Muchelney, Somerset
Historical Description
Muchelney, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands on the river Parret, 1½ mile SSE of Langport station on the G.W.R. The parish contains also the hamlets of Muchelney Ham and Thorney. Post town, Langport. Acreage, 1591; population, 240. A Benedictine abbey was founded here in 939 by King Athelstan, had at the dissolution an income estimated at £499, and has left some interesting remains which are used as farm buildings. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £170 with residence. The church is Later English, and consists of nave, aisles, transept, and chancel, with a tower.
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 | Muchelney St. Peter and St. Paul | |
Hundred | Pitney | |
Poor Law union | Langport |
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 Muchelney from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Muchelney (St. Peter and St. Paul))
Maps
Online maps of Muchelney 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.