Goathill, Somerset
Historical Description
Goathill, a parish in the county of Somerset, on the verge of the county, 2½ miles E of Sherborne station on the L. & S.W.R. Post town, Sherborne. Acreage, 298; population, 54. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; gross value, £90. The church is old but good.
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 | Goathill St. Peter | |
| Hundred | Horethorne | |
| Poor Law union | Sherborne | |
| Poor Law union | Sherborne | 1835 - |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1699. The original register books are now deposited with the Dorset Archives Service, but have been digitised by Ancestry.co.uk and made available on their site (subscription required).
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.
Churches
Church of England
St. Peter (parish church)
The parish church of St. Peter is an ancient building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a western turret containing one bell; in 1873 the chancel was restored and the nave was new-roofed in 1878: there are sittings for 60 persons.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Goathill from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Goathill (St. Peter))
Maps
Online maps of Goathill 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
Parochial History
This parish, originally in Somerset, on the borders of Dorset, was, in pursuance of section 54 of the "Local Government Act, 1888" (51 and 52 Vict. c. 41) eventually transferred to Dorset as from March 31, 1896.
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Somersetshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.