Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk Genealogy

Guide to Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records. View and printout a Complete List of Norwich City Parishes, Chapels and District Churches

Parish History
Norwich Cathedral is dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Work began in 1096, and was completed by 1145. The Cathedral stands, within a close or precinct, about ¼ of a mile N E of the Castle, and about half that distance from the nearest part of the right bank of the river Wensum. It was founded, in 1096, by Bishop Herbert de Losinga; and was extended, embellished, altered, and repaired, by subsequent bishops and by wealthy families, till it attained completion solate as about 1500.

The pile, as it now stands, comprises a nave of fourteen bays with aisles, a transept of three bays in each wing, a central steeple, an apsidal sacristy on the N E side, a choir of four bays with aisles, an apsidal end, and a procession-path, three chapels on respectively the S side, the N E side, and the S E. The lady-chapel was 57¼ feet long and 36 1/3 feet wide.

The Beauchamp chapel, on the S side, is now the Consistory court; Jesus' chapel, on the N E side, is used by the Bishop; and St. Luke's chapel, on the S, is now used as the parish church of St. Mary-in-the-Marsh.

A bishop's chapel 130 feet by 30, of decorated English date, are in the palace gardens. The Cathedral precinct comprehends the Upper Close, the Lower Close, Life's Green, and 15½ acres of garden ground; forms the peculiar jurisdiction of the dean and chapter, together with the parish of St. Mary-in-the-Marsh; and communicates with the city through three gates, called the Erpingham, St. Ethelbert's, and St. Martin's.

Further reading:


 * A. D. Bayne, A Comprehensive History of Norwich.(Paternoster Row, London : Jarrold and Sons, 1869)

Find Neighboring Parishes
Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map
 * Type the name of the parish in the search bar
 * Click on the location pin on the map
 * Choose Options from the pop up box
 * Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes

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.

Church Records
The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor. Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England
Chapelry is a church or churches built in a large ecclesiastical parish to help the members attend worship services closer to their homes.

Online Parish Records Table

Due to the increasing access of online records: Hover over the collection's title for more information Other Websites These databases have incomplete parish coverage.
 * Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
 * Dates in the following table are approximate
 * Joiner Marriage Index - Norfolk ($)
 * The Genealogist Parish Registers - Norfolk ($)
 * Norfolk Transcription Archive
 * UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
 * Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records
 * Tinstaafl Baptism Project 1813 to 1880

Non-Conformist Churches (All other Religions)

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images (coverage may vary)
 * 1613-1901 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

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

Websites

 * Norfolk: Norwich on GenUKI
 * http://www.cathedral.org.uk/historyheritage/introduction-introduction.aspx
 * http://www.easterncathedrals.org.uk/norwich.html
 * http://www.norfolk-norwich.com/norwich/discovering-norwich/history-of-norwich.php