Biddisham, Somerset
Historical Description
Biddisham, a parish in Somersetshire, on the river Axe, 4 miles W by S of Axbridge station on the G.W.R. Post town, Axbridge, under Weston-super-Mare; money order and telegraph office, East Brent. Acreage, 57 2; population, 119. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; net value, £106 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of London. The church was partially restored in 1863, and completed in 1878.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Somersetshire | |
Hundred | Bempstone | |
Poor Law union | Axbridge |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1626.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.
Churches
Church of England
St. John the Baptist (parish church)
The church of St. John the Baptist is a building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave and a western tower containing 4 bells: the font is Norman, and there is a handsome carved Jacobean pulpit: the stained east window was the joint gift of Mrs. Hunt and the Dean and Chapter of Wells, and in the chancel is a small stained window presented by the pupils of the Rev. P. V. M. Filleul M.A. rector (1858-96): the church was restored in 1863, and the tower in 1878, at a cost of £600, and a further sum of £200 has since been expended in other improvements: there are sittings for 120 persons.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Biddisham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Biddesham)
Maps
Online maps of Biddisham are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Somerset papers online:
- Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette
- Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser
- Western Gazette
- Wells Journal
- Somerset County Gazette
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Somersetshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.