Norbury

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Description of Norbury & St Mary & Barlok's Church

The parish of Norbury, containing the hamlet of Roston lies close to the Staffordshire border and by the River Dove, 5 miles west of Ashbourne. The church is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086 and included in the large estate of Henry de Ferrers. The Fitzherberts later held the Norbury estate for several generations. The Maskrey family lived at the Hall as tenants of the Fitzherberts for many years. Later the Clowes family occupied the property and became the principal landowners. The church, the manor house (built mainly in the 1660s), and the remains of the medieval manor house are grouped together in a pleasant setting.

The church contains some interesting monuments, mainly to the Fitzherbert family, whose names were attached to Norbury for so long. The church was restored in 1841 and again in 1899, by the Clowes family. The registers date from 1686 and are now deposited at the County Record Office in Matlock.

Norbury has connections with George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans). Her father Robert Evans was born at Roston in 1773 and sang in Norbury church choir. He is said to have made the wooden altar which is now in the north aisle. His parents are buried in the churchyard.

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