Place:Castle Acre, Norfolk, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Castle Acre is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated on the River Nar some 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the town of Swaffham. It is 15 miles (24 km) east of the town of King's Lynn, 33 miles (53 km) west of the city of Norwich, and 103 miles (166 km) from London.

The village is best known today for the twin ruins of Castle Acre Castle and Castle Acre Priory, which lie immediately to the east and west of the village respectively. Both were founded soon after the Norman Conquest by William de Warenne, the first Earl of Surrey. At its heyday, Castle Acre played an important role in the affairs of the State, with many visits from royalty. Castle Acre itself was once a fortified town and still possesses one of its gates, the Bailey Gate. When first established, Castle Acre was one of the finest examples of Norman town planning in the country, and much of this can still be seen.

The civil parish has an area of 13.18 km2 (5.09 sq mi) and in the 2001 UK census had a population of 799 in 370 households, the population increasing to 848 at the 2011 UK census. The parish shares boundaries with the adjacent parishes of Rougham, Great Massingham, West Acre, South Acre, Newton-by-Castle Acre and West Lexham. The parish falls within the District of King's Lynn and West Norfolk.

The village lies some 0.5 miles (0.80 km) west of the A1065 Mildenhall to Fakenham road, but is clearly visible from the road. The hamlet of Fiddler's Green lies to the northeast of the village and is redirected here.

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for Castle Acre. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• A map illustrating the individual parishes of Freebridge Lynn Hundred may be useful.
• GENUKI also advises that the following lists for Norfolk are to be found in FamilySearch:

• England, Norfolk, Parish Registers (County Record Office), 1510-1997
• England, Norfolk Archdeacon's Transcripts, 1600-1812
• England, Norfolk Bishop's Transcripts, 1685-1941
• England, Norfolk Marriage Bonds, 1557-1915
• England, Norfolk Non-conformist Records, 1613-1901

• Ancestry.co.uk has the following lists as of 2018 (UK or worldwide Ancestry membership or library access required). With the exception of the index to wills these files are browsible images of the original documents. The files are separated by type and broken down into time periods (i.e., "Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812" is more than one file). The general explanatory notes are worth reading for those unfamiliar with English parish records.

• Index to wills proved in the Consistory Court of Norwich : and now preserved in the District Probate Registry at Norwich
• Norfolk, England, Bishop's Transcripts, 1579-1935
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1915
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Deaths and Burials, 1813-1990
• Norfolk, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1940

• FindMyPast is another pay site with large collection of parish records. As of October 2018 they had 20 types of Norfolk records available to browse including Land Tax Records and Electoral Registers.