Robert Norman acquired a land grant for section 1031 in 1849 and established a vineyard and subsequently built a house and a chapel on the land. The chapel had a vault where it was intended that family members would be buried. However, so the story goes, when Robert Norman's wife Sarah died in 1867 the vault was full of wine, and so she was buried in the vineyard, not far from the chapel.

When his son Lionel died in 1869 in Adelaide, his body was brought down to Normanville and was buried near his mother. Similarly, when Robert Norman died at his home in Adelaide in 1883 his body was conveyed to Normanville to be buried in the family cemetery, next to his wife and son. In 1983 a plaque was placed on this small piece of land to commemorate the centenary of Robert Norman's death.