The Catholic Church and Normanton Hall
The Catholic Church was erected in 1908 and was situated in Mill Lane. The Catholic school adjacent was erected in 1910 for the education of 80 children, a Convent and priest’s house being added later. The church was under the patronage of the Worswick family, who had their countryseat at Normanton Hall (now demolished), which lay outside Earl Shilton on the road to Thurleston. Father Grimes was the first priest. In the years prior to the church in Mill Lane being erected the Catholics worshipped in the private chapel of Normanton Hall.
During the 1914—18 War, German prisoners were interned at Normanton Hall. After its demolition, just after the war, it was a sad blow for the Catholics and to the whole neighbourhood as many were employed there.
The Convent was several times empty during the 1930s and 40s, but was reconditioned and used in the form of a “Seminary.” It was for some years also used as a hosiery factory.
A fire destroyed Normanton Hall in 1925, and the property was subsequently sold off. Shortly after the demolition of Normanton the altar, a magnificent piece of work, was presented to Earl Shilton’s St. Peter’s Church in Mill Lane. A fire, in the 1940s, destroyed part of this building, but fortunately not damaging the altar. Father Barry-Doyle, a former priest, and a well-known elocutionist, greatly delighted local audiences with his poetry and monologues during his stay at Normanton.
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