Wanstrow, Somerset

Historical Description

Wanstrow, a parish, with a village, in Somerset, with a station (passengers only) on the G.W.R., 115 miles from London, and 5½ SW of Frome. It has a post and telegraph office under Shepton Mallet; money order office, Batcombe. Acreage, 2099; population, 321. There is a parish council consisting of five members. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; net value, £270 with residence. The church is Early English, and was restored in 1877. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels.

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

The parish register dates from 1653.

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.

Churches

Church of England

St. Mary (parish church)

The church of St. Mary is a building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, north chapel, nave, aisles, transepts, south porch and an embattled tower on the south side, with pinnacles, and containing 6 bells: the church was restored in 1877 at a cost of £1,500, and has sittings for 250 persons.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Wanstrow from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Wanstrow 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.