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.[2] Located close to the A14, its nearest railway station is at Elmswell, just over 3 miles (5 km) away. The closest towns are Stowmarket 8 miles (13 km) away and Bury St Edmunds, around 10 miles (16 km) away.
The village once formed part of Blackbourn Hundred, which appears in the Domesday Book.[3] Its agricultural past is reflected in the number of listed buildings in the village today that are former barns, stables and cartlodges.[4] 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.[5]
Today the village has a population of around 800.[6] Community facilities include a Greene King pub called "The Norton Dog" and a village shop located in the Total service station on Woolpit Road.[7] 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.[8][9]
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.[10][11]
Norton is served with a bus service to Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket which operates on a daily basis.
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.[12][13]