Horning, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
HORNING, a village and a parish in Tunstead district, Norfolk. The village stands on the river Bure, 5½ miles NNE of Brundall. Horning St Benedict is an Ancient parish in the Diocese of Norwich and includes Holme and Cowholme.

Parts of the church hint at earlier churches on the site as far back as the 13th century but the church today was a result of Victorian renovation.

In the heart of the Norfolk Broads and one of the pleasure boating centres of tourism Horning is a popular church.

Horning was once called Horningham and means the "folk who live on the high ground between the rivers". Its history dates back to 1020 when the manor was given by King Canute to the newly founded Abbey of St Benet. In 1642 Horning was sold to a London merchant, who felled 400 acres of oak woodland, known as Horning Great Wood. In 1658 Horning was sold again, this time to a London haberdasher. In 1660 came the Restoration of the monarchy and the Bishop took control. To this the day, the Bishop of Norwich as Abbot of St. Benet's is still Lord of the Manor.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.


 * Tunstead 1837-1869
 * Smallburgh 1870-1938
 * North Walsham 1939-1974

Church records
parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 692

This parish's registers do not appear on FamilySearch as no microfilm for the parish is held A search of the Family History Library Catalogue identifies the following Archdeacon's transcripts:

Census records
http://www.btinternet.com/~e.c.apling/1891Census/Horning.htm transcript of 1891 census

Poor Law Unions
For Tunstead and Happing see http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/england/norf/smallburgh_workhouse.htm

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Norfolk Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites

 * Norfolk: Horning on GenUKI
 * Horning St Benedict
 * Church of St Benedict Horning on British Listed Buildings
 * British History online
 * Horning on Norfolk Churches website