Norton, Wiltshire
| Norton | |
| Wiltshire | |
|---|---|
 Foxley House | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST886844 |
| Location: | 51°33’29"N, 2°9’58"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 118 (2011) |
| Post town: | Malmesbury |
| Postcode: | SN16 |
| Dialling code: | 01666 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wiltshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
South Cotswolds |
Norton is a small village in Wiltshire about three and a half miles south-west of Malmesbury. The wider parish includes the hamlets of Foxley and Bremilham (also known as Cowage).
The Sherston branch of the River Avon forms the north boundary of the parish.
History
Bronze Age ring ditches and signs of early mediæval or Saxon settlement are in the east of the parish, near Cowage Farm.[1]
The Fosse Way Roman road forms the west boundary of the parish, where it is a bridleway. The 1086 Domesday survey recorded 15 households at Nortone[2] and 10 at Foxelege.[3]
The east–west road between Malmesbury and Sherston passes through Foxley and Bremilham. From the late 17th century until 1756 this was the main route between Oxford and Bristol.[4]
Foxley and Bremilham were separate ecclesiastical parishes[4] until 1893 when Bremilham was united with Foxley. In 1934 Foxley (with Bremilham) was transferred to the civil parish of Norton.[5]
Churches
Norton
The Church of All Saints, a Grade II listed building.[6] There was probably a church in the 13th century, which was rebuilt in the 15th and restored in 1854 for Joseph Neeld of Grittleton House.[7] A font from the late 12th or early 13th century survives from the earlier church.[8]
Today All Saints, together with the churches at Foxham and Bremilham, is part of the Gauzebrook group of churches.[9]
Foxley
.jpg)
There was a church at Foxley in the 12th century or earlier, perhaps linked to Malmesbury Abbey.[10] There was a rector by 1300. The small church, which has no dedication, is built of coursed rubble with some herringbone masonry. Thirteenth-century work survives in the north arcade and the font is from the same period.[11]
The church was altered and re-roofed in the 15th century, and the tower built or rebuilt. In the 17th century the south aisle and north chapel were demolished, and around 1708 the south porch with stone pediment was added. A clock by Charles Frodsham & Co was installed in the tower in 1873.[12] The interior of the church was renovated in the early 20th century; it was recorded as Grade I listed in 1959.[11]
In 1874, the benefice was authorized to be united with Bremilham, effective in 1893.
Bremilham
The small church at Cowage Farm, Bremilham is the remainder or partial rebuilding of a 15th-century church, used for a time as a mortuary chapel.[4]
Manor houses
There are two manor houses. Norton Manor is from the early 17th century and is Grade II* listed.[13]
Foxley Manor is from a similar date and is Grade II listed.[14] This is not to be confused with Foxley House, next to the church and also Grade II listed.[15]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Norton, Wiltshire) |
- A History of the County of Wiltshire - Volume 14 pp 168-176: Parishes: Norton (Victoria County History)
- A History of the County of Wiltshire - Volume 14 pp 83-89: Parishes: Foxley (Victoria County History)
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1018389: Early medieval settlement, palace, church and Bronze Age ring ditches east of Cowage Farm (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
- ↑ Norton in the Domesday Book
- ↑ Foxley in the Domesday Book
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 A History of the County of Wiltshire - Volume 14 pp 9-13: Parishes: Bremilham (Victoria County History)
- ↑ "Norton". Wiltshire Council. https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/173.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1023214: Church of All Saints, Norton (Grade II listing)
- ↑ "Church of All Saints, Norton". Wiltshire Council. https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1324.
- ↑ "All Saints, Norton, Wiltshire". King's College London. http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/site/2836/.
- ↑ "Our Churches". https://sites.google.com/site/gauzebrookchurches/our-churches.
- ↑ A History of the County of Wiltshire - Volume 14 pp 83-89: Parishes: Foxley (Victoria County History)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 National Heritage List 1023219: Parish church, Norton (Grade I listing)
- ↑ "Foxley Church, Norton". Wiltshire Council. https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1325.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1023215: Norton Manor (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1023221: Foxley Manor (Grade II listing)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1199062: Foxley House (Grade II listing)