Beckington (St. Gregory)
BECKINGTON (St. Gregory), a parish, in the union and hundred of Frome, E. division of Somerset, 3 miles (N. E.) from Frome; containing, with the hamlet of Rudge, 1190 inhabitants. The manufacture of cloth was formerly extensively carried on, and still exists to a limited degree. The living is a rectory, with that of Standerwick annexed, valued in the king's books at £19. 11. 0½., and in the gift of the family of Sainsbury: the tithes have been commuted for £464, and there are 72½ acres of glebe. The church contains the remains of Samuel Daniel, poet-laureate and historian, who died here in 1619; and of William Huish, rector of the parish, and one of the editors of the Polyglott Bible, who died in 1688. There are places of worship for Particular Baptists and Wesleyans. Thomas Beckington, Bishop of Bath and Wells, and a distinguished statesman, was born here in 1645.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.