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Stoke, Rodney (St. Leonard)

STOKE, RODNEY (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Wells, hundred of Winterstoke, E. division of Somerset, 5¼ miles (N. W. by W.) from Wells; containing, with the hamlet of Draycott, 356 inhabitants. This was long the seat of the knightly family of Rodney, whose descendant, the distinguished admiral, was elevated to the peerage as Baron Rodney, of Rodney Stoke, in 1782, for the memorable victory he had achieved over the French fleet commanded by the Comte de Grasse. The parish is situated on the road from Wells to Axbridge, and comprises 2338a. 1r. 9p. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 12. 8½., and in the gift of the Bishop of Bath and Wells: the tithes have been commuted for £330; there is a glebe-house, and the glebe contains 20¼ acres. The church is a small neat edifice, chiefly in the Norman style, with a handsome tower: the late Mr. Rickman considered the date of the stone font to be about 1220. In a chapel adjoining the chancel are several monuments of the Rodney family.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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