NORTON, a parish in the south-western division of
STOCKTON ward, county palatine of DURHAM, 2 miles
(N.) from Stockton upon Tees, containing 1186 inhabitants.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Durham, rated in the king's books at
£31. 11. 5., and in the patronage of the Bishop of
Durham. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was
formerly collegiate: it is partly Norman, and partly
in the early English style, with various -windows of
later date, and a tower rising from the centre, and has
lately received an addition of four hundred and fortyfive
sittings, of which three hundred and thirty-nine
are free, the Incorporated Society for the enlargement
of churches and chapels having granted £350 towards
defraying the expense. There is a place of worship
for Wesleyan Methodists. Henry II. granted permission
for a market to be held here weekly, on Sunday.
Norton enjoys the privilege of one of the six scholarships
founded in the University of Oxford, in 1536, by
the Rev. John Claymund, then vicar of this parish,
and master of Corpus Christi College. The Rev. John
Wallis, author of the history and antiquities of Northumberland,
died here in 1793.