STOCKTON WARD 



NORTON 



was followed on the south, but the middle window 

 was altered in the i 5th century, and now consists of 

 a square-headed opening of two trefoiled lights, the 

 head of which internally is formed of a 13th-century 

 grave cover.'* The original openings are chamfered 

 all round externally, and the heads are cut from one 

 stone. The walls finish with an embattled parapet, 

 behind which the flat-pitched leaded roof is not seen. 

 The west window is of five lights with perpendicular 

 tracery, and the wall above on each side has been 

 rebuilt. The modern aisles are under lean-to red 

 tiled roofs behind embattled parapets, and the porch 

 is also embattled and has a red tiled hipped roof 

 running back into that of the aisle. In the east and 

 west walls of the porch are a number of 1 2th 

 and 13th-century fragments, the former (apparently 

 voussoirs of an arch with cheveron ornament) serving 

 as part of a corbel table supporting the roof. In the 

 east wall is a stone female effigy, the head of which 

 has gone. 



At the east end of the nave on the south side, below 

 the tower arch, is an exceedingly fine recumbent 

 effigy of an unknown knight in chain armour and 

 surcoat, apparently of late 13 th or early 14th-century 

 date. Above the head is a crocketed canopy, and 

 the feet rest on two animals in combat. The head 

 is bare, and on the right side is a small kneeling 

 figure with open book. The sword, in a jewelled 

 sheath, hangs from a belt, and on the left arm is a 

 shield of six quarterings cut at a later date. I'ehind 

 the canopy, over the head, are two original shields 

 of arms, one a cross moline and the other a voided 

 scutcheon with a bend over all. The first may 

 be the arms of Bek of Redmarshall or Fulthorpe of 

 Grindon. The other is that assigned to lohn Lithe- 

 graynes. If the figure represents a member of the 

 family of Park, as is generally stated, the shields can 

 only refer to allied families ; but it is possible that 

 it is the effigy of some other person more intimately 

 connected with the family of Bek. Both Hutchinson 

 and Surtees speak of this figure as being somewhere 

 in the Blakiston porch, whence it was removed to 

 its present position. It was probably appropriated 

 by one of the Blakistons in the i6th century under 

 the impression that it was one of his ancestors. The 

 quarterings on the shield are of this period.'* On 

 the chamfer of the slab on which the figure rests is 

 an artificer's mark consisting of the letter I and three 

 interlaced rings. 



The font dates from 1 8 5 1 , and is of stone elabo- 

 rately carved.''^ The pulpit is also of stone and 

 modern, and there isL,a modern oak chancel screen. 

 An old oak chest, 3 ft. long, said to be a groat chest 

 or money box, is preserved in the chancel, and on 

 the north wall is a painting of the ' Supper at 

 Emmaus,' which was presented by the Rev. Christopher 



of a 



Anstey (vicar 1786-1827) and stood over the altar 

 table till 1 875, when it was removed and sold. It 

 was restored to the church by the purchaser in i 894." 



The tower contains three I 7th-century bells, the 

 oldest bearing the date 1607 and the initials R.D. 

 The second is inscribed 'Anno Domini : 1613 I.C.* 

 The third, by Samuel Smith of York, 1664, bore 

 the motto 'Venite exultemus Domino. R.D. I.C.' 

 The third bell was recast with an inscription : 

 'Recast 1893 Deus canticura novum cantebo tibi. 

 T.E.S. vicar, T.H.F., H.S.C. ch.was.' " 



The silver plate consists of a chalice with domed 

 cover, paten (the gift of the Rev. Christopher Anstey, 

 vicar in 1808), two flagons, all of 1807,'" London 

 make, and two plates (presented by the Rev. C. J. 

 Plumer, vicar 1843). 



The registers begin in 1574. The first volume 

 contains entries down to 1713 ; the second volume 

 begins in 1 700, and contains baptisms and burials 

 till 1798 and marriages till 1733.''' 



A grey stone crucifix has been erected near the 

 entrance to the churchyard a? a memorial of those 

 men of the parish who fell in the Great War. 



The church of ST. MICHAEL AND 

 ANGELS was built in 19 1 3. It consists 

 chancel, nave, north aisle and western tower. 



Norton parish formerly included 

 ADFOtVSON Stockion (q.v.), which, with the 

 hamlets of I'reston and East Hart- 

 burn, was made a chapelry with right of burial in 

 1237 and was created a parish in 171 3. From the 

 earliest record of its existence Norton Church 

 was, like the manor, in the hands of the Bishops 

 of Durham. It was given about 1083 by William 

 of St. Carileph to the secular canons he had removed 

 from Durham Cathedr.il when he placed monks there. 

 This is said to have been done by order of Pope 

 Gregory VII. "'^ A vicarage was evidently ordained, 

 while the rectorial tithes were assigned to eight canons, 

 whose shares were called prebends. The bishop 

 apparently retained the right of presenting to the 

 vic.ir.ige as well as to the prebends.**' 



The Pipe Roll of 1197 records ^53 6s. id. as 

 due from the parsons of the church of Norton ; but, 

 though the word is plural here, William son of Henry 

 is then named as if he were alone in the rectory. *- 

 In I 2 1 3 *5 and in 1 2 i 5 *^ King John presented clerks 

 to portions in the church, the bishopric being vacant. 

 Similar grants to the portions or prebends occur in 

 the time of Henry III,'' and in 1238 the king pre- 

 sented to the vicarage also ** ; the vacancy of the 

 bishopric was in each case the reason assigned for the 

 king's right. The prebends and vicarage were often 

 or usually held with other benefices, and frequently by 

 the king's clerks." In I 291 the eight prebends were 

 taxed as worth £6 a year each, and the vicarage as 



^* Another mediaeval grave-slab 13 built 

 into the west wall of the nave inside. 



^■' They are Blakiston, Surtees, Bowes, 

 Dalden, Conyers, and Conyers with a 

 ring for difference. For the effigy gene- 

 rally sec Arch. .-lei. (New Ser.), xv, 7-S. 

 It is engraved in Surtees, op. cit. iii, 1 16, 

 from a drawing by E. Blore. Sec also Proc. 

 Soc. Artriif. Neiccaiile (Ser. 3), iii, 186. 



"» Fragments of a former font of 17th 

 or 1 8th century date are in the church- 

 yard. See Trail. Dur. .irek. Sue. vi, 256, 

 where a restoration is figured. 



''' It is attributed to Caravaggio, and is 

 said to have been formerly an altar-piece 

 in a Benedictine convent on the Con- 

 tinent. 



'^ Proc. Soc. Anfij. Neiucaitky iv, 42 ; 

 Gent. Mag. (New Ser.), xix, 276. 



^^ Proc. Soc. Antiq. NcwcasrU, iv, 42. 



^^ Fordycc, op. cit. ii, 209. 



»> Leland, Coll. ii, 385 ; F.C.tf. Dur. 

 ii, 127. 



*• Rrg. Palat. Dunetm. (RolU Ser.), ii, 

 S42-5. 



" BoUon Bk. (Surt. Soc), p. vii. 



^ Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199-1216 (Rec. 

 Com.), 188 ; Nicholas Clement in place 

 of Henry de Vere. 



*< Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, 153; 



pp. 115, 172; 

 A clerk of the 

 of those pre- 



Edmund de London. 



" Cat. Pat. 1225-32, 

 •232-47. PP- 208, 217. 

 papal legate was one 

 sented. 



^ Ibid. 1232-47, p. 212 i William de 

 Sancta Maria. 



"' E.g., Cal. Paf>al Lttttrs, ii, 102, 274 ; 

 iii, 81 ; Cal. Pal. 1348-50, p. 105. 



40 



