Norton-in-the-Moors in 1872

NORTON-IN-THE-MOORS, a township and a parish in Leek district, Stafford. The township lies on the Caldon canal and on the Biddulph branch of the North Staffordshire railway, around Ford-Green railway station, and 2 miles N E of Burslem; has a post-office under Stoke-upon-Trent; and contains the hamlets of Ford-Green, Norton-Green, Smallthorn, and Milton, and part of Whitfield ville, the other part of which is in Bemersley township. Real property, £13,765; of which £4,194 are in mines.

Pop. in 1851, 3,106; in 1861, 4,135. Houses, 832. The increase of pop. arose from the extension of the pottery trade. The parish contains also the township of Bemersley, and comprises 4,234 acres. Real property, £15,172. Pop. in 1851, 3,327; in 1861, 4,393. Houses, 877. The property is subdivided. Norton House is a chief residence. The land is hilly and bleak; but the substrata are rich in minerals. Pottery manufacture is largely carried on; coal is extensively mined:and there is a large iron foundry.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £550. Patron, the Right Hon.B. Adderley. The church is good. The vicarages, of Smallthorn, Brown-Edge, and Milton are separate benefices. There are Independent, Wesleyan, and Primitive Methodist chapels, national schools, and charities £10.

An 1872 Gazetteer description of the following places in Norton-in-the-Moors is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Bemersley
• Brown-Edge
• Ford-Green
• Milton
• Smallthorne

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]