Alford, Somerset
Historical Description
Alford, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands on the river Brue, near Castle Cary station on the G.W.R., and 8 miles SE of Glastonbury. It has a post office under Castle Cary (S.O.), the money order and telegraph office. Acreage of the parish, 720; population of the civil parish, 95; of the ecclesiastical, with Hornblotton, 208. A chalybeate spring in the neighbourhood of the village, known as Alford Well, formerly much resorted to, is now neglected. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells, united with Hornblotton; net value, £330. The church is Early Perpendicular of the time of Henry VI., with very fine features of structure and carving, and containing mural monuments to the families of Harvey and Thring. A beautiful preaching cross stands in the churchyard.
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 | Alford All Saints | |
Hundred | Catsash | |
Poor Law union | Wincanton |
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 Alford from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Alford (All Saints))
Maps
Online maps of Alford 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.