Ryston or Riston, Norfolk

Historical Description

Ryston or Riston, a parish in Norfolk, 2 miles ESE of Downham station and three-quarters of a mile N of Rystou station on the Downham and Stoke Ferry branch of the G.E.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Downham. Acreage, 559; population of the civil parish, 46; of the ecclesiastical, with Roxham and Fordham, 311. The manor with Ryston Hall, a mansion standing in a park of 300 acres, belongs to the Pratt family, who are sole landowners. The living is a vicarage, united with Roxham and Fordham, in the diocese of Norwich; joint net value, £232 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Norwich. The church is an ancient building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave, S porch, and a western tower. It contains a piscina, an aumbry, and some monuments of the Pratt family. Ket's Oak or the " Oak of Reformation," a tree famous in the history of the Norfolk rising of 1549, is in this parish.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Norfolk Record Office, have images of the Parish Registers for Norfolk online.

Findmypast, in conjunction with Norfolk Record Office have the following parish records online for Ryston with Roxham:

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Ryston or Riston from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ryston (St. Michael))

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Norfolk newspapers online:

• Norwich Mercury
• Norfolk Chronicle
• Diss Express
• Thetford & Watton Times and People's Weekly Journal
• Norfolk News

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Norfolk 1563, 1589, and 1613 is available on the Heraldry page.