Norton, County Durham

Norton is village in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated to the east of Stockton-on-Tees. It dates back to at least the Anglo-Saxon period. In 1856, the Norton Iron Company made the first bell for Big Ben, but it cracked whilst being delivered to London, so another company made the bell, closer to London St Mary's Church is the only cruciform Anglo-Saxon church in Northern England. Its crossing tower with eight triangular head windows has a battlemented top of later date and there is a well known 14th century effigy of a knight in chainmail. The grave of John Walker, the inventor of matches, is located in the churchyard. Adjacent to St. Mary's Church is Red House Nursery & Infant School, which combines state of the art modern buildings with classrooms in the former Old Vicarage. On the opposite side of the village green resides Red House Preparatory and Main School. Red House School is the premier independent school located in the Tees Valley. One of the first railway stations was built in Norton, but it has since been knocked down, and now only a crossing exists. Norton is home to 11 pubs: Norton Tavern, Norton Sports and Social Club, The Centenary, The Unicorn, George and Dragon, Highland Lad, The White Swan, Connections, Red Lion, Norton Working Men's Club and the Tapas Bar. The village also now has a number of restaurants: Jolsha Indian, Happy Valley Chinese, Cafe Lilli and also - in mid 2007 - a new Italian.

Notable people from Norton

• Franc Roddam - film director
• Stevie Lynn - professional wrestler
• David Townsend - Test cricketer
• Keith Tyrrell - World Amateur bare knuckle boxing champion