North Petherton, Somerset
Historical Description
Petherton, North, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands 1½ mile W of the Taunton Canal, and 3 miles S by W of Bridgwater station on the G.W.R. It consists of a main street and a few smaller streets, is a seat of petty sessions, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Bridgwater. The parish includes the chapelry of North Newton, the tithings of Petherton Limit, Town Denison, Buckland Fee, and Woolmersdon, and the hamlets of Huntworth, West Newton, Shearston, Tuckerton, Moorland, and Bankland, extends eastward beyond the river Parret, and, comprises 10,484 acres; population of the civil parish, 3552 ½ of the ecclesiastical, 2041. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; net value, £480 with residence. The church is fine Later English; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with two porches and a lofty tower; and has a pulpit resting on the shoulders of a human figure carved in stone. The chapelries of North Newton and Northmoor Green are separate benefices. There are Congregational and Baptist chapels. Fairs are held on 1 May and 8 Nov.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Somersetshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | North Petherton St. Mary | |
Hundred | North Petherton | |
Poor Law union | Bridgwater |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.
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 North Petherton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Petherton, North (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of North Petherton 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.