Guestwick, Norfolk Genealogy

England    Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes

Parish History
GUESTWICK (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Aylsham, hundred of Eynsford, E. division of Norfolk, 2½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Foulsham. The Independents have a place of worship.

Guestwick St Peter is an Ancient parish in the Diocese of Norwich.

Guestwick is a village [ and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 19.6 miles (31.5 km) south-west of Cromer, 18.7 miles (30.1 km) north-west of Norwich and 131 miles (211 km) north-east of London. The village lies 10.2 miles west of the nearby town of Aylsham. The village lies far from any major roads.

For the purpose of local government the civil parish is within the Broadland district.

The tower is part of the old Saxon church on the site; the remainder of the church was rebuilt in the 15th century and has subsequently been renovated.

In the Domesday Book, Guestwick is mentioned but as the settlement of Guistthwaithe and is described as an area of pasture land used by the people of the nearby village of Guist. By the beginning of the 11th century it has been recorded that the settlement had its own church and so had become independent.

Non-Conformist Chapel History


To the north of the church can be found the Guestwick's Congregational Chapel at Guestwick which is one of the earliest in England. It was built in 1652 but has been altered in 1809 and again in 1840. The one time minister John Godwin was the father of the political philosopher William Godwin and the grandfather of Mary Godwin who became Mary Shelley who is best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818).

The original timber framed chapel was replaced by the surviving brick built building which is now a private house.

See also Guestwick Chapel on Norfolk Churches =

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

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 5/ 1-4, 50

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

Non-Conformist Church Records
Church records for Guestwick Congregational Church, 1694-1854 Microfilm copy of original records in the Norfolk Record Office, Norwich, England.

Norfolk Record Office reference: FC 11/1. Guestwick Church Book, 1694-1854 With account of the congregation from 1652 and lists of members, record of births etc.

Baptisms and deaths, 1694-1854. FHL BRITISH Film 2299708 Item 2

Births, baptisms and burials at the Independent united congregations at Briston and Grestwick, Norfolk, 1786-1840

Microfilm of original records at the London Public Record Office, London. RG-4 series no. 1344

see also

England Nonconformist Index for RG 4-8 (Record Groups 4-8)

England Nonconformist Index for RG 4-8 (Record Groups 4-8) (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Poor Law Unions
Aylsham Poor Law Union

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: Guestwick on GenUKI
 * Parish Info
 * for listed building status
 * Guestwick on Norfolk Churches