 A photograph showing the mouse carved under the lych gate of St Mary’s church at Norton. Courtesy of Mervyn James |
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
| A photograph showing the mouse carved under the lych gate of St Mary’s church at Norton. Courtesy of Mervyn James |
Hello David – I was probably the tour guide! I attend the church every Sunday and will ask the verger where the third mouse is hiding – and the whereabouts of the gates. I know that the gates are in storage somewhere…
Thanks Eric , yes it was you ! I thoroughly enjoyed the church tour and found it very informative especially the descriptions of the different brickwork and windows and how they show the history of the church . I suspect that most people walk past and never give it a second thought or glance ! I also went on the Norton Ironworks and Medieval Norton walks which were also very good . Pity there are not more similar walks around other parts of Stockton , hint , hint !!
Can anyone tell me where the actual gate is. Whilst in the Church yard where a number of volunteers were working on the grounds I asked, the answer was no one knew. They were in the garage of the vicarage, when the Vicar took ill the house was trashed and the gate vanished as far as the people I asked knew. They had been taken off for security reasons although if the gates could be found they could be secured against being lifted from their hinges. It would be a pity if they have vanished forever, part of the heritage gone.
If you look closely you can see the trademark mouse carved in the wood, the trademark of mouseman Thompson.
A lot of Norton people would like to know where the actual gates are now, they are missing and no one seems to know?
On one of the recent Norton history walks organised by the library service we were told that there are three mice on the gate but I could only find two of them !