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Norton Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

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NORTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake and Petty Sessional Division of Buckrose - Poor Law Union and County Court District of Malton - Rural Deanery of Settrington - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish lies on the bank of the Derwent opposite Malton, of which borough it forms a suburb, and is connected therewith by a good stone bridge of three arches. Further up, the river is crossed by a fine iron bridge, erected by the North-Eastern Railway Co., for the traffic to the Malton Station, which is situated on the Norton side of the river. The estimated extent of the parish, exclusive of water, is 2,638 acres; the rateable value, £14,855, and the population in 1891 was 3,683. The principal landowners are R. L. Bower, Esq., York, who is lord of the manor; Digby Cayley, Esq., J,P., C.C., Norton Grove; R. Wyse, Esq., The Elms, Norton; William I'Anson, Esq., Highfield, Norton; Miles S. I. I'Anson, Esq., Hungerford House, Norton; Frederick Abbott, Esq., Jesmond Lodge, Norton; Mrs. Wightman, Sutton House Norton; and the trustees of the late Thomas William Rivis, Esq. The soil is light and gravelly, and the sub-stratum abounds with freestone of excellent quality. Wheat, barley, oats, and turnips are the chief crops.

The town consists chiefly of one long broad street containing some good houses and shops. There stood here in ancient times a hospital dedicated to St. Nicholas. It was founded by Roger de Flamvill in the reign of Henry II., and was made subordinate to the Priory of Malton. There is not a vestige of it left, nor is it known with certainty where it stood, but the most probable supposition is that its site is occupied by the church of St. Nicholas. This is a tasteless structure in the Romanesque style, built or rather re-built in 1815, at a cost of £2,500. This sum was raised chiefly by selling the pews to individuals who obtained faculties securing them in possession, thus practically turning what was originally a parish church into a proprietary chapel. This, in course of time, led to great irritation amongst the parishioners who did not possess seats, and this fact, coupled with the want of church accommodation, led to the building of the new parish church of St. Peter, in the year 1889. Mr. Allen describes it as having "very much the appearance of a lunatic asylum." The only noticeable feature is the east window of three lights which is filled with handsome stained glass. The other windows are small and near the roof. There are two antique chairs of carved oak in the chancel, presented by Mrs. Bower of Welham Hall. On the vestry wall are two ancient brasses under rich canopies of carved stone; one is inscribed to Captain William Courley, who died in 1591, and the other to Thomas Westrop, Esq., who died in 1604. There are monuments in the transept to members of the Bower and other families. The church will seat 350. The registers date from 1558. The living, formerly a perpetual curacy, now a vicarage, was originally in the patronage of private persons; but in 1879, the chief parishioners and others raised a sum of £600, wherewith it was purchased and presented to the Archbishop of York. Shortly afterwards, the late Mr. Egerton Harcourt, of Whitwell, gave £1000 to the endowment, and the ecclesiastical commissioners contributed a similar sum. The living is now worth £239, which is derived from 30 acres of glebe and two houses let for £128, modus in lieu of tithe £7; fees £20, and interest of money deposited with the ecclesiastical commissioners £84. The present vicar is the Rev. Christopher Jackson Chapman, B.A., of Trinity College, Dublin. The list of perpetual curates and vicars is complete from the year 1590.

St. Peter's Church, the foundation stone of which was laid by the Archbishop of York, on the 16th of October, 1889, is situated in Langton road, and will supersede St. Nicholas' as the parish church, the latter being retained as a chapel-of-ease. The edifice, now in course of erection, is in the "flowing decorated" style, or that type of Gothic Architecture which prevailed in England about the middle of the 14th century. It will comprise a chancel with vestry and organ chamber on the north side, and a chapel on the south side; nave with north and south aisles and a south porch, and a massive lofty western tower with double-buttressed corners and surmounted by an embattled parapet with pinnacles. The nave will be six bays in length, and will open into the aisles by lofty arches carried on octagonal piers, with moulded caps and bases. Above the nave arches will be a lofty clerestory of three-light traceried windows. The entrance to the chancel will be by a wide and lofty arch more richly moulded than any of the other arches. On the south side, the chancel will open by two arches into the south chapel, - a clerestory of two-light windows running round the whole. A large seven-light window with elaborate tracery will occupy nearly the whole of the eastern end. The roof of the chancel will be arched and diagonally pannelled in wood; and the nave and aisles will have roofs of open timber-work. The body of the church will be fitted with low open benches, and the chancel with special choir seats. The designs have been furnished by Mr. C. Hodgson Fowler, F.S.A., of Durham, and the estimated cost is about £8000, exclusive of the site which was given by Mr. Wyse, of Auburn Hill, who also supplemented the gift with £300. About one-half the amount required has so far been subscribed, and only so much of the work will be proceeded with, as the funds permit. There will be 700 sittings.

The Wesleyan Chapel is a plain building, of stone, in the Pointed style, erected in 1857. Attached is a Sunday school, with small library. An organ was added in 1890, at a cost of £135. The chapel will seat 350, and the Sunday school is attended by 280 children. The chapel is in Malton circuit; superintendents, M. Horsley and George Putsey. The Primitive Methodist Chapel occupies a good position in Commercial Street. It is a plain, substantial building, erected in 1864, at a cost of £400, and provides sitting accomodation for 200 people. At the rear is a schoolroom, built in 1884, for 200 children. It communicates with the chapel by means of patent revolving shutters. The Rev. T. R. Holtby is the resident minister.

The Bower Memorial Schools were erected in 1873, as a memorial of the late Robert Bower, Esq., of Welham. They consist of three large rooms, for boys, girls, and infants respectively. There is a total accommodation for about 600 children, and there are 420 in average attendance. The cost of erection was about £2,000, which was raised by public subscription and the sale of the old school.

The Police Station and Court House is a plain brick structure in Commercial Street, erected in 1855. It contains court and magistrates' rooms, superintendents residence, and two cells for prisoners. Norton is the head of the Buckrose Police Division, which includes 48 places. The County Magistrates meet here on the first and third Saturdays in each month. A cemetery, covering three roods, with one mortuary chapel, was opened in 1852. It was enlarged in 1866, and is under the management of a Burial Board of six members. The Liberal Institute, in Wood Street, is an attractive looking structure, originally erected by the "Christian Army" in 1881, at a cost of £600, and sold in 1889 to the Liberal Association for £410. It is tastefully decorated, and will accommodate 700 persons.

The vicinity of Norton has long been noted for its training stables for racehorses. There are several of these establishments, which are enumerated in the Directory.

AUBURN HILL, the property and residence of Robert Wyse, Esq., is a large mansion, of stone, built by the present owner in 1847. It is situated on gently rising ground, off Langton Road, and is surrounded by very tastefully laid-out grounds. Here are two fine pieces of sculpture, by Anderson, of Perth - a self-taught sculptor. One is illustrative of Burns' poem, "The Toothache," and shows the sufferer sitting upon a rude chair holding his under jaw, in agony, suffering from the "Hell o' a' diseases." It is chiselled out of the solid stone, and an engraving of it once appeared in the Illustrated News. The other is a representation of Sir Walter Scott's "Old Mortality." There is the sculptor on his knees, with mallet and chisel, restoring the epitaphs of the old covenanters. An engraving of this was given in the British Workman. In the house is some very quaintly-carved old oak furniture.

WELHAM, one mile south from Norton, is an estate containing about 900 acres, the property of Robert Lister Bower, Esq., lord of the manor. The mansion was destroyed by fire in 1884, and lies in ruins.

SUTTON is a hamlet half-a-mile south of Norton. Sutton House is the property and residence of Mrs. Wightman. In the grounds is the baptismal font that belonged to the old Gothic church that stood on the site now occupied by St. Nicholas's.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of East Yorkshire (1892)]

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