Wedmore, Somerset
Historical Description
Wedmore, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands on a rising-ground 3 miles from Draycott station on the G.W.R., and 5 S of Axbridge. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Weston-super-Mare. It is nominally a borough governed by a portreeve, and has two annual fairs. Acreage of the civil parish, 10,280; population, 2891; of the ecclesiastical, 1801. For parish council purposes it is divided into three wards, and has a council of twelve members. The manor belonged formerly to the Dean of Wells, and belongs now to the Baileys. Much Cheddar cheese is made. A pot of Anglo-Danish coins was found in the churchyard in 1851. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; gross value, £310. Patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The church is ancient, cruciform, and has been restored. In 1890 a handsome west window was erected in memory of King Alfred, Wedmore being near the historic spot where he and a few faithful followers harassed the victorious Danes. Eleven chapels were anciently in different parts. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels, a reading-room, and charities.
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 | Wedmore St. Mary | |
Hundred | Bempstone | |
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.
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 Wedmore from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Wedmore (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of Wedmore 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.