Merriott, Somerset
Historical Description
Merriott, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands 3 miles N of Crewkerne station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Crewkerne. Acreage of parish, 1750; population, 1349. The parish council, under the Local Government Act, 1894, consists of seven members, and the village sends two representatives to the district council. Canvas works adjoin the parish and employ about 200 workpeople. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £240 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. The church is in the Perpendicular style of architecture, was restored and enlarged in 1851, and consists of nave, aisles, porch, and tower, and a triple chancel in the Early English style. An oak lych-gate was erected in 1888. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, and Plymouth Brethren chapels; also a working-men's institute with library and reading-rooms, and a church mission room.
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 | Merriott All Saints | |
Hundred | Crewkerne | |
Poor Law union | Chard |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1646.
Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.
Churches
Church of England
All Saints (parish church)
The church of All Saints, restored and enlarged in 1862, is a building of stone in the Early English and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, with aisles or chapels, nave of four bays, aisles, south porch, and a western tower containing a clock and 5 bells: the parapets of the aisles are embattled and have gargoyles of an interesting character; an organ was placed in the church in 1887: a lectern of oak and brass was presented in 1883 by the Rev. Thomas Hodson M.A. curate in charge here 1879-83: there are memorial windows to Charlotte Rodbard (1867); to the Rev. Thomas Price, a former vicar (1862), and his daughter Mary (1864); J. M. Templeman esq. (1862) and another, erected in 1904, to the Rev. Joseph Cross M.A. a former vicar: the church is approached from the roadway by a lych-gate, erected in 1888 in memory of the Rev. D. M. Claxton M.A. vicar 1883-7: there are sittings for 437 persons.
Baptist
Union Chapel
There is a Union chapel, erected in 1840, with sittings for 170 persons.
Brethren
Methodist
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Merriott from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Merriott (All Saints))
Maps
Online maps of Merriott 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.