Our village of the month is
Norton, situated 7 miles east of Bury St Edmunds.
History
During the reign of Edward the III the Pakenham family acquired
the lordship of Norton Hall from Agnes de Norton and this lordship
has continued to be passed down through various families to the
present time when it is held by the Woodward's.
Probably the main claim to fame for the village is the fact that
King Henry VIII was induced to search for gold in the parish and
that until quite recently there were still some signs of the
earthworks involved in the work. (I don't believe this came to
anything and may have been a ploy for someone to try and get cheap
labour to get their garden dug).
Church
The church is dedicated to St Andrew and is set along an almost
exclusive road which runs down between the fields until it comes to
the small wooded area around the church and it's churchyard. In the
church there are many beautiful features to delight the cursory
visitor, but for the historian there are many conundrums' and
anomalies about the church which will help to make a little
exploration very worthwhile.
For more information visit:
Suffolk Churches website
Norton Today
Living in Norton today you are soon aware that the village is
made up of two distinct areas, Norton village and Little Green
which comes within the Norton Parish. Although village life is
quiet enough, having the A1088 going straight through the centre of
the village you are never to far from traffic although equally you
are never far from a pleasant, quiet walk along the many footpaths
in the area. The main road has some small advantages though, as
this enables our small garage and general store to have plenty of
custom and therefore we are in less fear than a lot of villages of
losing these welcome facilities.
There are quite a range of activities for all ages including church
groups for young and old and several different groups meet at the
village hall. There are sports fields for the more active and
children's playground facilities for out of school entertainment as
well.
For more information visit:
Norton website
Many thanks to Rex Mounfield of Norton who sent
in this feature. If you would like your village featured on Village
of the Month then email
kerry.burn@onesuffolk.co.uk.
