Researching a Norfolk parish church

Consecration records and title deeds

Consecration registers, which survive from 1793, record the consecrations by the bishop of churches, chapels, mission halls and burial grounds: see list DN/CSR.

The consecration papers, 1784-1967, often include the title deeds and a plan of the site: see list DN/CSP. Some of the earlier consecration papers relate to consecrations recorded in the consistory court act books.

Other title papers to church sites are among the diocesan deeds series, c1675-1969 (for indexes see DN/ADR 26) and the augmentation deeds, 1621-1918 (see list DN/AUG)

Glebe terriers

These documents list the glebe land belonging to the church, giving its acreage and describing its location. They were compiled every few years.

Terriers often contain a description of the churchyard, parsonage house and parish charities, plus a list of church furnishings such as books, vestments and bells. 

• They survive for various dates from about 1556: see lists DN/TER and ANW 15

Terriers also survive among the parish records of individual churches, but the diocesan series is usually more complete.

• The descriptions of the glebe land can be compared with the maps surveyed under the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act: see lists DN/TA and DE/TA
• The minute book of the Norwich Diocesan Association for Building and Enlarging Churches, 1844-99, contains lists of grants made from 1836: see list DN/DAB