Heydon, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
HEYDON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Aylsham, hundred of South Erpingham, E. division of Norfolk, 3½ miles (N. N. E.) from Reepham.

Heydon St Peter and St Paul is an an Ancient Parish in the diocese of Norwich.

The church is noted for the mediaeval wall paintings which were rediscovered in 1970.

The village is listed in the Domesday Book as "High-Down", and was home to a weekly market. Heydon also serves Irmingland parish which is also known as Ermingland.

Erasmus Earle, one of the most noted lawyers of his time, was lord of the manor in the early 17th century. The 19th century lord was William Earle Lytton Bulwer (1799–1877), elder brother of the author Edward Bulwer Lytton. The village is still owned by the Bulwer Long family, one of only around a dozen English villages that are entirely privately owned.

Heydon became Norfolk's first conservation area in 1971 and has won its Best Kept Village on two occasions. The village retains an old-fashioned character with no new buildings having been added since the Queen Victoria commemorative well was built in 1887.

The village is home to one pub, the Earle's Arms, and there is an Elizabethan hall, built in 1582 by Henry Dynne and extended in the late 18th and early 19th century.

Heydon, Norfolk, is an English village in the county of Norfolk and district of Broadland.

Heydon is about five miles north of Reepham, and has no through road, making it isolated except from the south. It consists of a large green, surrounded by picturesque houses and cottages.

Heydon is often used in television and film productions. The village was used as the setting for the Anglia Television soap opera Weaver's Green. Films partly shot in the village include The Go Between (1970), Riders (1993), Hitler's Britain (2002), Vanity Fair, The Woman in White, The Moonstone, The Peppermint Pig, and A Cock and Bull Story (2005).

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.


 * Aylsham 1837-1938
 * Norwich Outer 1939-1974
 * Norwich

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

Norfolk Record Office Parish Records of Heydon with Irmingland reference PD 435

Parish registers of Heydon, 1538-1911 Microreproduction of original records at the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.

Norfolk Record Office nos.: PD 435/1-7, 43. Early records in Latin.

Although Heydon and Irmingland were separate parishes, Irmlingland had no church, and the same rector, church and register served both parishes.

From 1785 to 1830, baptisms included the maiden name of the mother.

Baptisms, marriages and burials, 1538-1606, baptisms, 1607-1689, marriages, 1607-1694, burials, 1608-1689, 1607-1611, 1689-1693, baptisms, 1690-1698, marriages, 1695-1697, burials, 1695-1698; Baptisms, 1698-1784, marriages, 1698-1752, burials, 1698-1785; Baptisms and burials, 1785-1812; Baptisms, 1813-1911; Marriages and banns, 1755-1812, banns, 1755-1817, 1823; Marriages, 1813-1837; Banns, 1823-1904; Burials, 1814-1853. FHL BRITISH Film 2149111 Items 9 - 16 Burials (contd.), 1851-1901. FHL BRITISH Film 2149112 Item 1

Archdeacons transcripts Microfilm copies of original records in the Norfolk Record Office, Central Library, Norwich, Norfolk, England. Early entries in Latin.

Baptisms, burials and marriages 1599-1611, 1623-1633, 1664-1812 FHL BRITISH Film 1526780 Item 6

Census records
Index for the Census may be searched at FamilySearch Historical Records

Poor Law Unions
Aylsham Poor Law Union

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

Parish chest materials of Heydon and Irmingland, 1611-1861 Microreproduction of original records at the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich.

Norfolk Record Office nos.: PD 435/19-21, 26-27.

Although Heydon and Irmingland were separate parishes, Irmlingland had no church, and the same rector, church and register served both parishes.

Rates, which are taxes, are determined by property valuation, therefore church and poor rates list owners and occupiers of properties. In some cases, they are listed alphabetically by surname.

Parish chest materials which are identified in these records as chiefly churchwardens' accounts and/or vestry minutes, can contain a variety of records including accounts, minutes, lists of parish officers, church and/or poor rates, payments made to the poor, lists of charities, donors to special collections, terriers (identification of parish boundaries and properties), description of church silver or plate, copies of wills and various other records pertaining to the history and life of the parish.

Churchwardens' accounts and rates, 1611-1688, 1807-1861; Vestry minutes, 1850-1861; Overseers' accounts and rates, 1670-1697, 1724-1758. FHL BRITISH Film 2149112 Items 2 - 6

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: Heydon on GenUKI
 * Irmingland on GenUKI
 * Heydon St Peter St Paul on A Church Near You
 * British History online
 * for church record transcript information and photographs
 * Norfolk Churches website
 * for film locations in the village