Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset

Historical Description

Norton Fitzwarren, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands near the river Tone, with a station on the G.W.R., 160 miles from London, and 2½ WNW of Taunton. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Taunton. The parish contains the tithings of Langford and Vanhampton, and comprises 1358 acres; population, 530-There is a parish council consisting of six members. The manor, with the manor house on a commanding site, belongs. to the Marshall family. Montys Court, Norton Court, and Way House are chief residences. A curious earthwork is on a hill above the church; comprises 13 acres, engirt by ditch and double rampart; is locally fabled to have been the haunt of a prodigious serpent, which long devastated the surrounding country; and was thought by The Rev. Mr Warre, in an account of it to the Somerset Archasological Society, to be the site of an ancient British town. The present village may not improbably be traceable to an ancient British origin, and at least, has an ancient importance assigned to it by an old local rhyme, which says-"When Taunton was a furzy down, Norton was a market-town."

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; gross value, £250 with residence. The church is Early English; comprises nave, aisles, cliancel, and chapel, with a tower; and has an E memorial window. The nave and the N aisle were rebuilt in 1853; and the chancel was restored, and the chapel built, in 1865. There is a Congregational chapel.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Norton Fitzwarren 1565-1812, Somerset is available to browse online.

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Norton Fitzwarren from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Norton-Fitzwarren (All Saints))

Maps

Online maps of Norton Fitzwarren are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Somerset papers online:

• Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette
• Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser
• Western Gazette
• Wells Journal
• Somerset County Gazette

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Somersetshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.