Norton, Herefordshire

Norton derives from 'north farmstead, or village... i.e. a homestead or village to the north of another settlement', from the Old English north with tūn.^[2][3]

During the 19th century, today's Norton was administratively a joint township with Brockhampton as 'Norton with Brockhampton', under Bromyard, which included in 1856 at the north-east of the parish, Saltmarshe Castle, the residence of Edmund Higginson (1802-71), who had changed his name from his Barneby birth surname, was High Sheriff of Herefordshire and an art collector, and whose estate also included parts of Tedstone Delamere and Edvin Loach parishes where he sponsored the rebuilding of the parish churches. Higginson was a chief landowner of the parish, and renovated Saltmarshe Castle to a more contemporary style of architecture, with added towers and battlements, leaving part of the old castle. Saltmarshe Castle was demolished in 1955. Also directory listed is Brockhampton House, 2 miles (3 km) north-east from Bromyard, had attached a private chapel with its own curate. Norton with Brockhampton had an infant school for boys and girls. The lord of the manor was the Bishop of Hereford, Renn Hampden. The parish of 1,708 acres (691 hectares) had 'clayey and loamy' soil, on which were grown chiefly wheat, barley and beans, and had an 1851 population of 528. Occupations listed in the Norton part of the parish were nine farmers, one of which was also a builder, a carrier—transporter of trade goods, with sometimes people, between different settlements—two shopkeepers, a miller at Three Mills, a blacksmith, and a collector of rates.^[4][5]

By the 1880s John Habington Barneby Lutley (1840-1906) DL, JP, a chief parish landowner, was the resident of Brockhampton House; the chaplain of the chapel, resident at Bromyard, was also the vicar of Grendon Bishop. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were the lords of the manor. On Bromyard Downs was a race course, rifle butts and stone quarries. An oak tree was planted in 1887 in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Parish area, including that of adjacent Linton was 5,243 acres (2,122 hectares). The population in 1881 was 492. A School Board was formed in 1882 covering the united district comprising Bromyard, Norton with Brockhampton, Linton, and Winslow. A Board school (formerly a National school), was built in 1885, at a cost of £1,400; built for 140 pupils, the average attendance was 98. Occupations listed in the Norton part of the parish in 1885 were five farmers, one of whom was a beer & cider retailer at Bromyard Downs, another also a miller at Three Mills, and a third beer & cider retailer at Bromyard Downs, a further beer & cider retailer at Bromyard Downs, the licensee and a & cider retailer at the Holly Tree public house, a blacksmith, a shopkeeper, a gamekeeper, a sawyer, a farm bailiff, and two land agents, one to John Habington Barneby Lutley.^[6][7]

By the 20th century, Norton was a civil parish in its own right. In 1913, Bromyard Downs was listed as siting 'the old racecourse', with also stone quarries and a golf course. Norton parish was now of 1,731 acres (701 hectares), and 3 acres (1.2 hectares) of water [lakes]. According to directory entry: 'anciently the ecclesiastical parish of Bromyard, comprising an area of 7,580 acres (3,070 hectares), consisted of the four townships of Bromyard, Linton, Norton and Winslow. For ecclesiastical and civil purposes the areas of these parishes have been considerably modified, and the ecclesiastical parish now comprises the Urban Parish of Bromyard and portions of the civil parishes of Brockhampton, Linton, Norton, Whitbourne and Winslow... with an area of 2,719 acres (1,100 hectares)'. Population in 1911 was 374. Occupations over and above the 1880s listings included a Primitive Methodist minister, a chimney sweep, a laundry worker, and a pig killer at Bromyard Downs, two head gardeners, and a tobacconist.^[7] Population in 1921 was 373. By 1929 Occupations over and above 1885 and 1913 included the honorary secretary of Broad Oak Golf Club (Bromyard Downs), a boot & shoe repairer, and another boot repairer. Farmers now numbered eleven, with an additional six 'cottage farmers'. There were now two public houses, the Holly Tree and the Royal Oak, the licensees both being described as a beer retailer.^[8]

Norton parish boundary is of irregular footprint, but approximately, at its greatest distance, 2.5 miles (4 km) north to south, 2 miles (3 km) east to west in the northern half and 1 mile (2 km) east to west in the southern, and covers an area of 1,730 acres (700 hectares).^[9] Adjacent parishes are Edvin Loach & Saltmarshe at the north-west, Tedstone Wafer and Tedstone Delamere at the north, Whitbourne at the north-east, Brockhampton at the east comprising the National Trust's Brockhampton Estate, Linton at the south, and Edwyn Ralph and Bromyard & Winslow at the west. The parish is rural, of farms, fields, managed woodland and coppices, water courses, small lakes and ponds, isolated and dispersed businesses, residential properties and, at the south-east, the public open land of Bromyard Downs where there is an agglomerated residential area. Flowing north to south at the west of the parish is a tributary to the River Frome which forms the western boundary with Bromyard & Winslow, and farther upstream, Edvin Loach & Saltmarshe. The confluence of the tributary and the Frome is at the extreme south-west of Norton which is conjoined with the town of Bromyard.^{[10][11][12][13]}

The only numbered route is the B4203 road which runs from Bromyard northward, in part becoming the parish boundary with Brockhampton and, then beyond the parish, through Tedstone Wafer village to Worcestershire. From the B4203 at Bromyard Downs runs south a minor road, arcing around the Downs to Linton, and to the A44 which runs from Bromyard to the city of Worcester at the east. A further road, Burying Lane at the south-west of the parish, runs from a junction with the B4203, 400 yards (366 m) from the parish border with Bromyard, to the Downs agglomerated residential area. At the north of the Downs, a road runs south-east from the B4203, crosses into Brockhampton to the A44 near the Bromyard Downs Caravan and Motorhome Club campsite. A further road north on the B4203 runs to Edvin Loach, with a fork which runs to the bungalow estate of Saltmarshe Castle Park in Edvin Loach. Saltmarshe Castle Park is the site of Saltmarshe Castle, which, before boundary changes, was part of Norton; the Park's main entrance is on the B4203. At 70 yards (64 m) farther north on the B4203 is the road junction with a road running east, which begins as the boundary with Brockhampton and then runs 2 miles (3 km) to Whitbourne Hall. All other routes are country lanes, bridleways, farm tracks and footpaths.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Norton is represented in the lowest tier of UK governance by the seven-member Brockhampton Group Parish Council, which also represents the parishes of Brockhampton and Linton.^[14][15] As Herefordshire is a unitary authority—no district council between parish and county councils—the parish sends councillors representing the Bromyard Bringsty Ward, to Herefordshire County Council.^[9][16] Norton is represented in the UK parliament as part of the North Herefordshire constituency.

In 1974 Norton became part of the now defunct Malvern Hills District of the county of Hereford and Worcester, instituted under the Local Government Act 1972.^[17]

For the 2011 Census Norton recorded a population of '272 usual residents... 100% lived in 129 household spaces and 0% lived in communal establishments... average (mean) age of residents was 50.8 years'.^[1]

A bus route with three each way stops, just outside the parish at the south on the A44, runs between Bromyard and Worcester.^[18] The closest rail connections are at Leominster railway station, 12 miles (19 km) to the west, Hereford 13 miles (21 km) to the south-west, both on the Crewe to Newport Welsh Marches Line, and Worcester Foregate, Worcestershire Parkway and Worcester Shrub Hill railway stations at Worcester, 10 miles (16 km) east with links on the Cotswold, Cross Country and West Midlands Trains lines.^[10]

The nearest hospitals are Bromyard community hospital, just outside the parish border in Bromyard, with the nearest major hospital, Hereford County Hospital, 13 miles south-west at Hereford, both part of the Wye Valley NHS Trust, and the Worcestershire Royal Hospital to the east.^[19][20][21]

The nearest primary schools are Brockhampton Primary School, the closest, on Bromyard Downs (road) at Brockhampton, and St. Peter's Primary School at Bromyard; the nearest secondary is Queen Elizabeth High School at Bromyard. In latest Ofsted inspections Brockhampton Primary was rated Grade 2 'Good' (2017); St. Peter's Grade 2 'Good' (2018); and Queen Elizabeth High School Grade 2 'Good' (2017).^{[22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]}

There are two public houses: the Royal Oak at Bromyard Downs, and the Holly Tree on the B4203 at the south-west which is also a bed & breakfast establishment. Next to the Holly Tree is a Travis Perkins builders' merchant, the site for the Bromyard Folk Festival, and Delahay Meadow, the football ground of Bromyard Town Football Club. North from the Holly Tree is a dog boarding kennels, and north-east at Bromyard Downs, a taxi service and a woodland holiday home business.^[11][10]

For religion, Norton falls under the Deanery of Bromyard in the Diocese of Hereford, although no church or parish church exists within the civil parish. The nearest parish churches are St Peter's at Bromyard, St James' at Stanford Bishop village to the south which is part of the eight-church Frome Valley Churches' ministry, and St James' in Tedstone Delamere, in the ecclesiastical parish of Greater Whitbourne.^{[11][10][28][29][30][31]}