Pilton, Somerset
Historical Description
Pilton, a village and a parish in Somerset. The village stands 2 miles from Pennard station on the Somerset and Dorsetshire Joint railway, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Shepton Mallet. The parish contains also the hamlets of East Compton, West Compton, Lower Westholme, and Upper Westholme. Acreage, 4626; population of the civil parish, 899; of the ecclesiastical, 1008. There is a parish council consisting of six members. Westholme. House, Pilton House, Burford, Springfield House, and Porridge House are chief residences. An ancient barn, which belonged to Glastonbury Abbey, is near the church, and has an elegantly constructed roof. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; net value, £250 with residence Patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The church is ancient, of different periods; consists of nave, N aisle, and chancel, with porch and tower; contains a piscina and several ancient monuments; has a large and fine E window, and has been thoroughly restored at a cost of £3500. There are Wesleyan and Bible Christian chapels and several small charities.
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 | Pilton St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Whitestone | |
| Poor Law union | Shepton-Mallet |
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 Pilton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Pilton (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of Pilton 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.