Norton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster The City of Doncaster is a metropolitan borough with city status in South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its principal settlement, Doncaster, and includes the surrounding suburbs of Doncaster as well as numerous towns and villages. The ...

(part of

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England), on the border with

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

. The civil parish also includes the villages of

Campsall Campsall is a village in South Yorkshire, England. It lies to the north-west of Doncaster, at an elevation of around 50 feet above sea level. The village contains Campsall Country Park. The village falls within the civil parish of Norton, th ...

and

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

, and has a population of 4,381, increasing to 4,625 at the 2011 Census. The northern boundary of the parish is marked by the

River Went The River Went is a river in Yorkshire, England. It rises close to Featherstone and flows eastward, joining the River Don at Reedholme Common. A possible site of the Battle of Winwaed is believed to be located somewhere along the valley of th ...

, while the Great North Road forms the western boundary.

History

Little is known about Norton until it was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 when it probably had a population of 100 who were solely concerned with agriculture. During the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

period that followed,

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

was associated with Barnsdale Forest to the west whilst the nearby village of Campsall grew in importance, gaining a chartered market and

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

. However, Norton gets few mentions in any surviving records from this time. At a later date, Norton Priory was developed on the banks of the

but this never grew to be particularly significant and was subsequently demolished following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1588. In 1745, Mary Ramsden of Norton died and left 50 shillings to the poor of Norton and ‘several estates’ to the master and fellows of Catherine Hall,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Thus a Cambridge College became the

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

of Norton and a handsome manor house was built in the village. In the 1800s the Forrester's Arms and the School Boy Inn were both established to serve the local population which would still be devoted to agriculture. The Royal Hotel, Norton - geograph

Following the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

and the expansion of the railways, a station was opened in Norton in 1855 on the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

’s Knottingley Branch. At the start of the 20th century there were rumours of the development of collieries at nearby

Kirk Smeaton Kirk Smeaton is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the southern end of the county close to South Yorkshire and East Riding of Yorkshire. Historically the village was part of the West Ri ...

and

Askern Askern () is a town and civil parish within the City of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is on the A19 road between Doncaster and Selby. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it became a spa town in the late 19th century, ...

. As Norton was located between the two, a number of rows of red brick terraces were erected speculatively to house the anticipated influx of miners. Subsequently, Askern Colliery was opened in 1910 and a new red brick pub, the Royal Hotel, was built in Norton to serve the colliers of the village. Throughout the 20th century small areas of housing have been built throughout the village and many of the original stone cottages with their long gardens have been demolished, and infilled with housing. The Manor House was pulled down in the 1970s and other older buildings have suffered the same fate since then, e.g. Hope Farm was demolished in 2002 to be replaced a small development of private housing.

Village today

In the 21st century Norton serves as a commuter village for people working in the nearby towns such as

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

and

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

. It retains two pubs, a Working Mens Club and one village shop, but the only structure left of historic importance is the Grade II listed village water pump.

References

{{South Yorkshire

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

Civil parishes in South Yorkshire

History

Village today

See also

References