Brompton Ralph, Somerset
Historical Description
Brompton-Ralph, a parish in Somersetshire, 4 miles from Wiveliscombe station on the G.W.R. It has a post office under Wiveliscombe (R.S.O.), which is the money order and telegraph office. Acreage, 2736; population of the civil parish, 360; of the ecclesiastical, 365. There are traces of a Roman camp. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; net value, £340 with residence. The church is old. There is a Congregational chapel.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1558.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.
Churches
The church of All Saints, which, with the exception of the tower, was rebuilt in 1855, at a cost of £3,200, is a stone building, consisting of chancel, nave, separated from the aisles by arcades of 12 bays, south porch, square western tower with 5 bells and a clock, and has sittings for 750 persons: in 1873-4 a handsome reredos of Bath stone and illuminated plates and an organ, presented by B. M. Collyns esq. were erected, in memory of his deceased parents, and encaustic tiles were laid down in the sacrarium, the gift of J. B. Collyns esq.: the tower was coped with Bath stone, the gift of the Dowager Lady Carnarvon: the pulpit, desk and font were removed to their proper places and a lectern set up: there are five stained windows; the eastern, of five lights, was given in memory of the Beague family in 1864; one to the third Earl of Carnarvon; one to the Dowager Countess of Carnarvon; one to William Trevor: and one to George Hall Peppin; and one has been (1883) erected in memory of the Pearse family.
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 Brompton Ralph from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Brompton-Ralph (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of Brompton Ralph 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.