NORTON, a parish, with a village, in Hitchin district, Herts; adjacent to Beds, 1 mile W N W of Baldock r. station. Post-town, Baldock. Acres, 1, 780. Real property, £2, 385. Pop., 352. Houses, 77. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to F. Pym, Esq. Norton Hall is the seat of J. Smyth, Esq.; and Nortonbury, of E. Smyth, Esq. Wilbury Hill is on the boundary, 1½ mile S W of the village; istraversed by Icknield-street; and has remains of a Romancamp, where Roman coins have been found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £75.* Patron, G. D. Wade, Esq. The church is ancient but good; and consists of nave and chancel, with porch and tower. There is a free school.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))