Keele University                                               Martin Docksey     MA  in Local History                                      
  “Nortone"
Terrae et Soc (Land and Jurisdiction)
Norton in the Moors in Medieval Times

              Norton in the Moors is a parish and was also a manor in the hundred of Pirehill in the county of Stafford;[1] “it comprehends an extensive territory of rude and hilly ground”.[2] There are several villages within the parish/manor of Norton in the moors, Norton in the Moors being central with the others being satellite around Norton in the Moors and its church. Chief amongst the other villages and hamlets are Norton Green, Milton, Bemersley, Brown Edge, Baddeley Green and Baddeley Edge. With the resent closure of Norton’s collieries, Norton is now largely dormitory in nature with its population working elsewhere. Norton in the Moors as it now stands is largely urban and blends in to the nearby Potteries seamlessly, but still retains some of its village atmosphere.[3] The urbanization of Norton is a relatively recent phenomenon and largely post 1930. Prior to 1930 the major influence on the area was of course the collieries and the mining villages that grew up around them, such as Ball Green and Brown Edge. Records of coalmining exist from the late medieval times, the monks of Hulton Abbey mining at Ridgeway in 1316.[4] 

                 Norton is a very common name and there are 26 or so in England and there are three in Staffordshire alone.[5] It is believed the name Norton has its origin as North-tun, meaning most northerly farmstead.[6] The prefix North may mean it is the northern most settlement belonging to a greater settlement or somewhere of significance at the time of its origin. The suffix Tun suggests its origin to be around the 7th century.[7] The suffix Ton is also shared with many local settlements suggesting the seventh century was a period of growth and colonization in North Staffordshire, these places include Rushton [Grange], Hulton and Milton, all of which border on Norton.

                 The place of significance form the ecclesiastic point of view may have been the church at Stoke. Norton could have been the most northerly settlement of a large parochia based on this church, of which the present day parishes are subdivisions. Norton church was a chapelry of St Peters Stoke as late as the nineteenth century which may lend weight to this argument.[8] St Peters Stoke was one of only two churches mentioned in the Domesday Book, a half share being listed with one of Wulfgeat’s manors Caverswall prior to the conquest.[9] The place name Stoke can mean a religious place and there is a cross shaft and a font at St Peters Stoke that date from Anglo-Saxon times, the former perhaps as early as the 8th century.[10] There has been a church at Norton in the Moors since 1180 at least, which has be rebuilt many times and has also been rededicated at lest once.[11]

                    The boundaries of this parochia may also correspond with the boundaries of a greater unitary compound seventh century Anglo-Saxon manor, before a process of fragmentation which occurred in the centuries following. The administrative centre for such a unified manor could have been what in now Newcastle under Lyme, Chesterton or Madeley. But is most likely to have been at Maer, which was the seat of the pre-conquest lord Wulfgeat and his family (later the de Mere family).[12]  

                  The manor of Norton as it was in a survey completed in 1695 is shown on the sketch map, three ridges of high ground running roughly north to south, with the two valleys between having water courses, the most northerly water course being the head water of the infant Trent and the other Bank hay / Foxley brook which joins the Trent within the parish/manor at Milton. According to the text of this survey the boundaries Manor and Constablewick appear one and the same[13] however the parish boundary differs with the inclusion of Bemersley hamlet and the area around it which is in the manor and Constablewick of Tunstall.[14] A note in the parish registers proves this point; it says that Bemersley Hamlet consisted of 266 customary acres, the constable-wick of Norton 916 acres, giving the total customary acreage of 1182.[15] 

                Norton has it seems always been based upon and around the crossroads of the Newcastle to Leek road and what is now Norton Lane / Ridgeway. William Yates’s map of 1775 shows the major road in Norton to be that from Newcastle to Leek with all the other roads depicted as tracks rather than major roads.[16] Norton Lane also known as Ridgeway to the west of Norton crossroads appears to be equally well populated and could have been the original route along which medieval Norton in the Moors developed. The Anglican Church, Norton Hall, and Norton Hall farm all appear along Norton lane, suggests this to be the case. Older people of Norton can remember arable farming taking place along side Norton Lane and to the south of the Hall farm an area still known as Ryecroft. This arable farming is said to have taken place in three fields on a rotation basis. This could have originated from the open three field system of the later medieval period. People can also remember a row of approximately 14 cottages behind Hall Farm, housing the work force for the farm in the 1930s. Perhaps this is an indication of the possible size of one of the medieval lord’s demesne. Opposite Hall Farm the fields run down to the Trent and there are areas of these fields that still show the signs of medieval ridge and furrow type undulations, long narrow strips running down the bank from Norton lane to the infant Trent. Norton in the Moors could have developed more centrally as the medieval period went on. To the south east of the cross roads behind the rookery is a field still remembered as the rabbit field, another possible echo of the medieval past with the lord of the manor enjoying “free warren” there.

              As with many such places the Domesday Book is the earliest record of Norton in the Moors that we can be sure of.[17] The Domesday Book tells us that Robert holds 2 hides himself in “Nortone” (in the moors) and its dependences. Robert of coarse was the Norman Baron of Stafford and the largest land holder in Staffordshire.[18] Norton in the Moors was just a small part of his Honour most of which was held by other lesser lords in return for payment and services, in the nature of the feudal system. The use of the term dependences may tell us that Norton in the Moors was not a single entity but more than one place alone and hints perhaps to the scattered nature of the manors population. Another clue to this being the case is the fact that two people are name as pre-conquest lords, the previously mentioned Wulfgeat and Godric. 

            In the Domesday Book the manor of “Nortone” stood at 2 hides. Hides are now regarded as a fiscal unit rather than aerial and would have been relative to agricultural production. Hides are however generally deemed to vary around the notional aerial value of 120 acres.[19] Given the height above sea level of 637 feet raising to 800feet[20]and therefore the relatively short growing season and the relative poor quality of the moorland soil we could reasonably expect the “Nortone” demesne lands to be greater than the notional 240 square acres. 

          Domesday continues Godric and Wulfgreat who were free, held it (TRE). This within the formulaic nature of the great survey tells us that these two individuals held “Nortone” prior to the Norman Conquest. Both of these free born Anglo-Saxons survived the rebellions of 1069 and 1070 and the retribution that followed.[21] They also continued to hold some remnants of their former manors after 1086 and although the Domesday Book does not tell us so, later evidence suggests Robert de Stafford may have allowed one or both to continue at Norton in the Moors in this vein. 

          The Next part of the Domesday entry told us that Robert had Land for 4 Ploughs, this suggests that arable farming was sufficient to keep 4 plough teams busy each year and each of these teams it is believed consisted of six oxen.[22] There were also 6 villains, and 3 smallholders with 3 ploughs teams between them. If the two lords of “Nortone” had 4 ploughs, the other nine Villains and Smallholders had only three between them, this would in agricultural terms make each Lord at least six times wealthier than the others, from this one manor alone. 

           The term villain has sometimes been translated as villager, and this conjures up a vision of an archetypal nucleated or linier village with the houses next to each other etc. This was unlikely and in the case of Nortone in the Moors was almost certainly not the case.[23] Villain could perhaps be better termed farmer, and the farms concerned scattered about the manor, where the best parcels of land could be found and most easily colonised from the heavily wooded landscape. The 3 small holders would have had smaller parcels of land of perhaps around 30 acres or a virgate and may have practiced a trade or worked on the demein lands to supplement their living from the smallholding. 

           Although Domesday was not a census but an audit for taxation purposes, it tells us of the number and status of the people who lived in “Nortone” and so we are able to make an estimate of the population. The population of Domesday “Nortone” could have been 2 lords, 6 villians, 3 smallholders and their extended families perhaps averaging 5 per household[24] and that would give us a total population of perhaps only 55 people in 1086.

             Domesday goes on to tell us there was woodland in “Nortone” two leagues by three leagues. This represents a huge area of woodland, seemingly too large for the manor as we know it and it must have continued in to neighbouring manors. Again the term dependences springs to mind, and perhaps some of this woodland was regarded as its dependences outside of the manor itself. The most likely the areas for this woodland are around Carmountside stretching up to Bagnall and the area around what is now Knypersley stretching up to Biddulph More. Neither Biddulph nor Bucknull are listed as having any woodland. This perhaps hints that the 7th century Norton in the Moors was much larger than it was in the 11th century.

          Some indications of the woodland of the domesday record may also be found on early editions of the ordnance survey maps and to the North Eastern side of Norton crossroads the words The Park.[25] The Park in medieval times may have been a large wooded area for raising and hunting dear, boar, and other game.[26] This park may have been adjacent to the still larger area of woodland. This woodland could have consisted of most of the Trent valley to the west of the crossroads to the western extremity of the manor and beyond, and to the highest of the ridges Brown Edge, which in later in post-medieval times was referred to as waste lands.[27] If Norton in the Moors had a medieval deer park it would come as no surprise as the various lords of the manor had numerous deer parks in their other manors, notably the de Stafford’s [28] and the Audley’s.[29]  Looking again at Yates’s map of 1775, other indications of medieval settlement can be seen in the field names such as Dogcroft, Sealscroft and Cotton Fields, all of witch may indicate small holdings and cottages, on the south western side of Norton lane/Ridgeway.

              In theory the Domesday manor of “Nortone” should have had eight farms, the biggest of which by far would be Norton Hall farm, then perhaps similar in size Norton Green Hall farm and the six others which would be sufficient to keep a villain and his family, of which there were six at the time of the Domesday Book. The Subsidy Rolls of 1327[30] and 1332[31] for Norton super Moras may give us some clues as to which were the oldest and best established farmsteads in the manor. Many of the personal names on this taxation list were probably taken from the names of the farmsteads they occupied, suggesting that they have lived there for generations. The list begins with Will de Baddileye, this suggests he and his family occupied land at Baddeley green (what is now probably Baddeley Hall farm). Ric de Hatleye and his family could have farmed at Heakley (Heakley Hall farm). Jon de Hegge could have come from Brown Edge or Baddeley Edge (most likely Greenway Hall farm at Baddeley Edge). Hugoe de Rugway from Ridgeway (now Ridgeway Hall farm), Will Wytefeld from Whitfield (Fir tree farm), Rad de Lastonhous, from Stonehouse (now Stonehouse farm). Jon del Hey, from Bank Hey (most likely in the vicinity of Ford Green Hall or Ford Green Farm). Since most of these farms appear easily identifiable today nearly 700 years later, it is not too difficult to envisage them being the six farmsteads of the Domesday Book a mere 246 years previous. 

           Names on the 1332 list also include a Taylor a Smith and a Hayward, who were obviously trades people but could also have had smallholdings. There are notable absentees on these lists the de Staffords and the de Audleys, which could mean they were absentee landlords at this time. The de Mere family however were there in force with three Will, Ric and Rad, the de Staffords may at this time have sub let their demesne to the de Mere’s, who may have held halves of the manor at this time.

            Again whilst acknowledging this is yet another taxation list and not a census of population, if we regard the 27 people listed as heads of households and again use a multiple of 5 people per household we get an estimated total population in 1332 of 135, nearly two and a half times the population in 1086. It may have been that the manor still had its scattered farmstead population but was also developing several small villages in addition.

        It would seem that Lordship of Norton in the Moors was always divided, and divided lordship was evident in 1166 with both the de Norton’s (alias de Stafford or de Mere) and the de Mere’s sharing the divided manor.[32] The de Mere’s were supposedly to be descended from one of the pre-conquest holder the Anglo-Saxon Wulfgreat, through his two daughters who it is said both married de Mere’s or men that took the name deMere sometime after 1086.[33] As far as the division was concerned the manor was seemingly divided in to two approximately equal parts as can be seen in later medieval times.[34] The de Stafford’s most likely resided at Norton Hall and the de Mere’s certainly resided at Norton Green Hall and other places in the early post-Conquest times. This division was in evidence in the Domesday Book when Wulfgreat was said to have held Norton and its dependences, along with Godric, one suspects these two “holders” held of an overlord just as the two post-conquest holders held of the Baron of Stafford. This overlord could well have been the Earl Edwin of Mercia whose estates devolved to Robert de Stafford post conquest.[35] At some stage the name de Norton appears, the people of this name may have originally been members of the de Stafford or deMere families as they sought to identify themselves with the manor when necessary. The name de Norton however did not persist and some of the de Norton’s were not associated with Norton in the Moors but Norton Canes and mistakenly placed at Norton in the Moors.[36] 

The close association of the de Mere’s with the manor called Norton under Kevremond during this period may lead us to believe that this particular division of the manor to have been Norton Green, as distinct from Norton in the Moors.  Norton Green in comparison to Norton in the Moors is relatively low lying hence the “under”. Kevremond in its modern form is Carmount and Carmount Head was shown on old ordnance survey maps in the general vicinity of Bagnall which is much higher and visible from Norton Green and Milton and Kevremond may have had some significance in previous times. Norton under Kevremond could have run along the Trent valley as far as Milton or even beyond to what is now Carmountside, where the de Audley’s financed the building of Hulton Abbey in 1219.[37]  Norton Green was the later name perhaps as late as 1909 when Sir Charles Bowyer Adderley, Lord Norton gave the recreation ground (the green) to the people of Norton Green.[38]

           As we can see the medieval history of Norton in the Moors is very complex. The Lordship was divided in to two distinct halves from before the Norman Conquest until the 19th century. The lordship of the half at Norton in the moors after the Norman Conquest was initially the prerogative of a lesser member of the de Stafford family. At some stage during the next hundred years or so the de Mere family it seems became incumbent at Norton Hall, as well as Norton Green Hall (Norton under Kevremond). Following the murder of the heir to the de Mere estates, the manors were apparently given to the de Audley’s.[39] This gift resulted in a legal battle between the de Stafford’s and the de Audley’s, which saw Norton in the Moors return the de Stafford’s in 1227 following a trial by battle.[40] The de Stafford’s probably remained in control of this half of the manor for the rest of the medieval period, mainly as absentee landlords, perhaps with the help of the de Mere’s. The turbulence associated with this half of the manor was perhaps attributable to it having jurisdiction over the whole of the manor.

            In comparison the other half of the manor was more predictable with the de Mere’s incumbent at Norton Green Hall, it seems for the whole of the medieval period, despite the death of the heir. It seems likely when this heir was murdered another branch of the de Mere’s was to take over after the de Stafford’s regained control of the other half of the manor. The de Mere’s were to remain at Norton Green hall until the 19th century. 

Abbreviations

C H S, Collections for a History of Staffordshire, William Salt Archaeological Society.

V C H, Victoria County History

Bibliography

S A H Burne, The Vanished Hunting Grounds of North Staffordshire, North Staffordshire Jurnal of Field Studies, vol 21, 1981,

WH Duigan, Notes on Staffordshire Place Names, Oxford University Press, 1902, 

G.L.Gomme Ed, Topography of  Staffordshire and Suffolk, Elliot and Stock, 1899, 

James Jack, The Histoery of the Church and Parish of Norton-in-the-Moors, no date.

John Morris, Domesday Book, Staffordshire, Phillimore, 1976, 

Robert Mountford, Stoke the Holy Place on the Trent, Lifelines Christian Newspaper, Dec 2003, 

David Mayer, Notes on the deMere Family of Feudal North Staffordshire, Stafforshire History, vol 21, Spring 1995,   

Philip Morgan, The Domesday Book and the Local Historian, Help for Students No95, The Historical Association, 1988, 

John F Moxon, Old North Staffordshire, Keele University, 1972,

Alan Pointon, A Brown Edge History, Churnet Valley Books, Staffordshire, 1998, 

Anthony Poulton – Smith, Staffordshire Place Names, Countryside Books, Berkshire, 1995. 

Robin Studd, Recorded “Wast” in the Staffordshire Domesday entry, Staffordshire Studies vol 12, University of Keele,  2000,  

John Ward, History of the Borough of Stoke on Trent, republished by S.R. Publishers ltd, 1969 

Philip Wheatley, Staffordshire, in H C Darby ed, The Domesday Geography of Midland England, 2nd ed, Cambridge University Press, 1971,

 A Brief History of Norton in the Moors, Old Nortonian Society, Millennium Issue, 

 Hulton Abbey History and Archaeology, City Museum and Art Gallery, no date, 

Old Nortonian Society, A brief history of Norton in the Moors, Millennium Issue, 

 Stafford Castle a brief history, Stafford Borough Council, 1988, 

Periodicals

 Court rolls of the manor of Tunstall, in North Staffordshire Field Club Transactions 1924 vol 56

 Subsidy Roll 1327, CHS vol VII, 1886, 

 Subsidy Roll 1332, CHS vol  X, 1889, 

 Plea Rolls of the Reign of Henry III, C H S, vol IV, 1883,

 Liber Niger of 1166, C H S, vol 1, 1880, 163 

V C H, vol 1,  

Maps and Plans

William Yates, A Map of the County of Stafford 1775, C H S, 4th Series vol XI 1982.

 A copy of the court serveigh of William Sneyd lord of the copyhold within the manor 1695 Hanley Library S.P.815 o/s

Ordnance Survey Map, First Series, 1836,



[1] G.L.Gomme Ed, Topography of  Staffordshire and Suffolk, Elliot and Stock,1899, p123


[2] John Ward, History of the Borough of Stoke on Trent, republished by S.R. Publishers ltd, 1969 p532


[3] James Jack, The History of the Parish of Norton in the Moors, no date, 1


[4] A Brief History of Norton in the Moors, Old Nortonian Society, Millennium Issue, 17


[5] James Jack, 1


[6] Anthony Poulton – Smith, Staffordshire Place Names, Countryside Books, Berkshire, 1995. 88


[7] WH Duigan, Notes on Staffordshire Place Names, Oxford University Press, 1902, 


[8] James Jack, 68


[9] John Morris, Domesday Book, Staffordshire, Phillimore, 1976, 11,36


[10] Robert Mountford, Stoke the Holy Place on the Trent, Lifelines Christian Newspaper, Dec 2003, 6


[11] James Jack, The Histoery of the Church  and Parish of Norton-in-the-Moors, no date, 1


[12] David Mayer, Notes on the deMere Family of Feudal North Staffordshire, Stafforshire History, vol 21, Spring 1995, 1  


[13] A copy of the court serveigh of William Sneyd lord of the copyhold within the manor 1695 Hanley Library S.P.815 o/s


[14] Court rolls of the manor of Tunstall, in North Staffordshire Field Club Transactions 1924 vol 56


[15] James Jack, 17


[16] William Yates, A Map of the County of Stafford 1775, C H S, 4th Series vol XI 1982.


[17] John Morris, 11,19


[18] Stafford Castle a brief history, Stafford Borough Council, 1988, 21


[19] Philip Morgan, The Domesday Book and the Local Historian, Help for Students No95, The Historical Association, 1988, 21


[20] Old Nortonian Society, A brief history of Norton in the Moors, Millennium Issue, p8


[21] Robin Studd, Recorded “Waste” in the Staffordshire Domesday entry, Staffordshire Studies vol 12, University of Keele,  2000, 3 


[22] Philip Wheatley, Staffordshire, in H C Darby ed, The Domesday Geography of Midland England, 2nd ed, Cambridge University Press, 1971, 186


[23] Philip Morgan, 18


[24] Philip Wheatley, 187


[25] Ordnance Survey Map, First Series, 1836,


[26] S A H Burne, The Vanished Hunting Grounds of North Staffordshire, North Staffordshire Jurnal of Field Studies, vol 21, 1981, 170


[27] Alan Pointon, A Brown Edge History, Churnet Valley Books, Staffordshire, 1998, 5


[28] S A H Bourne, 169-175


[29] S A H Bourne, 171


[30] Subsidy Roll 1327, CHS vol VII, 1886, 207


[31] Subsidy Roll 1332, CHS vol  X, 1889, 94


[32] Liber Niger of 1166, C H S, vol 1, 1880, 163  John F Moxon, Old North Staffordshire, Keele University, 1972,


[33] David Mayer, 1


[34] John F Moxon, Old North Staffordshire, Keele University, 1972,


[35] V C H, vol 1, 222 


[36] John F Moxon, 


[37] Hulton Abbey History and Archaeology, City Museum and Art Gallery, no date, 1 


[38] A Brief History of Norton in the Moors, Old Nortonian Society, Millennium Issue, 12


[39] David Mayer, 6


[40] Plea Rolls of the Reign of Henry III, C H S, vol IV, 1883, 67