The Church of St Nicholas in

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 ...

in Hertfordshire is the parish church for what was originally the village of Norton but which today has become a suburb of

Letchworth Garden City Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2011 census was 33,249. Letchworth ...

. The present building dates from about 1109 to 1119, with additions in the 15th century including the tower. Before the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

it was a stopping point on the pilgrim route to the

Abbey of St Albans St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

and the shrine there.

History

The manor at Norton had belonged to the

since c.795, although they lost control of it for a period before it was restored to them in a charter of 1007.History of the Parish of Norton - The 'Our Letchworth' website
It is believed that there has been a church on the site since 1002, and the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 mentions a priest at Norton. The present St Nicholas Church in Norton dates back to about 1119, having been built and dedicated by

Hervey le Breton Hervey le Breton (also known as Hervé le Breton; died 30 August 1131) was a Breton cleric who became Bishop of Bangor in Wales and later Bishop of Ely in England. Appointed to Bangor by King William II of England, when the Normans were advan ...

, Bishop of Ely. In about 1258 Laurence, the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

at Norton, donated a

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

of the parish income to the Abbey of St Albans to help provide hospitality to travellers, mostly pilgrims visiting the shrine at the Abbey. In 1291

Pope Nicholas IV Pope Nicholas IV ( la, Nicolaus IV; 30 September 1227 – 4 April 1292), born Girolamo Masci, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1288 to his death on 4 April 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be ele ...

drew up a list of churches in England for taxation purposes. In this Norton is described as being in the Deanery of

Baldock Baldock ( ) is a historic market town and unparished area in the local government district of North Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire, England, where the River Ivel rises. It lies north of London, southeast of Bedford, and north n ...

and the Archdeaconry of St Albans. In the same year the Pope granted

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...

s to pilgrims visiting the church at Norton for the four feasts of the year dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

.Giles, Deborah ''A brief history and description of the Church of St Nicholas Norton in Hertfordshire'' - Friends of St Nicholas, Norton (c1992) pgs 6-7 When the Abbey of St Albans was dissolved in 1539 the church and the rights reverted to Henry VIII. During the next 450 years these were owned firstly by the Bowles family of Wallington, then the Haselfoote family and after them by others until 1908 when they were purchased by the

Bishop of St Albans The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Hertford and the Bishop of Bedford, and three ar ...

. By the middle of the 17th century Norton seems to have been

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

by persuasion, and in 1649 two Norton inhabitants, John Knott and Elizabeth Palmer, were hanged at St Albans for

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

. Before his execution Knott accused 9 other Norton villagers of the same offence, but none seem to have been tried. The parents of evangelist Rodney "Gipsy" Smith are buried in the churchyard, his mother having died from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

on nearby Norton Road in 1865. The large granite memorial was added later. By 1907 the church was in a state of neglect and a great deal of repair work was done before the church was reconsecrated in October 1909. In December of the same year the vicar George James Pierson died, having held that post in the parish since 1842 - almost 68 years. It was the parish church for the village for 850 years until St George's Church was built in 1964 in nearby

; however, it is still in use as a place of worship, for weddings and as a chapel of ease.

Design

The oldest part of the church is the south end of the nave and the Norman

clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, such as resembling chalk in lo ...

chancel arch. The tower was built in the 15th century and the nave was extended at that time to connect with it and the walls of the nave were heightened. The windows and porch also date from that time, as do the older

pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview The first backless stone benches began to appear in English churches in the thirt ...

s and the font. In 1814 the north doorway was blocked up and the coat of arms which now hang over the south door replaced an earlier larger one. The pulpit dates from the 17th century. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

displays memorials to members of the Pryor family who owned much of the land and most of the cottages in the village. On the south wall of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

is a memorial to the daughters of Katherine Cole of nearby Radwell manor who all died in infancy. Katherine was the daughter of the lord of Norton manor at that time, Richard Cleaver. Also on the south wall of the nave is a memorial to William Pym (an ancestor of

Francis Pym Francis Leslie Pym, Baron Pym, (13 February 1922 – 7 March 2008) was a British Conservative Party politician who served in various Cabinet positions in the 1970s and 1980s, including Foreign, Defence and Northern Ireland Secretary, and Leader ...

, Foreign Secretary under

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

), who bought the manor from the descendants of Richard Cleaver in 1680, and his wife Elizabeth. In the floor close to the chancel arch is a memorial to their infant son, Guy, who died in April 1686. At that time the new year began on Lady Day on the 25 March, which explains why one of the Cleaver girls appears to have died (February 1652) before she was born (September 1652) and why some people think that Guy died in 1685. It has been a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1954 and is in the

Diocese of St Albans The Diocese of St Albans forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England and is part of the wider Church of England, in turn part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese is home to more than 1.6 million people and comprises the hi ...

The Bells

The church has a peal of eight bells, three of which are pre-20th century. The oldest dates from the 15th century and was probably cast by Joanna Hille, the widow of the bell founder Richard Hille. It is inscribed "Sancte Petre ora pro nobis". Another was cast by Robert Oldfield, who made bells between 1605 and 1640. The third older bell is inscribed "John Briant Hertford fecit 1815". The five modern bells were cast by John Taylor & Co of

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second large ...

in 1946.Giles, p24 The modern treble was dedicated to Polly and Cornelius Smith, the parents of evangelist Rodney "Gipsy" Smith.

The Organ

The organ is a one-manual with four draw-stops. It was originally built by Henry Speechly in 1870 for

Lambeth Palace Chapel Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite ...

and restored by Manders in 1958. It was acquired by Norton Parish, and used in St George's Hall when this was being used for worship, before the current parish church, St George's, was built.

Publications

*Sanderson, Jean ''A brief history and description of the Church of St Nicholas Norton in Hertfordshire'' - Friends of St Nicholas, Norton (ND:c1980) *Giles, Deborah ''A brief history and description of the Church of St Nicholas Norton in Hertfordshire'' - Friends of St Nicholas, Norton (c1992)

Gallery

File:St Nicholas Norton.jpg, View of the

lych gate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

File:St Nicholas Norton rear.JPG, A view of the rear of the church File:St Nicholas Norton tomb.jpg, The Smyth family tomb in the churchyard

References

External links

Website of St Nicholas, NortonMemorials in the churchyard of St Nicholas, Norton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Nicholas, Norton

Letchworth Buildings and structures in Letchworth