Emneth, Norfolk Genealogy

England Norfolk  Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
EMNETH (St. Edmund), a parish, in the union of Wisbech, hundred of Freebridge-Marshland, W. division of Norfolk, 2½ miles (S. E. by E.) from Wisbech. Emneth St Edmund is an Ancient parish in the Diocese of Norwich historically but became part of the Diocese of Ely.It is in the Wisbech Lynn marshland Deanery and is combined with another parish to form the parish of Emneth and Marshland St James.

The former church of St James Marshland St James was declared redundant and became a private house.

A medieval church with later restoration. The earliest mention of Emneth is in documents dating back to 1170 giving proof that a village was settled in the parish by this date. The parish church of Saint Edmund's was built in the 12th century and extended dramatically in the 13th century. It remains a large and imposing building. Other building from the medieval period which stood in the parish have been demolished. Hagbeach Hall a medieval hall was demolished in 1887, although its 17th century stables remain and have been converted into houses. The medieval hall on the site of 17th century Oxburgh Hall was also demolished when the new hall was built. Other buildings have disappeared. Emneth was also recorded in a document in 1389 but his documents location has since been lost. Other sites have lost their names and sense of importance. A medieval moated site has been recorded and a seal used by Pope Innocent III to secure documents was found there along with other finds which included a medieval seals matrices, a horse harness pendant and medieval coins. Within the parish other more Domestic sites with less status have also been identified. Medieval hearths were excavated along with many medieval finds including pottery, coins and personal objects. These include a spectacular strap end with the initials S and J. The number of items recovered at this site suggests that this was an area of substantial medieval settlement.

Emneth or Emneth Hungate may take its name It is from old English and therefore probably has Saxon origins, and may have the meanings of smooth meadow, junction of streams on the River Aemenan, river confluence belonging to Eana or mowing grass meadow. The Hungate suffix suggests this area may have been associated with the keeping or rearing of hounds. The village is not mentioned in the Domesday Book. This may well be because the village was valued with another parish and not named. There is evidence for activity in the parish from the Roman period and metal detectorists have found many medieval and post medieval finds.

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.


 * Wisbech 1837-1938
 * Freebridge Lynn 1938
 * King's Lynn 1939-1974

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

This parish does not appear in Historic record Collection ( formerlyRecord Search) as microfilm for the parish is not held.

Census records


Poor Law Unions
Wisbech http://www.workhouses.org.uk/index.html?Wisbech/Wisbech.shtml

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

 * Emneth on GenUKI