NORTON LINDSEY
Acreage: 621.
Population (including Lower Norton): 1911, 114;
1921, 111; 1931, 127.
The parish of Norton Lindsey lies on the north side
of the small valley formed by Sherbourne Brook. The
village is towards the north of the parish, on the top
of the ridge, at an altitude of nearly 300 ft. Farther
north again, the main road from Warwick to Henley-inArden runs, through Littleworth, (fn. 1) across the parish
from east to west. At the foot of Ward's Hill it is
crossed by a road from the village to Lower Norton, in
Budbrooke (q.v), which was set out at the time of the
Norton Lindsey inclosure in 1809.
A farm-house north of the church, refaced with
brick or plaster, has two 17th-century chimney-stacks
with groups of diagonal shafts in thin bricks above the
tiled roofs. Close south-west of the church is a 16thcentury cottage, now several tenements, having original
framing with curved braces on the north front. A
cottage to the south also shows some 17th-century
framing, and there is another in the village west of the
church with square framing. A disused windmill
west of the village is built of 18th-century brickwork on
a round plan and tapering upwards; it has a pointed
wooden roof, and two sails are left.
The parish was inclosed by an Act of 1807. (fn. 2) The
allotments made in the award total 573 acres—indicating that comparatively little inclosure had hitherto
taken place. This was divided between 10 proprietors,
7 of whom held between them 17 yardlands, for which
they were compensated at rates varying between 17 and
38 acres per yardland. The largest holding was 150
acres, and there were 2 very small ones of less than an
acre. The lord of the manor, Lord Dormer, received in
all only 68 acres. The greater part of the land was thus
held by yeoman farmers. (fn. 3) There is no mention in the
award of rights of common, or of a waste, though the
Moors Field, which lay south-west of the village, between the Snitterfield road and the parish boundary,
may once have served this purpose.
Manor
Norton Lindsey has been said (fn. 4) to
derive its name from the family of Ralph de
Limesi, the Domesday tenant of Budbrooke
(q.v.), but there is no evidence that the Limesis
held land here and the suffix is presumably taken from
the family of Lindsey. The manor is probably to be
identified with the Mortone which in 1086 Henry
held of Robert de Stafford. It was assessed at 1 hide,
and before the conquest Waga—who gave his name to
Wootton Wawen (q.v.)—had held it freely. (fn. 5) The
Stafford overlordship continued at least until the
middle of the 15th century: Hervey de Stafford held 2
knight's fees in Langley and Norton in 1212, (fn. 6) and his
son Robert 1 knight's fee in the two places in 1243. (fn. 7)
This fee was held of Ralph, Earl of Stafford, by Thomas
de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in 1369; and descended to the succeeding Earls of Warwick, as tenants of
the Staffords, down to 1460. (fn. 8)
In 1243 Robert de Stafford's tenant in this knight's
fee was William de Curly. He had been allowed in
1205 to take over the Warwickshire property of his
brother John de Curly, who had joined the French,
including the manor of Budbrooke and 'the homage
and service of William de Lindesey and Philip de
Norton and their heirs', evidently in Norton Lindsey. (fn. 9)
William de Curly apparently died between 1251 and
1253, leaving as his heirs his two nieces, Alice wife
of Peter de Neville and Joan wife of Robert Hastang (fn. 10)
(of the Leamington Hastings family). Alice and her
husband seem to have inherited the manor, since their
court at Norton is referred to in 1260. (fn. 11) From the
Nevilles this mesne lordship seems to have passed with
the manor of Shrewley in Hatton (q.v.) to Philip de
Gayton. He died in 1316 (fn. 12) and his brother and heir
Theobald died a few weeks later, seised of 10s. rent
in Norton Lindsey of the fee of the Baron of Stafford. (fn. 13)
Theobald's widow Margery, or Margaret, promptly
married Henry de Valence and had ⅓ of this 10s. rent
as dower. (fn. 14) The Hastangs had apparently retained
some interest here, as Philip de Gayton held two closes
of wood of Sir John Hastang, (fn. 15) probably identical with
the 12 acres of wood in Hasely and Norton which were
held of him by Julian, one of the sisters and coheirs of
Theobald, when she was executed for the murder of
her husband Thomas Murdak in 1324. (fn. 16)
The history of the tenancy in fee is obscure. In 1205,
as already stated, William de Lindsey (fn. 17) and Philip de
Norton (fn. 18) apparently held jointly. Of William, who
presumably gave his name to the vill, no more is known,
but Philip gave land in Norton comprising ½ virgate of
'warland', which Mauger held, and ½ virgate of his
demesne to his daughter Isabel and her husband
Walter the Clerk. By 1221 this had come to their son
David, and he, as David de Norton, granted a messuage
and 8 acres of land here to Robert son of Ernald and
Maud his wife, who had claimed the whole as having
been given by Isabel to Maud's father Isaac the Priest. (fn. 19)
In 1316 William de Warr[ewyke] and John de (sic)
Blunt were returned as lords of Fulbrook with the
'hamlets' of Sherbourne and Norton Lindsey; (fn. 20) as
William held the manor of Fulbrook (q.v.), John presumably held the two hamlets, and in 1322 John son of
John le Blound and Elizabeth his wife conveyed a
messuage, a carucate of land and 20s. rents in Norton
Lindsey to Joan widow of John son of John Hastang. (fn. 21)
The connexion between Sherbourne and Norton Lindsey occurs again in 1540, when the parish of Norton
was said to form part of the manor of Sherbourne,
lately surrendered to the crown by the Knights Hospitallers. There were then 8 free tenants here whose
total rents amounted to 11s. 5d. (fn. 22) The property must
have been included in the grant of Sherbourne to
Thomas Lucy in 1553. A later rental, of the possessions
of 'Sir Thomas Lucy' in Norton Lindsey held of the
manor of Sherbourne gives 5 tenants, 2 of whom,
though liable to heriot, are stated to be freeholders.
They held between them, 2 messuages, 2 cottages,
1 yardland, 50 acres of land, and 2 acres of meadow,
and their combined rents total 8s. 7d. (fn. 23) With Sherbourne the property descended to the Burgoynes and
afterwards to the Webbs, John Burgoyne being mentioned as lord of the manor in 1742, John Webb in
1755, and Thomas Webb Edge of Strelley, Notts., and
Elias Webb of Sherbourne in 1797. (fn. 24) It is presumably
the estate referred to as half the manor of Norton Lindsey in 1773. (fn. 25) But the inclosure map of 1809 shows that
Thomas Webb Edge held only a house, two gardens,
and part of a close, in all less than 2 acres in extent.
The chief manor, if such it can be called, came ultimately to the Dormers of Grove Park (q.v.). Members of this family are mentioned as lords of the manor
of Norton Lindsey at various dates since 1767, (fn. 26) and in
1809 Charles, Lord Dormer, received the manorial
allotment. But, as already mentioned, he held only a
comparatively small portion of the parish, and the
manorial rights have long since been extinguished.
An annual rent of 6d. (fn. 27) and a close in the occupation
of John Blick, (fn. 28) both in Norton, were held by Warwick College at the Dissolution. The close was probably
included among the lands of the college in Norton in
the tenure of John Blick which were granted in fee to
Clement Throckmorton and Alexander Avenon, ironmonger of London, in 1545. (fn. 29) Other Crown lands in
Norton formed part of an extensive grant by exchange
to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, in 1550. (fn. 30) This
grant was renewed to Sir Edward Sutton in 1554 (fn. 31) and
confirmed to him, on his marriage to Katherine Bridges,
in the following year: (fn. 32) Frances Commander, widow,
was holding lands of the Crown in 'Over Norton' at a
rent of 5s. 4d. in 1608. (fn. 33) These may perhaps represent
the lands in Norton Lindsey from which Kenilworth
Abbey was receiving 22s. 3d. rents at the time of the
Dissolution. (fn. 34)
Church
The church of the HOLY TRINITY
is a small building consisting of a chancel,
nave, north aisle, and south porch. It is an
early-13th-century structure with some later windows
and a modern north aisle. The chancel (17¼ ft. by
11½ ft.) has an east window of c. 1330 of three trefoiled
lights, the middle ogee-arched, and leaf-tracery in a
two-centred head with an external hood-mould. In
each side wall are two small original lancets, only 8 in.
wide, with splayed round arches inside. The walls are
of white sandstone ashlar with a chamfered plinth, and
at the east angles are low shallow clasping buttresses.
The roof is modern.
The chancel arch is of two chamfered orders, the
pointed head being of fairly small voussoirs: at the
springing-level are 4 in. moulded abaci or imposts. The
archway is probably of the early 14th century.
The nave (about 28½ ft. by 18 ft.) has a modern
north arcade of three bays with round pillars and square
responds. In the south wall are two modern windows
of three cinquefoiled pointed lights in a two-centred
head. The south doorway between them, is of early13th-century date; it is two-centred and of two orders,
the inner chamfered, the outer with a roll mould which,
in the jambs, is provided with moulded capitals and
bases: the jambs are partly restored and the outer order
of the head has been rebuilt.
The west wall has no piercing: it is gabled, with a
repaired coping: above it is a stone bell-cote, modern
except at its base, which indicates that there was an
earlier bell-cote here.
The nave walls are of ashlar like the chancel: the
south wall has an original square buttress at the west end;
another buttress at the east end is a later medieval
addition. The west wall has a wide and shallow buttress
(4 ft. 9 in. by 1 ft. 2 in.) in the middle, rising to nearly
the top of the gable-head. There is another buttress,
also old, in line with the north arcade-wall. The roofs,
which are tiled, have modern timbers. Rain-water
pipe-heads are dated 1873.
The font is probably of the 13th century: it has a
round bowl tapering downwards, on a high round,
chamfered base, and a worn round step.
The pulpit is modern, but has in it two panels of a
17th-century frieze carved with honeysuckle ornament;
there are also two panels on the wall behind it.
The communion plate includes a cup and cover
paten of 1571. There are two bells; the larger is ancient
without an inscription, the smaller is modern.
The registers date from 1742.
In 1586 Nicholas Bucke of Claverdon was summoned before the Privy Council on the petition of the
inhabitants of Norton Lindsey for his 'outrageous conduct' in having 'disquieted the whole parish, ruined
their church, cast down the doors, destroyed the
windows and totally deprived them of divine service'. (fn. 35)
Advowson
Norton was a chapelry of Claverdon
at least from about the middle of the
12th century, though in the 13th
century the tithes of Norton were the subject of a protracted dispute between Claverdon and the Abbey of
Conches in Normandy, which claimed them as belonging to their appropriated church of Wootton Wawen. (fn. 36)
The Archdeacon of Worcester, as patron of Claverdon,
held the advowson until 1925, when it was transferred
to the Bishop of Coventry. (fn. 37) The parish was united
with Wolverton by Order in Council in 1925. (fn. 38)
In 1651 the trustees for providing maintenance for
preaching ministers granted to William Palmer of the
Inner Temple a lease of the tithes of corn, hay, and
wool in Claverton and Langley and the tithes of corn
in Norton belonging to the rectory of Claverdon for
3 years at £95 per year. (fn. 39) In 1806 the great tithes of
Norton were valued at £140 annually, out of which a
pension of £4 was reserved to the incumbent. (fn. 40) There
is no mention of the rectorial tithes in the Inclosure
Award, but the vicar received 42 acres, of which 15
acres were in lieu of glebe and 21 acres in lieu of
vicarial tithes—the latter allotment representing 1/28 of
the value of the land inclosed.
Charity
Church Land. There is a small piece
of land (¾ acre) in this parish called
Church Piece, the rent of which has been
immemorially applied to the expenses of the church
but it is unknown how the property was acquired.
It is now let at an annual rent of 15s.