Norton - Church of St. Mary the Virgin

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin 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 14th-century effigy of a knight in chainmail. Under the church floor is an escape tunnel used by the Saxons and priests when in danger. The tunnel leads under the church floor and Norton Green, eventually surfacing in the Albany housing estate. The church floor was recently renovated and Saxon remains and artefacts were discovered in the tunnel entrance. The grave of John Walker, the inventor of friction matches, is located in the churchyard

Grade I listed building