Whitestaunton (St. Andrew)
WHITESTAUNTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Chard, forming a distinct portion of the hundred of South Petherton, but locally in the hundred of Kingsbury, W. division of Somerset, 3 miles (W. N. W.) from Chard; containing 321 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1950 acres; the soil is tolerably fertile, and there are quarries of chalk and blue lias, which are burnt into lime for manure. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £14. 2. 11., and in the patronage of Robert James Elton, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £215, and the glebe comprises 54 acres, with a house. The church is an ancient structure in the early English style, with a square embattled tower. Robert Somerhays bequeathed £10. 10. per annum for instruction, with a like sum for books and for distribution in bread to the poor. Some Roman antiquities have been found, and vestiges of encampments may be traced in the parish.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.