Place:Diss, Norfolk, England

Watchers
NameDiss
Alt namesDisssource: from redirect
Dicesource: Domesday Book (1985) p 188
Diss Commonsource: settlement in parish
Diss Heywoodsource: settlement in parish
Diss-Heywoodsource: hyphenated
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish, Urban district
Coordinates52.383°N 1.117°E
Located inNorfolk, England
See alsoDiss Hundred, Norfolk, Englandhundred in which it was located
South Norfolk District, Norfolk, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Diss is a market town and electoral ward in Norfolk, England, close to the border with the neighbouring county of Suffolk, with a population of 7,572 in the UK census of 2011. Diss railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line, which runs from London to Norwich.

The town lies in the valley of the River Waveney, around a mere (or lake) that covers 6 acres (2.4 ha). The mere is up to 18 feet (5.5 m) deep, although there is another 51 feet (16 m) of mud.

The town takes its name from dic, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning either "ditch" or "embankment". Diss has a number of historic buildings, including an early 14th-century parish church, and a museum.

It was an urban district from 1894 until 1974 when it joined the non-metropolitan South Norfolk District.

History

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Diss#History. This is a long article covering a number of people and places from the Conquest up to the mid 19th century.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Diss from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"DISS, a town, a parish, a [registration] sub-district, and a hundred, in Norfolk. The town stands on the river Waveney, at the boundary with Suffolk, ½ a mile W of the Eastern Union railway, and 19½ SSW of Norwich. It chiefly occupies an acclivity, encompassed by a large sheet of water; presents an airy and prosperous appearance; and has a head post office, a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, two chief inns, a corn exchange, a parish church, six dissenting chapels, and charities £187. The corn exchange was built in 1854; and is handsome and commodious. The church is early English, good and beautiful. A cemetery, with two chapels, was formed in 1869. Markets are held on Fridays; fairs on the 3d Friday of Sept., and 8 Nov.; and there are manufactures of brushes, cocoa-matting, and malt liquors. Ralph De Diceto, dean of St. Paul's in the time of Henry II., Friar Walter, confessor to the Duke of Lancaster, and John Skelton, poet laureate to Henry VIII., were natives. Population: 3,164. Houses: 669.
"The parish comprises 3,627 acres. Real property: £14,134; of which £235 are in canals. Population: 3,710. Houses: 785. The property is much subdivided. The manor belonged anciently to the Crown; and was given by Edward I. to the Fitzwalters. Diss Common has a post office under Diss; and Diss-Heywood has a chapel-school, built in 1865. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. Value: £715. Patron: the Rev.R. Manning." [Description of the sub-district and the hundred omitted.]

Research Tips

  • 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.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Diss. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.