Orchard Portman, Somerset
Historical Description
Orchard Portman, a parish in Somerset, 2 miles SSE of Taunton station on the G.W.R. Post town, Taunton. Acreage, 683; population of the civil parish, 56; of the ecclesiastical, with Thurlbeere and Stoke St Mary, 428. The property, with Orchard Portman House, belongs to Viscount Portman, who is lord of the manor. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells, with the donatives of Thurlbeere and Stoke annexed; net value, £200 with residence. Patron, Viscount Portman. The church is partly Norman and partly Perpendicular, in good condition, and consists of nave and chancel, with porch and tower, with four bells.
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 | Orchard-Portman St. Michael | |
Hundred | Taunton and Taunton-Dean | |
Poor Law union | Taunton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Orchard Portman 1538-1812, 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 Orchard Portman from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Orchard-Portman (St. Michael))
Maps
Online maps of Orchard Portman 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.