Normanby Walk - 3 miles (ca. 5 km)

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: Normanby walk leaflet

1. From the Parish Office, turn left along the High Street towards Scunthorpe.
2. Opposite the signpost “To Flixborough” note Avenue Cottage, the first house in Burton. Taxes used to be levied according to the number of windows in a dwelling, hence the replacement of the central upstairs one in Avenue Cottage with an imitation one.
3. A beech tree stands in the garden of the house on the left, one of the few remaining in The Avenue, which leads all the way to Normanby. See how many of the original trees you can find. At the junction of The Avenue with Wiltshire Avenue, note the small concrete obelisk, placed there in 1940 as a gun mounting, to be used to repel any possible invading enemy forces.
4. Rest on the “Irwin Barrow” memorial seat. The hedgerows here & opposite are the site for many wild flowers, including willow herb, hedge parsley & campion. In Springtime, the road into Burton is massed with daffodils planted by the local school children & members of the Women's Institute. Looking behind the seat, in the distance you can see the Humber Bridge, when built was the world's largest single-span suspension bridge.
5. Normanby is an attractive hamlet, the cottages pre-dating the houses. Local legend has it that no upstairs window should overlook the road, so that passing gentry could not be 'looked down upon' in their carriages.
6. Houses on the left carry insignia of the Sheffield family, the Boar's Head. Look for the one with a 'white eye' on one of the houses past the Estate Office. Dutch influence can be seen in the architecture of the Estate Office.
7. All Normanby once belonged to the Sheffield Estate, & the house at the rear of the new “Estate Yard” on the right, still has the old clock tower.
8. Straight ahead is the main entrance to Normanby Hall Country Park, which contains many walks and trails. There is a deer herd, peacocks and other very beautiful birds. The Hall itself is well worth visiting.
9. Follow the main road towards Scunthorpe. Just after the bend, turn right down a track, following the 'Public Footpath' sign. Turn right once more, heading back towards Burton.
10. Pass the new plantation on your left containing ash, beech, fir, hawthorn, oak, rowan, sycamore & white beam trees. You will see on your right substantial farm buildings & the stables of Normanby Estate Home Farm. At the turn of the 20th century, they were considered to be a showpiece.
11. Further along, to the right, you will see the gardens at the rear of Little Normanby House. At the end of the track, cross an open field towards a power pole, then proceed through a spinney on to the main road. Turn left to return to Burton upon Stather.

Normanby

The name means 'settlement of the North Men'. The Sheffield family moved from Castle Mulgrave in the Isle of Axholme to Normanby in 1627. The known Normanby was sited then between Alkborough & Burton upon Stather. Perhaps a later Normanby was within the Park. The large house in the Park did not become the main Sheffield family country home until 1835. The 'boar's head', which features on the coat of arms of the family is seen on several buildings and the one with the white eye resulted when a 'sand run' in the model occurred. Rather than remake it, the stonemason superimposed a new eye, the mixture of which dried out a startling white! The Old Estate Yard was once full of craftsmen - blacksmiths, stonemasons, carpenters and wheelwrights, working for the Sheffield family. The wrought iron gates leading into the Park are of great beauty & interest; Normanby being one of the few remaining 'Park Gate' villages.