Place:Worthing, Norfolk, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Worthing from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1871-72:

"WORTHING, a parish in Mitford [registration] district, Norfolk; 1½ mile S of Elmham [railway] station. Post town: Elmham, under Thetford. Acres: 690. Real property: £1,036. Population: 170. Houses: 34. The manor belongs to the Rev. H. Lombe. The living is a rectory, annexed to Swanton-Morley. The church is good."

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

Worthing is a small village and former civil parish in Norfolk, England.

Its church, dedicated to St. Margaret, is one of 124 extant round-tower churches in Norfolk. Once a larger building, the upper section of the round tower was removed in the 18th-century, and the chancel was demolished at a date between 1721 and 1820. What remains is the original nave, and the lower section of the tower, together with the small porch.

The Wymondham to Wells Branch of the Great Eastern Railway passes through the village. The branch line was operational from 1847 until 1989 (freight only for the final twenty years). North Elmham railway station is located in Worthing, but is named after the larger village of North Elmham itself, although that community is geographically further away from the station.

The Mid-Norfolk Railway operates a "heritage railway" service to a location near to the village, just a few yards to the north of Worthing level crossing.

Apart from the church and the railway, local community facilities--public houses, village store, blacksmiths, and fishmongers--have all closed, as have employers including the gravel pits and the tannery which provided much employment during the twentieth century have also ceased operation.

The civil parish was merged with that of the parish of Hoe in 1935.

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for Worthing. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• A map illustrating the individual parishes of Launditch 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.