Norcott is is a manor in the parish of Northchurch and is first recorded as "Northcote" in 1300, as "Northcoterowe" in 1357 and as "Norcothill" in 1565. The history of the manor is described online in detail in the Northchurch section of the Victoria County History. In or shortly before 1597 the manor was divided into Norcott Court and Norcott Hill with the old manor house being at Norcott Court. The detail of Dury and Andrews' 1766 map of Hertfordshire (left) is the first to show them both clearly.

Bryant's 1822 map appears to be somewhat more accurate in that the roads/tracks shown are closer to the arrangement of modern public roads and footpaths.

Neither of these maps indicate which buildings are inhabited and which were farm buildings - but the 1841 census clearly indicates that there were only four inhabited buildings in the area. Norcot Hill Farm was occupied by James Chennels, a 35 year old farmer, with his wife, three children, four agricultural labourers (it was common to have live-in farm workers in the early part of the 19th century) and one female domestic servant. Norcott Court was clearly a posher place. The occupier was a 55 year old physician, Thomas Drevers, and the household included four female domestic servants and a page - but also three farm servants. In addition there were two cottages somewhere on Northchurch Common occupied by agricultural labourers.

A check on Post Office / Kelly's trade directories provides a list of occupants of Norcott Hill Farm, and the following extract from the 1884 1:2500 Ordnance Survey (available from Old Maps) shows the building layout, and clearly shows that Norcott Hall had not been built.

The map shows that the general arrangement of buildings around a courtyard was present in 1884, and the farm house and older farm buildings can clearly be identified in the modern photographs. The 1901 census shows that there was just the farm at Norcott Hill and it would seem that Norcott Hill Farm continued to be farmed by the Ashby family until the late 1920s.