Helhoughton, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes



Parish History
HELOUGHTON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Walsingham, hundred of Gallow, W. division of Norfolk, 4¼ miles (S. W. by W.) from Fakenham.

Helhoughton All Saints is an Ancient parish in the Diocese of Norwich.

The name Helhoughton is thought to drive from a mixture of Old English and Old Scandinavian and has the meaning farmstead of a man named Helgi.

Much of this church dates from the mediaeval period. The building is constructed from flint and stone with some brick dressings. The roof is of slate with the tower having a leaded roof. The chancel dates from the 14th century and has two bays. The tower is at the western end of the church and dates from the 15th century. The nave dates from the late 18th century when most of it was rebuilt. Inside the church there is a stone octagonal font attached to its base by 5 shafts with chamfered corners and rounded spurs. The bowl is also octagonal. Within the chancel there are two decorated windows with a priest's door in between them. On the eastern elevation there is also a decorated window under brick arch with drip moulds and tracery. The west door is perpendicular with a double hollow chamfered four-centred arch and fleurons and ball flower decoration. The doors has six panels and with a gothic head and dates from 1790. On one wall can be seen an early 17th century Stuart Royal Arms, but with AR (Anna Regina) monogram, which has been relettered at some point for Queen Anne from James I, whose motto, Exurgat Deus et Dissipentur Inimici ('Rise up o God and put down my enemies') has not been altered and dates this coat of arms to 1706.

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:

Images of the parish register are available at FamilySearch Historical Records Norfolk Record Office reference PD 368/1-9

Baptisms transcripts Norfolk Baptisms Project

Census records
a. {British Census|438859}}

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: Helhoughton on GenUKI
 * Helhoughton All Saints on A Church Near You
 * Helhoughton on British Listed Buildings
 * Helhoughton on Norfolk Churches