Place:Woodbastwick, Norfolk, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Woodbastwick is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is located on the River Bure between Cockshoot Broad and Salhouse Broad, within The Broads and close to Bure Marshes NNR (national nature reserve). The city of Norwich lies 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the southeast.

The village name comes from to "bast", a pliable substance found under the bark of the lime tree. Danish and Saxon invaders used bast as a form of binding to tie leggings and other items. As a consequence, Woodbastwick's village sign shows two invaders tying their leggings.

Woodbastwick is an attractive village with thatched houses and the church of St Fabian & St Sebastian, also thatched, set around a village green. The Woodforde Broadland Brewery is located in the village and produces cask ales.

The civil parish has an area of 19.04 km2 (7.35 sq mi) and in the 2001 UK census had a population of 362 in 157 households, increasing to a population of 399 in 168 households at the 2011 UK census. In 1935 Woodbastwick parish was enlarged when it absorbed the parish of Ranworth with Panxworth which was abolished.

For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the Broadland District. Woodbastwick Hall is the seat of the descendants of John Cator (1728-1806).

Research Tips

• GENUKI provides a list of references for Woodbastwick. Some entries lead to free online transcriptions of registers and censuses.
• GENUKI also supplies a map illustrating the individual parishes of Walsham 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:

• 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..