Place:North Lopham, Norfolk, England

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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

North Lopham is a civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England. It covers an area of 8.17 km2 (3.15 sq mi) and had a population of 623 in 255 households at the 2011 UK census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the District of Breckland.

History

The earliest known building within the parish was a Roman villa located in the east of the village. This was discovered through Roman materials, such as pottery, and coins being found as a result of ploughing and metal detecting.

During the 16th century, North Lopham was noted for the production of fine linen from locally grown flax, as was common in the areas surrounding Thetford and Diss at the time. This production continued through the 17th and 18th centuries. Yet, this successful industry faced competition from high volume machinery located in textile towns [not defined]. As a result, North Lopham's last production of linen was in 1910. In 1831, the parish had a population of 807 and contained a total of 121 houses.

In 1834, North Lopham became part of the Guiltcross Union which consisted of a total of eleven workhouses within the rural sanitary districts of Wayland, Thetford and Depwade. A workhouse was erected in North Lopham in 1836.

In 1881, the main industry of the parish was agriculture, with 29% of the population of 674 working within this sector. Census data for the parish dates back to 1801, with the earliest figure for population being 588. The population decreased from 832 in 1851 to 461 in 1961. The population was at its lowest in parish history in 1961. The overall trend for the parish population is a gradual decrease until 1961, followed by an increase to 623 in 2011.

Within North Lopham, there are a total of seventeen properties which are on the National Heritage List including the grade one listed St. Nicholas's church and the grade two listed Wesleyen Chapel.

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for North Lopham. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• GENUKI also supplies a map illustrating the individual parishes of Guiltcross Hundred. Parishes labelled with letters should be identifiable from the Ordnance Survey Map of 1900.
• North Lopham village website. More detail on linen production amongst other topics.
• 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.