Norton Hall

In the 12th century the estate was owned by Robert FitzRanulph, the Lord of Alfreton and Norton who funded the building of the nearby Beauchief Abbey.

In 1666 the Bullocks had severe monetary problems and the house and estate was sold to Cornelius Clarke who died childless and passed it on to his nephew Robert Offley.

The house was described as "a fine mansion with a spacious park", although the well known Norton sculptor Francis Chantrey described it as "Packing box with windows in".

The next owner was John Sudbury who occupied the hall until 1901 and he was followed by William Frederic Goodliffe, a hosiery manufacturer, who lived there for a year with wife Elizabeth, daughters Ellen and Ada and four servants.

[6] In 1925 Lieutenant-Colonel Firth donated the hall to the four main voluntary hospitals in Sheffield, he also sold them 112 acres of land for £25,000.

The unit could house 45 antenatal and fever cases and there was a special open air ward for the treatment of puerperal sepsis.

[7] When the Norton estate was broken up and sold in 1925 by Lieutenant-Colonel Firth, 154 acres were purchased by Councillor John George Graves and presented to Sheffield Corporation as a gift to the City of Sheffield for use as a public park, it was named Graves Park, the largest in the city.

In 1976, 22 acres of agricultural land which had previously been part of the Norton estate and stood close to the hall was acquired to create the Graves Park Animal Farm.

[10] The stables stand 200 metres to the north east and are built of ashlars and coursed rubble with a hipped stone slate roof.