Normanton on Soar (), formerly known as Normanton-upon-Soar and known locally as Normanton, is a village and civil parish in the Rushcliffe district of Nottinghamshire, England near the River Soar. This historic village is home to one of the last operating chain ferries in the country, the only lived in cruck building in Nottinghamshire and a 13th-century Grade I listed parish Church. Description Setting The ancient parish of Normanton on Soar occupies 1,449 acres about 13 miles south-west of Nottingham. Nearby villages include Zouch, Sutton Bonington, and Stanford on Soar. The post town for Normanton is Loughborough leading to the confusion of being in Nottinghamshire but with a Leicestershire post code. Normanton on Soar is situated in the Soar Valley (previously also known as the 'vale of the Soar'). The Parish is mostly made up of farmland, and contains seven farms. The village is situated along the River Soar and extends uphill north-eastwards towards East Leake. White's Directory of Nottinghamshire, written in 1853, describes Normanton thus: Normanton-On-Soar is a picturesque village and parish in the vale of the Soar, 13 miles south by west of Nottingham, bounded on the south by Leicestershire and on the north by the Wolds.John Throsby, writing during 1790 in his new edition of Robert Thoroton's Antiquities of Nottinghamshire, recalls his account when surveying Normanton: Shenstone [s]ung while I was viewing the [s]urrounding beauties.'How [s]weetly [s]miled the Hill, the Vale,'And all the Land[s]cape round!'The River gliding down the Dale,'The Hill with Beeches crown'd! Population The 1881 census reported that the village had 322 inhabitants. The village is now home to between 450 and 500 inhabitants. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 448. Lordship of the manor The Lordship of the Manor of Normanton on Soar is currently held since 1995 by John and Enid Burnett as Lord and Lady of the Manor of Normanton on Soar. The Official History Project of everything to do with the Parish is conducted under the direction of the Lord and Lady and the High Steward Ivan J Manning QStJ Esq. Toponymy Normanton appears several times in the Domesday survey of 1086 as Normantune and Normantun. The name, Normanton, derives from the Anglo-Saxon 'Northman's Tun' meaning Northman's Farm. It is believed to be first used sometime between AD 870 and 940. Heritage Listed buildings Normanton on Soar has a Grade I listed Church along with four