Place:Whitwell, Norfolk, England

Watchers
NameWhitwell
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates52.7462°N 1.0951°E
Located inNorfolk, England     ( - 1935)
See alsoEynesford Hundred, Norfolk, Englandhundred in which it was located
Aylsham Rural, Norfolk, Englandrural district in which it was located 1894-1935
Reepham, Norfolk, Englandcivil parish into which it was absorbed in 1935
Broadland District, Norfolk, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
source: Family History Library Catalog


Whitwell is located close to Reepham in what is now the Broadland District of Norfolk. As Wilson describes in his Gazetteer, in the nineteenth century it was a fair-sized village with industry in the form of tanneries. A look at a map of the time showed it to be very spread out. In 1935 it was absorbed into the town of Reepham along with Hackford and Kerdiston. The area is now so much part of Reepham that there is no article about the community in Wikipedia. There is an article about its railway station which has become a museum.

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

"WHITWELL, a parish in Aylsham [registration] district, Norfolk; 1 mile SSW of Reepham, and 7 E of Elmham [railway] station. Post town: Reepham, under Norwich. Acres: 1,511. Real property: £3,082. Population: 487. Houses: 103. The manor belongs to J. Collyer, Esq. [Whitwell] Hall is the seat of R. Leamon, Esq. There are two large tanneries. The living is a vicarage, annexed to Hackford. The church is old but good. Charities, £6."

Research Tips

  • The FamilySearch Wiki combines Whitwell with Hackford as it was a joint ecclesiastical parish. This article is useful as a finding aid rather than a description of the place.
  • The Ordnance Survey Map of Norfolk revised 1944 illustrates Reepham and the surrounding parishes which, by the time of the map, had been absorbed into the parish.
  • GENUKI refers the researcher to general references for Norfolk rather than a list for Whitwell. Some of these entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
  • GENUKI also advises that the following lists for Norfolk are to be found in FamilySearch:
  • 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.