Narford Norfolk Family History Guide
Narford is an Ancient Parish in the county of Norfolk.
Alternative names:
Parish church: St. Mary
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1596
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1692
Nonconformists include: Primitive Methodist
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
- East Walton
- South Acre
- Pentney
- West Acre
- Narborough
- Swaffham
Parish History
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
NARFORD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Swaffham, hundred of South Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 4¾ miles (N. W.) from Swaffham; containing 113 inhabitants, and comprising 2396a. 3r. 35p.
The place seems to have been a Roman station, from the bricks, urns, and other relics that have been discovered. Narford Hall was built by Sir Andrew Fountaine, vice-chamberlain to Queen Caroline (consort of George II.), and the companion of Pope, Swift, and their literary society; he enriched the mansion with a collection of antiquities, paintings, and curiosities, which has been considerably increased by the present proprietor.
The park, in which the church is picturesquely situated, contains some very fine timber, and a beautiful lake 60 acres in extent, well stocked with trout.
The village, on the north of which runs the river Nar, is said to have been a mile long in the time of William the Conqueror; and in the reign of Edward III. Sir Thomas de Narford obtained for it a market and two fairs, long since fallen into disuse.
The living is a discharged vicarage, united to the living of Narburgh, and valued in the king’s books at £6. 13. 4.; appropriator, the Bishop of Ely. The great tithes have been commuted for £185, and the vicarial for £144. 17.
Brigge Fountaine, Esq., a translator of Don Quixote, was a native of the parish, and dying in 1825, in the 82nd year of his age, was buried here.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Administration
- County: Norfolk
- Civil Registration District: Swaffham
- Probate Court: Court of the Archdeaconry of Norfolk
- Diocese: Norwich
- Rural Deanery: Cranwich
- Poor Law Union: Swaffham
- Hundred: South Greenhoe
- Province: Canterbury