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Norton (St. Egwin)

NORTON (St. Egwin), a parish, in the union of Evesham, Lower division of the hundred of Blackenhurst, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Evesham; containing, with the tything of Chadbury and the chapelry of Lenchwick, 385 inhabitants. The abbey of Evesham had lands here before the Conquest. The parish is situated on the right bank of the navigable river Avon, and is intersected by the road from Evesham to Alcester; the number of acres is 2636. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 17. 8½.; net income, £157; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The church, with the exception of two curious doorways of transition Norman character, is in the later English style. The nave, which more than a century past had fallen down, was restored in 1844 to its ancient state, under the superintendence of the vicar, the Rev. William Brown: the interior is fitted up with open seats, adorned with carved oak finials, and presenting an antique, uniform, and pleasing appearance. The adjoining chapel, built at first for a north transept, was at the close of Henry VIII.'s reign used as a mortuary chapel, and contains the remains of members of the family of Biggs, highly distinguished for military services at that period; the monuments are in excellent preservation, and consist of recumbent figures, and others in a kneeling posture. In this chapel are also suspended the banners and armour of the Craven and Seymour families, of which it is the burial-place: a window of stained glass has been painted and presented by the Rev. Mr. Brown. The whole cost of repairing the church, with the chapel, amounted to £700, one-half of which sum was raised by a church-rate, and the remainder by subscription.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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