Otterford, Somerset
Historical Description
Otterford, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands under the Black Down Hills, near the boundary with Devonshire, and near the source of the river Otter, 6 miles from Chard station on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. There is a post office at Bishops Wood, under Chard, money order and telegraph office, Chard. The parish contains also the hamlet of Bishops Wood. Acreage, 2446; population, 391. There is a parish council consisting of five members. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; gross value, £175 with residence. The church is Early English, and consists of nave, aisles, transept, and chancel, with a tower. A rather remarkable Early English stoup is set in the S wall of the chancel. There is a chapel for Plymouth Brethren at Bishops Wood. Otterhead House is a very handsome residence in the neighbourhood.
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 | Otterford St. Leonard | |
Hundred | Taunton and Taunton-Dean | |
Poor Law union | Taunton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Otterford 1588-1812, Somerset is available to browse online.
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 Otterford from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Otterford (St. Leonard))
Maps
Online maps of Otterford 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.