Place:Bawburgh, Norfolk, England

Watchers
NameBawburgh
Alt namesBauenbucsource: Domesday Book (1985) p 186
Bauenburcsource: Domesday Book (1985) p 186
TypeParish (ancient), Civil parish
Coordinates52.619°N 1.186°E
Located inNorfolk, England
See alsoForehoe Hundred, Norfolk, Englandhundred in which it was located
Forehoe Rural, Norfolk, Englandrural district in which it was located 1894-1935
Forehoe and Henstead Rural, Norfolk, Englandrural district in which it was located 1935-1974
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 copied from an article in Wikipedia

Bawburgh is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England, lying in the valley of the River Yare about west of Norwich city centre. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 466, increasing to 595 at the 2011 census. Bawburgh is very close to the relatively new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the Bowthorpe Estate.

The name is first recorded as Bauenburc in 1086 and is from Old English 'stronghold of a man called Beawa.'

The mill at the centre of the village was the original site of the manufacture of Colman's mustard.

There is a pub called The King's Head.

Bawburgh is a significant location in the legend of St Walstan, the 10th-11th century patron saint of farm labourers. According to legend, Walstan was born at Bawburgh (or possibly Blythburgh in Suffolk) into a Saxon noble family circa 970, but at the age of 12 gave up his privileged life, choosing instead to work as a farm labourer in Taverham. His initial journey on foot from Bawburgh to Taverham took Walstan through Costessey, where he donated his noble garments to two passing peasants. After many years, Walstan's imminent death was foretold by an angel and he asked a priest for the last rites; no water was available but a miraculous spring welled up on the spot. On his death, Walstan's body was returned to Bawburgh on a cart drawn by two white oxen. The oxen stopped at Costessey, where a second spring gushed forth and at Bawburgh, where a third spring appeared. St Walstan's Well at Bawburgh is the only one of the legendary springs that remains identifiable. Walstan's body was taken into the church and Bawburgh became the centre of a cult of pilgrimage, with several miracles recorded.

Research Tips

  • GENUKI provides a list of references for Bawburgh. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
  • GENUKI also supplies a map illustrating the individual parishes of Forehoe Hundred. Parishes labelled with letters should be identifiable from the Ordnance Survey Map of 1900.
  • 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.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Bawburgh. 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.