Hindringham, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk  Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
HINDRINGHAM (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Walsingham, hundred of North Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 3¾ miles (E. by S.) from Little Walsingha. There are places of worship for Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans.

Hindringham St Martin is an Ancient Parish in the Walsingham deanery of the Diocese of Norwich.

The name Hindringham means "The land of the people living behind the hills".Hindringham is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 were it is listed with the names of Hidringham, Hindringaham, and Indregeham

The Parish church is called Saint Martin and dates from the 14th century. The church stands prominent and tall behind a long line of red-roofed flint cottages. A wall separates the churchyard from the six foot drop to the road. The chancel is offset to the south against the nave. The font dates from the 15th century and is decorated with a Crucifixion, Instruments of the Passion and a Holy Trinity symbol along with heraldic shields. The church has an ancient chest which is thought to be one of the oldest in England, dating from the end of the 12th century. It is a Grade I listed building.

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.


 * Walsingham 1837-1938
 * Fakenham 1939-1974

The Register Office, Fakenham Connect, Oak Street, Fakenham, NR21 9SR. Tel: 01328 850111. E-mail: registration.fakenham@norfolk.gov.uk

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

Courtesy of Bill Atkins:


 * Transcriptions of Hindringham Baptisms: 1813-1846
 * Notes related to Hindringham Baptisms 1813-1846
 * Transcriptions of Hindringham Baptisms: 1891-1949
 * Transcriptions of Hindringham Banns: 1913-1959

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 565

Poor Law Unions
For more information on the history of the workhouse, see Peter Higginbotham's web site: www.workhouses.org.uk and http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Walsingham/Walsingham.shtml

Walsingham Union was incorporated under the terms of the 1834 Act, and the union workhouse was built at Great Snoring, but not completed until 1838. The Walsingham Union Workhouse at Great Snoring was opened in 1838. It was situated close to the boundary between the parishes of Great Snoring and Thursford and was sometimes known as Thursford Workhouse. Poor Law Unions were abolished in 1930 and the responsibilities of Walsingham Union Board of Guardians were taken over by Norfolk County Council Guardians' Committee No. 7. From 1930 the former Workhouse became known as Walsingham Public Assistance Institution. On 26 and 27 June 1934 the remaining thirty inmates (including two infants but no children) were transferred to West Beckham and Gressenhall Institutions and Walsingham Institution officially closed on 30 June 1934. The building was subsequently adapted for use as a smallpox hospital. By 1976 the building was derelict and was demolished in the early 1990s. Acquisition Received by the Norfolk Record Office on 26 February 1982 (C/GP 19/192-198) and on unknown dates.

Copies C/GP19/1-6, 131, 133-135, 137, 141, 143-146, 148, 150-151, 173-181 are on microfilm. RelatedMaterial For records of Guardians Committee No. 7 (including the administration of Red House Children's Home in Little Snoring and the boarding-out of children), see C/GC 7. See Public Assistance Sub-Committee minutes, 11 July 1934 and 12 September 1934, C/C 10/455. The records of the County Architect's Department include plans of the alterations for use as a smallpox hospital dated February 1937, see C/AR 1/29-31. The one inch to one mile Ordnance Survey Map of 1954 designates the building 'smallpox hospital'.

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: Hindringham on GenUKI
 * Hindringham St Martin on A Church Near You
 * Church of St Martin Hindringham on British Listed Buildings
 * British History online
 * Hindringham on Norfolk Churches website