NORTON (MIDSOMER), a parish in the hundred
of CHEWTON, county of SOMERSET, comprising the
tythings of Clapton, Downside, Midsummer-Norton,
and Wilton, and containing 2326 inhabitants, of which
number,* 893 are in the ty thing of Midsummer-Norton,
9 miles (s. W. by S.) from Bath. The living is a discharged
vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Wells, and diocese
of Bath and Wells, rated in the king's books at
£ 10. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Dean and Canons
of Christ Church, Oxford. The church, dedicated to
St. John the Baptist, is a large and handsome structure,
with a modern tower, having on the south side a recess
containing a statue of Charles II. There is a place of
worship for Wesleyan Methodists. At the southern
extremity of the parish is a modern Roman Catholic
establishment, from Douay in French Flanders, called
Downside College, where young men are prepared for
ordination for the priesthood, and a number of boys
educated; connected with the institution is a very elegant
chapel, completed about eight years ago, also a
good library. The parish is bounded on the east by
the old Roman Fosse-way, and abounds with coal of a
superior quality, of which there are extensive mines,
affording employment to a great portion of the inhabit
ants. A fair for cattle, pigs, &c., is held annually on April
25th. Ann Harris, in 1719, gave the residue of her
personal estate, now producing about £45, for teaching
poor children j forty are instructed.