This the last of a series of articles written by popular historian Arthur Tomlin more than 25 years ago. Mr Tomlin sadly died a couple of years ago. He was extremely well-known in the area as an artist and historian

NORTON Juxta Twycross is a quiet and peaceful little village close to the Warwickshire border and is bounded on the east side by the Ashby Canal.

The Saxon king, Eldred, granted Norton a Royal Charter in 951 and at that time, it was known as Northton.

At the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, the village was recorded as having six ploughlands and was held by Countess Godiva, the wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia.

The great historian Burton referred to a letter he had found which stated: “I was looking for antiquities around this church, when I found in a corner of an old piece of a pair of organs and upon the end of every key was a carving of a boar”.

It seemed a remarkable coincidence that at this period the village had changed its name to Hoggs (Hogges) Norton.

The parish contained 1,890 acres and the soil was mostly heavy clay and was enclosed in about 1749.

In 1280, Norton, Snarestone, Appleby and Shackerstone answered collectively as one village. At this period the Ferrers family of Groby held a third share of the village.

Several people in Norton were arrested by the Sheriff in 1325 for the murder of William de Monte Gomeri, which took place on a heath near to the Abbey of Merevale.

It was said that he was struck on the head with a sword and died in his wife’s arms.

It is pre-recorded that in 1326, the Abbess of Polesworth was allowed to appropriate to herself two shillings and one penny as an annual rent together with the appurtenances at Norton.

In 1564, there were 16 families living in the village and when the Hearth Tax came into force in 1664 the returns showed that 40 inhabitants in Norton paid tax.

Two outstanding personalities were born at Norton.

William Whiston was the son of the rector, Josh Whiston, who in his later years became blind, lame and deaf but still carried on his ministry at Norton.

William was a great mathematician and wrote many books and was later appointed Sir Isaac Newton’s deputy at Cambridge.

He attained fame with his translation of the works of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian.

He disapproved of many of the principles of the Church of England and eventually jointed the Baptists.

The Moore family had a long association with both Norton and Appleby.

Charles Moore of Norton purchased the manor at Appleby in 1599. His second son, John, raised a fortune as a merchant in London in the East India trade.

In 1681, he became Lord Mayor of London and was elected President of Christ’s Hospital in the same year.

During his term of office as Lord Mayor he was knighted by Charles II for his loyal services.

This great man who was born and baptised at Norton was a great philanthropist and devoted much of his fortune to the less fortunate.

Sir John founded the school at Appleby Parva which was designed by Wren, and catered for 50 boy boarders who came from all over the country until 1706.

Originally, it was restricted to boys from Norton and Appleby and neighbouring villages.

The figure of the founder in his official robes stands in the arch in the wall. The school closed in 1904 due to lack of support but was reopened in 1959 by Sir Robert Martin.

The church school which accommodated both boys and girls was opened in 1844.

Sir John died without a successor in 1702, aged 82 years.

The church which is dedicated to the Holy Trinity was built in the 12th century. It may originally have been a wooden structure as most churches were around that period.