Norton, Suffolk
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Norton is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. The name Norton means northern town or farm.<ref name=village>Norton Village website. Retrieved 2013-01-31.</ref> Located close to the A14, its nearest railway station is at Elmswell, just over Template:Convert away. The closest towns are Stowmarket Template:Convert away and Bury St Edmunds, around Template:Convert away.
History
The village once formed part of Blackbourn Hundred, which appears in the Domesday Book.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its agricultural past is reflected in the number of listed buildings in the village today that are former barns, stables and cartlodges.<ref name=listed>Norton, Suffolk, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 2013-01-31.</ref> An 1870s gazetteer of Britain describes the parish as comprising 2,449 acres and having a population of 948. It also mentions it as a meet for the Suffolk fox hounds.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The village today
Today the village has a population of around 800.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Community facilities include a Greene King pub called "The Norton Dog" and a village shop located in the Total service station on Woolpit Road.<ref name=camra>Norton Dog, The Suffolk Real Ale Guide, CAMRA. Retrieved 2013-02-01./</ref> A mobile Post Office is located next to the village hall every weekday afternoon.
Norton has a pre-school next to the village hall and a Church of England voluntary primary school, with children generally moving on to middle school in the nearby communities of Ixworth and Beyton. Secondary education is provided at Thurston Community College.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The community is served by three churches, with a Baptist church and Salvation Army citadel on Woolpit Road. The Medieval Church of St Andrew at Norton, located some way from the centre of the village, contains a collection of eight 14th-century misericords and is believed to stand on the site of a Saxon church.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Norton is served with a bus service to Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket which operates on a daily basis.
Little Haugh Hall
Near the village is Little Haugh Hall, a Grade II* listed building. In the 18th century it was the home of the antiquarian Cox Macro.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref><ref>Template:Cite DNB</ref>