]

Norton Juxta Twycross - Revision history

imported>Telfordbuck at 21:19, 7 May 2025