Norton Disney
- The parish was in the Bassingham sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
- Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
- The table below gives census piece numbers, where known:
Census
Year |
Piece No. |
| 1841 |
H.O. 107 / 621 |
| 1861 |
R.G. 9 / 2477 |
| 1891 |
R.G. 12 / 2712 |
- The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Peter. It contains several ancient monuments to the Disney (d'Isney) family.
- The "Topographical Dictionary of England", 1848, tells us that the parish church is dedicated to All Saints.
- The church seats 170.
- Here is a photo of the Church of St. Peter taken by (and copyright of) Wendy PARKINSON.
- Steve DRURY has a photograph of the church at Parnoramio taken in 2011.
- Here is a photo of the Church of St. Peter taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright):
- The parish register dates from 1578, but the Bishop's transcript goes back to 1562.
- Parish registers are on file at the Society of Genealogists, covering 1578 - 1812.
- Marriages are in Boyd's Marriage Index, covering 1651 - 1812 and Pallot's Marriage Index, covering 1790 - 1812.
- The LFHS has published several indexes (marriage and burial) for the Graffoe Deanery to make your search easier.
- Methodism came to Norton Disney circa 1821. The Wesleyan Methodists built a chapel here, apparently in 1894. For information and assistance in researching this chapel, see our non-conformist religions page.
- Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
- The parish was in the Bassingham sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
- Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which started in July, 1837.
Norton Disney is both a parish and a village that lies in the vale of the River Witham, seven miles north-east of Newark and eleven miles SSW of Lincoln. The two Nottinghamshire parishes of North and South Collingham lie to the west, and the Lincolnshire parishes of Swinderby and Thurlby to the north. The parish covers just over 2,300 acres of good farmland.
The small village of Norton Disney is just south and east off of the A46 trunk road between Lincoln and Newark. The River Witham passes just south of the village. If you are planning a visit:
- The D'ISNEY family was established here by 1300, living in a moated mansion which has since fallen into ruins.
- William DISNEY was Sheriff of Lincolnshire in 1532. His son, Ricahrd DISNEY held that office in 1556 and 1566.
- There is a more detailed history at Rod Collins' website.
- It appears that the parish had a single Public House with a long life. It started out in the 17th century as "The Sportsman", but changed to "St. Vincent Arms" in 1909. The name reflects the Viscount St. Vincent who was lord of the manor and principal landowner of the parish. There is a photograph at Geo-graph, taken by Richard CROFT in 2007. It has changed its name again, after 1930, to become "The Green Man".
- Here are the names of the proprietors or victuallers from various Directories:
| Year |
Person |
| 1842 |
John SIMPSON, vict. |
| 1868 |
Henry SHELTON, shopkeeper |
| 1872 |
John FISHER, vict. |
| 1882 |
John ATKINSON, vict. |
| 1913 |
Mrs. Elizabeth TUSTIN |
| 1919 |
Mrs. Elizabeth TUSTIN |
| 1930 |
Mrs. Mary Maria WRIGHT |
- In 1871, most of the land was owned by the Viscount St. Vincent of Godmersham Park in Kent. In 1913, he was still the principal landowner.
- Norton Disney Hall is the manor house in the parish. It has long been the seat of the D'ISNEY (or DISNEY) family, from whom Walt DISNEY is decended.
- In 1930, Frederick William BROWN was residing at Norton Disney Hall.
- The village is at National Grid Reference SK 8859.
- You'll want an Ordnance Survey Explorer map, which has a scale of 2.5 inches to the mile.
- See our Maps page for additional resources.
- RAF Norton Disney was opened in August 1939 as RAF Swinderby due to the fact that it was close to the Swinderby railway station. It was renamed RAF Station Norton Disney in 1940.
- RAF Norton Disney was a heavily camouflaged bomb storage and supply station (93 MU). The base also stored ammunition and oxygen for aircraft.
- There is a memorial plaque inside the church for two squadrons that flew out of this station.
- Mustard Gas has been found in clumps buried on the site.
- The site was closed in 1958. Most of the buildings and ammo dump sites have been demolished.
- The site was sold off 1997.
- The parish name derives from the Old English north+tun, which means "northern farmstead" coupled with the Norman family name de Isney. In the 1086 Domesday Book, the parish is listed simply as Nortune. In 1331, the parish is first recorded as Norton Isney.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]
The following surnames were found in the 1872 White's Directory of Lincolnshire under this parish:
BATTERBY, CURTIS, DIXON, FISHER, HITCH, LACEY, LYNN, MARSHALL, MARTIN, MARRIOTT, PEACOCK, ROBERTS, ROBINSON, ROGERS, SEWELL, WALKER, WELLS, and WILSON.
- Around 1758, Dr. Samuel DISNEY left the interest on £100 to provide books to the poor of Norton Disney, Swinderby and St. Margaret's parish in Lincoln.
- After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Newark Poor Law Union in 1837.
| Year |
Inhabitants |
| 1801 |
184 |
| 1861 |
196 |
| 1871 |
186 |
| 1881 |
171 |
| 1891 |
181 |
| 1901 |
171 |
| 1911 |
163 |
| 1921 |
175 |
| 1931 |
165 |
| 1951 |
182 |
| 1961 |
196 |
| 1971 |
181 |
- The children of this parish attended the schools at Bassingham, Carlton-le-Moorland and Stapleford.
- For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.
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[Last updated: 2-November-2012 - Louis R. Mills]
