Compton Bishop, Somerset
Historical Description
Compton-Bishop, a parish in Somerset, on the river Axe, under the Mendip Hills, 2 miles W of Axbridge, and 9 from Highbridge station on the G.W.R. It contains Cross and the Axbridge workhouse, and its post town is Axbridge (R.S.O.) Acreage, 2536; population, including the inmates in the workhouse, 496. A part of the Mendip Hills within the limits has bone caves. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £141. Patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The church is partly Norman. The pulpit was covered with mortar until the commencement of the 19th century, when a portion having been accidentally broken off, the whole was cleared away and brought to light the beautiful carved stone work which is greatly admired. A portion of rare stained glass remains in the chancel window, which it would be vandalism to remove, and yet fragmentary as it is, looks very incomplete, and could not easily be filled in to correspond with the old. The chancel roof has been ceiled, and detracts considerably from the appearance of the interior of the church, which was otherwise well restored.
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 | Compton-Bishop St. Andrew | |
Hundred | Winterstoke | |
Poor Law union | Axbridge |
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.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Compton Bishop from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Compton-Bishop (St. Andrew))
Maps
Online maps of Compton Bishop 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.