Wincanton (St. Peter and St. Paul)

WINCANTON (St. Peter and St. Paul), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Norton-Ferris, E. division of Somerset, 34 miles (E.) from Taunton, and 108 (W. by S.) from London; containing 2296 inhabitants. This place, which is of great antiquity, was anciently called Wyndcaleton, and derived that name from its situation on the windings of the river Cale, by which it is bounded on the west. It was the scene of many sanguinary conflicts between the Britons and the Saxons, and subsequently of numerous encounters between the latter and the Danes, who made frequent irruptions into this part of the country. During the parliamentary war, some of the earliest engagements between the contending parties took place in the immediate vicinity of this town; in which, according to Burnet's History of his own Times, was shed the first blood in the Revolution of 1688, though some state this to have occurred at Cirencester. In 1747, a considerable portion of the town was destroyed by fire, to which may be attributed the uniform appearance it afterwards assumed.

The town is pleasantly situated on the declivity of a hill rising gently from the river Cale, and consists principally of four regular streets, containing some well-built houses. The environs abound with interesting scenery, and on the south is an uninterrupted view of the fine Vale of Black more, extending for many miles: the land is extremely fertile, and within a short distance of the town are several gentlemen's seats. The manufacture of linen and bed-ticking was formerly carried on to a considerable extent, but within the last few years has greatly declined: a branch of the silk manufacture has been introduced. The market is on Wednesday, and is well supplied with corn, cattle, cheese, and butter; the fairs are on Easter-Tuesday and September 29th. The town is divided into the Borough and the Tything; two constables for the former are appointed at the manorial court, and a court leet for the hundred is held annually, at which a tything-man is chosen for the latter. The powers of the county debt-court of Wincanton, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Wincanton. The parish comprises by measurement 4130 acres: there are quarries of stone for building, and for mending the roads.

The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £123; patrons, the Messiter family, as owners of the rectory: the tithes have been commuted for £490, and the glebe comprises 45 acres. The church, a spacious and neat edifice, with a square embattled tower, was enlarged in 1835. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Independents; also a national school. Various charitable bequests have been made for distribution among the poor. The union of Wincanton comprises 39 parishes or places, 37 of which are in the county of Somerset, and two in that of Dorset; and contains a population of 21,286. At Stavordale, the north-eastern extremity of the parish, a small priory of Augustine canons, dedicated to St. James, is said to have been built by Sir William Zouch, which, in the 24th of Henry VIII., was annexed to the priory of Taunton: the remains, especially the richly-groined roof and some portions of the chapel, are in good preservation. The Earl of Ilchester, among his inferior titles, takes that of Baron Stavordale from the place. At Horwood, about a mile south-east of the town, are two mineral springs, resembling those at Cheltenham. An urn, containing several Roman coins, was discovered in the parish many years since. Sir James Dyer, chief justice of the court of common pleas in the reign of Elizabeth, was a native of Wincanton.

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