Article by Arthur Tomlin on 7th January 1993 Norton was probably created by Anglo-Saxons in the 6th -7th C. Norton is believed to be derived from North Tun, Tun being Anglo-Saxon for settlement.
The Saxon king Eldred granted Norton a Royal Charter in 951. At that time it was known as Northton.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Nortone was recorded to have 6 ploughlands and was held by Countess Godiva, the wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia.
In 1280, Norton, Snarestone, Appleby and Shackerstone answered collectively as one village. At this period the Ferrers family of Groby held a third share of the village.
Several people in Norton were arrested by the Sheriff in 1325 for the murder of William de Monte Gomeri, which took place on a heath near the Abbey of Merevale. It was said that he was struck on the head with a sword and died in his wife’s arms.
It is pre-recorded that in 1326 the Abbess of Polesworth was allowed to appropriate to herself two shillings and one penny as annual rent together with the appurtenances at Norton.
In 1564, there were 16 families living in the village and when the Hearth Tax came into force in 1664 the returns showed that 40 inhabitants in Norton paid tax.
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The great 17th century Leicestershire antiquarian William Burton referred to a letter he had found which stated: “I was looking for antiquities around this church when I found in a corner an old piece of a pair of organs and upon the end of every key was a carving of a boar.” It seemed a remarkable coincidence that at this period the village had changed its name to Hoggs (Hogges) Norton.