Place:Letton, Norfolk, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Letton is a village and former civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated near Shipdham and is about 5 miles southwest of East Dereham.

The main building in Letton is Letton Hall a Grade II listed building now used mainly as a religious holiday centre. The property was owned for many centuries by the Gurdon family. The parish of Letton is now incorporated within the parish of Cranworth. The former church of All Saints is now a ruin.

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

"LETTON, a parish in Mitford [registration] district, Norfolk; at the source of the river Blackwater, 4 miles W of Thuxton [railway] station, and 5 SSW of East Dereham. Post town: Shiphdam, under Thetford. Acres: 1,274. Real property: £1,907. Population in 1851: 150; in 1861: 111. Houses: 24. The property, with Letton Hall, belongs to B. Gurdon, Esq. The living is a rectory, annexed to the rectory of Cranworth, in the diocese of Norwich. There is no church."

Research Tips

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