Norton sub Hamdon, Somerset
Historical Description
Norton-sub-Hamdon, a parish, with a village, in Somerset, near the river Parrot, 3 miles from Montacute station on the G.W.R., and 5½ W of Yeovil. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Stoke-sub-Hambdon. Acreage, 632; population, 515. There is a parish council consisting of five members and a chairman. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £160 with residence. The church is Late Perpendicular, has been restored, consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with porch and tower, and has a fine memorial W four-light window. The church tower was struck by lightning in July, 1894, and was completely gutted by fire. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Somersetshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Norton-Under-Hambdon St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Houndsborough | |
| Poor Law union | Yeovil |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1558.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin is an ancient building of Ham stone, in the Early Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock with chimes and 6 bells: the porch is of much earlier date than the church: the stained east window was erected in 1801 as a memorial to Mrs. Maria Quantock, of Chilton Cantelo, and John Henry, her only son, both of whom were buried in the vaults of this church on the same day; on the south side is a memorial window, erected in 1874, to the Rev. Naunton Lemuel Shuldham, his wife and two children; and there is another, placed in 1904, to commemorate the golden wedding of Charles and Susan Trask: the church was restored in 1862, at a cost of about £1,200, but on the 29th of July, 1894, it was struck by lightning, causing a fire which greatly damaged the tower, the bells and clock, and the font was also smashed by a falling beam; the total damage amounted to £1,600; the tower has since been restored and the bells, clock and font renewed: the western doors of carved wood were presented by the late Charles Trask esq.; there are sittings for 400 persons.
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Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel
There is a Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1842, and seating 150 persons.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Norton sub Hamdon from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Norton-Under-Hambdon (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of Norton sub Hamdon 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.