Nailsea, Somerset

Historical Description

Nailsea, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands 8 miles WSW of Bristol, is a considerable place, and has a station on the G.W.R., 126 miles from London, and a post, money order, and telegraph office. The parish is divided into the tithings of East Nailsea, Middle Nailsea, and West Nailsea. Acreage, 2866; population, 1793. There is a parish council consisting of nine members. There are stone quarries, corn mills, sawmills, and two small breweries. Several coalpits are in the neighbourhood, but they have been closed for some years. A section of the parish was constituted a separate charge, under the name of Christchurch, in 1844. The head living is a rectory, and that of Christchurch is a vicarage, in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value of the rectory, £200 with residence; of the vicarage, £100 with residence. The parish church, or church of the Holy Trinity, is Later English; was thoroughly repaired in 1861; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower; and contains a remarkable stone pulpit. Christchurch was built in 1844; is in the Early English style; and consists of nave and chancel. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, and Free Methodist chapels.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

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 Nailsea from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Nailsea (Holy Trinity))

Maps

Online maps of Nailsea 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.