Compton-Bishop (St. Andrew)
COMPTON-BISHOP (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Axbridge, hundred of Winterstoke, E. division of Somerset, 2¼ miles (W. N. W.) from Axbridge; containing 802 inhabitants. It is intersected by the Bristol and Exeter road and the river Axe, and comprises 2535a. 2r. 30p., of which 775 acres are common or waste, and 50 road and water: there is a good supply of excellent limestone in the hills. The village is situated in a hollow, under the southern declivity of the Mendip range, presenting a very picturesque appearance: the village of Cross, in the parish, has a General Post-Office. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11; patron, the Prebendary of Compton-Bishop in the Cathedral of Wells: the great tithes have been commuted for £71. 2., and the vicarial for £203. 17.; the rectorial glebe contains 82½ acres, and the vicar's nearly 7 acres, with a glebe-house. The church has a handsome stone pulpit, and the exterior arch of the porch is in the Norman style: in the churchyard is an ancient cross. A little to the south-west of Compton is a spacious natural cave, entered by a perpendicular shaft; and proceeding by a difficult winding passage, a still more extensive cavern opens to the sight: from the roof, which expands into a kind of arch, hung formerly some beautiful stalactites; and various incrustations, assuming the most fantastic shapes, lay scattered about; but all have been defaced or removed by visiters.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.