Glandford St Martin, Norfolk Genealogy

England   Norfolk   Norfolk Parishes



Parish History
Glandford St Martin, on Hurdle Lane, is an Ancient Parish in the Holt deanery in the Diocese of Norwich and also a village that has cottages for the Bayfield Estate workers. The village of Glandford also contains a water-mill, and a ford and footbridge over the Glaven river. It is part of the Glaven Valley which includes Letheringsett, Bayfield, Blakeney, Cley-next-Sea and Wiveton. In far-off days the ford was important because the road was 'the King's highway'; the crossings down-stream were impassable when the tide was in." During the Middle Ages Cley-next-the-Sea had the biggest church and was one of the principal ports of East Anglia, exporting large quantities of wool and grain. This was important to Glandford because Glandford was navigable via the river Glaven to large ships from where the River Glaven ran into the sea a half mile north west of Cley. This watercourse, on old maps, was called the Thyrn.



Today the Civil Parish of Letheringsett with Glandford covers all of what were the ancient parishes of Glandford and Bayfield on the 1851 England Jurisdiction map. Both the Glanford Parish Church (St. Martins) and a Bayfield Parish Church (St. Margarets) are found on Bayfield Hall and its Estate. Both churches were ancient parishes, and both ended up in a ruins condition. However, in about 1882 Sir Alfred Jodrell, Baronet, inherited the estate and set about rebuilding the Glandford Parish (and also contributing to some other parishes) but he did not rebuild the ruins of the Bayfield St Margarets church, which, even today, remains in ruins. (Map that illustates this.)

The Archdeacon Transcripts 1600-1812 for Glandford never mention Bayfield from the years 1600-1731, but rather always label themselves “Glandford”. Then in 1732 the Archdeacons Transcripts label the bill as “Glandford Cum Bayfield Holt Hundred.”

In 1730 it was reported that the church was in ruins.

"The living is a perpetual Curacy, united to the Rectoires of Little Langham and Cockthorpe (these two latter were consolidated November 13th, 1606), and with Blakeney on January 14th, 1743." Glandford becoming a chapelry of Blakeny in the mid 1700s is consistent, with the marriage registers (housed at NRO) for which the catalog entries normally said “Bayfield with Glandford”, but for the mid 1700s say “with Blakeney”.

The Glandford Archdeacon Transcripts continued until 1812, but the number of entries dwindled until there were only 2-3 entries per year; with entries in 1779 and 1781 listing children baptized in the “Blackney” church.

In 1850 the Glandford chancel was restored.

In 1829 Sir Alfred "started to build a good house for every farm tenant and for every family then in the rather poor cottages in the village. At the time there were eighteen dwelling in Glandford, some of them over the river on the east side. A memorial board in the church records contains the names and trades of the craftsman (bricklayers, stonemasons, carpenters, carvers and helpers) who rebuilt the Glandford Parish under the direction of Sir Alfred.

In 1915 Sir Alfred built the building that became the Glandford Sea Shell Museum. "His sisters arranged the exhibits which had been in boxes in Bayfield Hall. Visitors to the museum were to be charge two pence wich would go to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital".

In 1922 Glandford became part of Wiveton with Glandford, Norfolk. Then in 2001, Glandford became part of Letheringsett, Norfolk.

In 2012 the Glandford Art Cafe opened and there is a permissive footpath between it and the Glanford Ford, which is up by the Parish Church and Shell Museum. The footpath runs along the River Glaven and when it comes out at the Ford it is near where the old homes were for the Bayfield Estate workers.

Timeline

1086 Called Glanforda in Domesday Survey. "It [Glandford] was a hamlet to the King's Manor of Snitterley [aka Blakeney]."

1167 St Martin's Glandford "belonged to Peter de Mealton, and passed on the death of Jeffrey de constable, a descendant of his, to his three sisters and co-heirs...From this family it passed to the Bacons, Sir John Bacon being lord in 1340.

1392 "Sir Bartholomew Bacon died possessed of it [St Martin's, Glandford], and his sisster Isabel, wife of Sir Oliver calthorp, was his heiress. She left it to her second son richard Calthorp, Esq., in which branch it continued till James Calthorp, Esq".

1558/1603 "..in Elizabethan times the Astleys of Melton were also lords of Blakeney, Glandford and Langham, which they sold to the Calthorpe family."

1600 Starting in 1600, Archdeacons and Bishops Transcripts (chr, marr, bur) survive. See NRO or https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1824688.

1603 "There were in Blakeney cum Capella de Glanford, 280 communicants and no Recusants."

1628 A part of Glandford belonging to the Beales family passed to the Calthorp's, and united with the existing moiety of the Calthorps.

1637 James Calthorp sold their part to Sir Hy. Calthorp, Kt., of Ampton, Suffolk.

1655 Starting in 1655, chr and bur registers survive. Refered to as Glandford with Bayfield. Available at NRO.

1657 Starting in 1657, marr survive. Available at NRO (Glandford with Bayfield) to 1745.

1710 Church in the village of Glandford in decent repair.

1730 Church in the village of Glandford reported as in ruins.

1732 For the first time, the Glandford Archdeacon Transcripts cites itself as "Glandford with Bayfield". Prior to this each transcript bill was labeled "Glandford".

1743 Glandford a chapelry of Blakeney. Lord of Glandford was James Calthorp, but after passed to the Jodrell family.

1745 Marr registers at NRO now say "with Blakeney"

1820 Enclosure Act, 1820. Blakeney, Wiveton, Glandford. (Available Norfolk Public Library Control No. NL00019920.

1824 J B Ladbrooke drawing of Glandford Parish church shows the church in ruins.

1839 Letheringsett (St. Andrew's) Parish register has baptism entry for a child whose parents abode was listed as Letheringsett, but references Glandford as an addendum to the mothers name. (Style of entry doesn't suggest illligetimacy.)

1840 Church at Glandford partially rebuilt.

1875 Glandford St Martins Church partially rebuilt.

1880 "A watercolour of about 1880 shows the chancel with a temporary roof so that Sunday services could be held."

1882 "Bayfield Hall and its Estate, which encompasses much of the land in and around the village of Glandford, was inherited in 1882 by the late Sir Alfred Jodrell, Baronet. Sir Alfred was a gentleman of great generosity who set about almost entirely rebuilding the village"--with the exception of one original farmhouse and a few cottages. It is also curious that Jodrell restored Glandford and contributed to Saxlingham and Salle parishes, he didn't restore St. Margarets Church which was also on his Bayfield estate. There used to be some cottages "on the east bank of the Glaven river. These wre dismantled when the fine new cottages were built near the main road for the Bayfield Estate workers.

1922 Glanford now part of Wiveton.

By 2001 part of Letheringsett with Glandford CP

Resources
If you live in Norfolk or near Blakeney then you will have access to a variety of resources; however, for those who live further afield, one can access online records at FamilySearch and other sites mentioned on this page. Additional records (microfilm and online) can be viewed at Family History Centers. Refer to and  in the Family History Library Catalog for available records.

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

As of 4 April 2013 this parish does not appear in FamilySearch's record collection index (search feature). The FHL has one microfilm of Glandford Parish records (see below) and that has been converted to digital format, but not yet indexed. Be aware, that even when it is indexed, the time covered is limited. See the Norfolk Record Office (NRO) link to locate materials covering extended dates.

Norfolk Record Office reference PD 677

"England, Norfolk Archdeacon's Transcripts, 1600-1812." Images. FamilySearch. There many missing years in this collection. Missing years include: 1605-1606, 1609-1622, 1624-1635, 1637-1665, 1669-1671, 1676-1677, 1681, 1684-1685, 1689-1691, 1693-1695, 1698-1705, 1707-1709, 1711-1712, 1715-1720, 1722-1730, etc.

A list of families with altar tombs in the Glandford Parish Church graveyard is found on page 16 of Bryant's Churches of Norfolk.

Civil Registration
post 1837 registration events may be searched online at Free BMD


 * Erpingham 1837-1935
 * Glandford with Letheringsett 1935-1938
 * North Walsham 1939-1974

Poor Law Unions
Erpingham Union

Norfolk Poor Law Unions

Probate Jurisdictions
Norfolk Probate Jurisdictions Parishes G through H

Maps

 * George, Wilfrid. Footpath map of Holt : with Cley and Blakeney (contain Glandford, Letheringsett) ISBN NL00146942. See Norfolk Public Library.

Web Sites

 * Glandford on GenUKI
 * Glandford St Martin on A Church Near You
 * Glandfordon Glaven Valley Benefice
 * Glandford on Norfolk Churches
 * British History online
 * Norfolk Baptism Project