Worle (St. Martin)
WORLE (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Axbridge, hundred of Winterstoke, E. division of Somerset, 8 miles (N. W.) from Axbridge; containing 885 inhabitants. The surface is boldly undulated, and the substratum generally limestone; on a hill north of the village are some mines of lead and calamine, but they are not wrought at present. Great numbers of poultry are fed here, and sold to the inhabitants of Weston-super-Mare, a neighbouring watering-place. The Bristol and Exeter railway skirts the parish on the south. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12. 15., and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriators, the Trustees of a charity. The great tithes have been commuted for £90, and the vicarial for £310; the glebe comprises 5 acres. The church is a neat structure, with a tower surmounted by a small spire; it contains a stone pulpit richly sculptured, and part of some shrine-work, and sedilia. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. In the vicinity are vestiges of a Roman camp.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.