Kelston, Somerset
Historical Description
Kelston or Kelweston, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands on the river Avon, with a station on the M.R., Ill miles from London and 4 NW of Bath, and a post office under Bath; money order office. Lower Weston; telegraph office, Weston. Acreage of parish, 1093; population, 188. The manor belonged to Shaftesbury Abbey, went to a natural daughter of Henry VIII., passed to the Harring-tons, the Hawkinses, and the Neelds, and now belongs, with Kelston Park, to the Inigo-Joues family. A mansion was built on it for the Harringtons in 1587 by Barozzi, the Italian architect, and was, with the exception of some out-buildings, taken down in 1760, and succeeded by a picturesque structure built for Sir Caesar Hawkins nearer the river. Kelston Round Hill has an altitude of 730 feet above sea-level. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £198 with residence. The church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1860, consists of nave, S aisle, and chancel, with a tower, and contains the graves of Sir John Harrington the wit and poet, Henry Harrington the musician, Sir Caesar Hawkins, first baronet, and the Very Rev. Sir William Cockburn, Bart.
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 | Kelston St. Nicholas | |
Hundred | Bath-Forum | |
Poor Law union | Keynsham |
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 Kelston from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Kelston (St. Nicholas))
Maps
Online maps of Kelston 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.