Williton, Somerset

Historical Description

Williton, a small town and a chapelry in Somerset. The town stands under the Quantock Hills, 1½ mile from the coast, with a station on the G.W.R., 174 miles from London and 14½ NW of Taunton. It has a post. money order, and telegraph office. Williton is a ward in the parish council of St Decumans, and returns six members. It belonged in the time of King Stephen to the Fitzurses, passed to the Demboroughs, the Sydenhams, the Orchards, and the Wyndhams, is a seat of county courts, publishes a weekly newspaper, presents a neat appearance, with cottages embowered in shrubs, comprises two long streets, and has a bank, a hotel, remains of two old crosses, a workhouse, and two annual fairs. Cattle auctions are held on the second Monday in the month. Orchard Wyndham is a handsome seat in the neighbourhood. The chapelry is in St Decumans parish, but the population is not separately returned. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; gross value, £300 with residence. Patron, the Vicar of St Decumans. The church is a building of stone in the Early English style, and has been restored. There are Baptist and Wesleyan 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

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 Williton from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Williton 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.