Nether Stowey, Somerset

Historical Description

Stowey, Nether, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands 9 miles WNW of Bridgwater station on the G.W.R., was once a market-town, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Bridgwater. The poets Coleridge, Southey, and Wordsworth were for some time residents, and in 1893 a tablet was affixed to the cottage in which Coleridge wrote " The Ancient Mariner." The parish comprises 1103 acres; population of the civil parish, 634; of the ecclesiastical, 641. There is a parish council consisting of five members. The manor belongs to the Acland baronet family. Red deer are found in the Quantock Hills near this parish. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; gross value, £365 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The church, excepting the tower, was rebuilt in 1850, and is in the Early English style. There is a Congregational chapel.

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

The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Nether Stowey 1645-1812, Somerset is available to browse online.

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 Nether Stowey from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Stowey, Nether (St. Mary))

Maps

Online maps of Nether Stowey 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.