About Village Sign Caches
This cache belongs to the Village Sign Series, a series of caches based on ornate signs that depict the heritage, history and culture of the villages that put them up (generally on the village green!).
The signs can be made of different materials from fibreglass to wood, from forged steel to stone. They can depict anything from local industry to historical events. The tradition probably started in Norfolk or Suffolk and has now spread across most of the country so we thought we would base a series on them!
More information and statistics can be found at the Village Signs Website
Normanton Village Sign
Since there is neither Pub nor Church in Normanton, it's perhaps more accurately a hamlet than a village, part of Bottesford Parish, situated at the topmost of the Leicestershire panhandle nestling in between Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
Although only shown as 'Normanton' on maps, the sign states 'Normanton by Bottesford' to differentiate it from several other 'Normanton' settlements around Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire.
The sign illustrates the farming community the hamlet is based around, the old WWII RAF Bottesford airfield which abuts up to the community to the East (the only operational Bomber airfield in Leicestershire during WWII), Bottesford St Mary's church spire and the Millennium Beacon atop Beacon Hill.
The female figure in the bottom corner is 'The Fair Maid of Normanton'. Although not a recognised member of the Belvoir Castle family, legend has it she is supposed to have been a somewhat ‘flighty’ member of the household and on account of this lay in the churchyard until 1905 when she was brought inside and now lays in the South Aisle of St Mary's, Bottesford. Another suggestion is that this stone may have lain at a long since gone church in Normanton.
The picture of the sign is cut from a steel plate, so shows a reverse image if viewed from the other side.
Situated on the only bend in the community, there is no parking at ground zero. However ample roadside parking is available nearby.
Please park sensibly, not on the bend!
If anybody would like to expand the Village Sign Series, please do. I would ask that you contact www.villagesignseries.co.uk so they can keep track of the Village Sign numbers and names to avoid duplication.