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The Diocesan Deeds series contains documents relating to, amongst other things, parsonage houses, church sites, benefactions, patronage, grants of annuities and Orders in Council concerning various matters such as ecclesiastical fees and unions and disunions of benefices. The original indexes are held by the Diocesan Registry.

To order a deed, check the indexes and then complete a request slip quoting DN/ADR 26/3/[Index number].

The Registers of the Bishops containing principally institutions to benefices but also other matters such as ordinations, commissions, letters dimissory, licences and copies of other letters and documents. This list is not an exhaustive survey of the contents of each volume.

Pre-Reformation Records
The main series of pre-reformation records are: the Bishop's registers [DN/REG], the Consistory Court depositions [DN/DEP] and Act Books [DN/ACT] and the estate series which contains title deeds, manor court rolls, obedientary rolls, rentals, surveys and bailiff's accounts relating to St Benet's Abbey [DN/EST]. All these series continued after the Henrician Reformation. (Probate business came before the ecclesiastical courts until the 1857 Probate Act but the records were transferred to the newly-created Norwich District Probate Registry. The early 'administration act books' are office act books.)
There are also three papal bulls: a general confirmation of the rights of St Benet's Abbey to the Bishop of Norwich, 1248 or 1249; a confirmation to St Benet's Abbey of the patronage of the churches of Neatishead, Irstead and Bastwick, 1257; and a confirmation of the appropriation of the churches of Scottow and North Walsham to St Benet's Abbey, 1344 [DN/EST 6/1-3]; letters patent from Richard II to the Bishop of Norwich and others to investigate the rebels in Norfolk and Suffolk, 1381/82 [DN/MSC 1/1]; and a mandate from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the bishop and clergy of the diocese to view the records held by the cathedral, 1395 [DN/MSC 1/2].

Post-Reformation records
The main post-reformation series are: glebe terriers [DN/TER], subscription books [DN/SUB], ordination registers and papers [DN/ORR, DN/ORD], tithe maps and apportionments [DN/TA], Consistory Court files [DN/CON], faculty books and papers [DN/FCB, DN/FCP, DN/FBA], consecration registers and papers [DN/CSR, DN/CSP], meetinghouse licence registers [DN/DIS, DN/ACB], marriage allegation bonds [DN/MLB], presentation deeds [DN/PRE], resignation bonds [DN/RES] and visitation books and papers [DN/VSB, DN/VSC, DN/VSM]. There is also a census of strangers' churches at Norwich and King's Lynn, 1567 [DN/DIS 10].

Inventoriesof documents in parish custody compiled for the Bishop's Books and Documents Committee. Includes transcripts or extended excerpts from original records (but not parish registers) and the committee minutes for 1957-1976.

These personnel files from the Bishop's Office relate to clergymen who have died whilst either being in post or who were retired but had been granted permission to officiate in the area covered by the Diocese of Norwich. They usually contain copies of birth certificates and details of education, experience and interests and the names of the cleric's immediate family, but not normally of their parentage or family history. They often contain letters of recommendation, reports on character by previous employers and diocesan officials, copies of obituaries, and correspondence between the cleric and the bishop. Those files relating to retirees contain standard forms relating to the granting of permission to officiate (or 'PTOs' in clerical jargon). After 1994, they may contain reports and formula relating to child protection issues, including details of police checks and of any convictions and health issues, although this material is now (2010) routinely transferred to other record series (not deposited). All files are routinely surveyed by the Bishop's Chaplain before they are transferred.

Registers and lists of persons ordained deacon, or priest, occasionally noting the examination of a candidate's literacy (often expressed in terms of their college degree), their title (that is, proof of possession of a curacy, benefice, college fellowship or other means of subsistence suitable to the ordinand's new order) and letters dimissory from the bishop of a stranger's 'native diocese' (that is, a letter from another bishop recommending a candidate for ordination).

Files created by the Bishop's Furnishing Officer concerning the disposal of furniture, fittings and other artifacts from closed or redundant churches.

Under the Inspection of Churches Measure, 1955, churches were to be inspected by a surveyor approved by the diocese within five years of the passing of the Measure and every five years thereafter. A quinquennial report was received by the diocese and the parish and can sometimes be found amongst the parish records and the records of the surveyor. Occasionally, a repair specification was drawn up at the time of the inspection and sent with, or instead of, the report. The Diocesan Advisory Committee is now responsible for the administration of these records.

The confirmation returns until 1942 are statistical returns only, giving details of how many male and female candidates will be presented from each parish.