Overstrand, Norfolk Genealogy

England

Norfolk

Norfolk Parishes

Overstrand

Guide to Overstrand, Norfolk ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Overstrand, Norfolk
Type	Ancient Parish
Civil Jurisdictions
Hundred	North Erpingham
County	Norfolk
Poor Law Union	Erpingham
Registration District	Erpingham
Records begin
Parish registers: 1558
Bishop's Transcripts: 1691
Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions
Rural Deanery	Repps
Diocese	Norwich
Province	Canterbury
Legal Jurisdictions
Probate Court	Court of the Archdeaconry of Norfolk
Location of Archive
Norfolk Record Office

Parish History

OVERSTRAND (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Erpingham, hundred of North Erpingham, E. division of Norfolk, 1¾ mile (S. E. by E.) from Cromer.

Overstrand St Martin is a rebuilt church on the site of a former Ancient parish in the Repps deanery of the Diocese of Norwich. Other places in the parish include Beck Hythe.

It is unclear exactly when the first church in Overstrand was built. There was no church recorded in 1086 and the first records in Edward I reign, have Roger de Eccleburgh was patron of the church dedicated to St.Martin providing a date of 1272 to 1307. As such it could be assumed that the church was built during that period.

We also know that it was one of the first recorded victims of local coastal erosion. Early accounts of Overstrand describe the topography as a parish extending for nearly two miles along the coast, comprising 400 acres of light and sandy soil which rises gradually from the shore and bounded on the south-west by a range of lofty hills.

Its position must have been very close to the shore as it was washed away and "swallowed up by the sea" in the late 14th century. There isno precise date for this but do know that it would have been after 1382 (as we have records of the rector Robert Madesone, for that date) and prior to or by 1399. John Reymes provided half an acre of land for a new churchyard before the end of September of 1399 and a licence was granted for the building of a new church probably between October and December of 1399.

The new churchyard was positioned where it is today. We know it was in use by 1432 and William Dolle was rector.

The church building originally consisted of an embattled perpendicular west tower, nave, and chancel with a porch and door on the north side. A small oven for baking wafers was added to the south wall of the tower. The windows bore the arms of the de Reymes, Calthorp, Felbrigg Le Gross and Pelham.

By the latter 18th century, St.Martin's was by all accounts in a state of disrepair and by 1845 was virtually a ruin, having only part of the nave used for service.

A new church was built and consecrated in 1867, and named Christ Church. This was built in the Early English style, of cut flint and stone, and consisted of a chancel, nave and north aisle.This then fell into disuse and disrepair.

By the beginning of the 20th century the little Church was proving inadequate for the summer congregations, so in 1911 it was decided to restore and enlarge the ancient Church of St. Martin. In spite of considerable opposition from the Society of Antiquaries (The English Heritage of the day) who wanted to preserve the old ruin. The old Church was restored with the addition of a North Aisle and transept and was re-dedicated on May 30th 1914 by the Lord Bishop of Norwich and once again became the Parish Church.

Lady Battersea gave the pair of antique Italian brass gondola lamps that hang in the Santuary and the lamp over the rector's stall. A forth lantern now hanging over the lay reader's desk together with the wrought iron brackets supporting all these lights were commissioned by her ladyship from the Cromer Guild of Handicrafts, a local society formed in 1912 of which she headed the honorary advisory committee.

A Medieval Bust of our Lord in a niche near the Font, is of the School of Luini, thought to date from the early 16th Century, this also was presented by Lady Battersea in 1919.

Resources

Find Neighboring Parishes

Use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map

• Type the name of the parish in the search bar
• Click on the location pin on the map
• Choose Options from the pop up box
• Click "List Contiguous Parishes" to find the neighboring parishes
  

Civil Registration

Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day.

• See England Civil Registration for online resources and information.
  
  
• Norfolk Record Office reference FC 59
  

Registration Districts

• 1837-1938 Erpingham
• 1939-1974 North Walsham

Church Records

The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor.
Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England

Due to the increasing access of online records:

• Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
  
• Dates in the following table are approximate
  

Hover over the collection's title for more information

Overstrand Online Parish Records
Collections	Baptisms		Marriages		Burials
	Indexes and images	Indexes only	Indexes and images	Indexes only	Indexes and images	Indexes only
FamilySearch Collections-Norfolk	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-
FamilySearch Parish Registers-Norfolk	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-
FamilySearch Bishop's Transcripts-Norfolk	1600s-1900s	-	1600s-1900s	-	1600s-1900s	-
FamilySearch Archdeacon's Transcripts-Norfolk	1600s-1800s	-	1600s-1800s	-	1600s-1800s	-
Bishop's Transcripts - FamilySearch Catalog	1700s-1800s	-	1700s-1800s	-	1700s-1800s	-
FreeREG	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s
Findmypast-Norfolk ($)	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s	-
Findmypast Bishop's Transcript-Norfolk ($)	1700s-1800s	-	1700s-1800s	-	1700s-1900s	-
Ancestry Church of England-Norfolk (Early) ($)	1500s-1800s	-	1500s-1800s	-	1500s-1800s	-
Ancestry Church of England-Norfolk (Late) ($)	1800s-1900s	-	1700s-1900s	-	1800s-1900s	-
Ancestry Church of England-Norfolk (Transcriptions) ($)	-	1600s-1900s	-	1600s-1900s	-	1600s-1900s
Ancestry-England & Wales, Birth, Christening, Marriage and Death Indexes ($)	-	1500s-1900s 1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s 1500s-1900s	-	1500s-1900s
Databases with Known Incomplete Parish Coverage
Boyd's Marriage Indexes-FMP (Free)	-	-	-	1500s-1800s	-	-
National Burial Index-FMP (Free)	-	-	-	-	-	1600s-1900s

Other Websites
These databases have incomplete parish coverage.

• Joiner Marriage Index - Norfolk ($)
• The Genealogist Parish Registers - Norfolk ($)
• Norfolk Transcription Archive
• UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
• Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records

Nonconformist Records

"Nonconformist" is a term referring to religious denominations other than an established or state church. In England, the state church is the Church of England.

• 1613-1901 England, Norfolk Non-conformist Records, 1613-1901 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)
  

Census Records

Census records from 1841 to 1911 are available online. For access, see England Census Records and Indexes Online. Census records from 1841 to 1891 are also available on film through a FamilySearch Center or at the FamilySearch Library.

Poor Law Unions

• Erpingham
  

Probate Records

Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Norfolk Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.

• England Jurisdictions 1851
• Vision of Britain

Websites

• Norfolk: Overstrand on GenUKI
• Overstrand St Martin on A Church Near You
• British History online
• Church of St Martin Overstrand on British Listed Buildings
• Overstrand on Norfolk Churches