Muchelney (St. Peter and St. Paul)
MUCHELNEY (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Langport, hundred of Pitney, W. division of Somerset, 1½ mile (S. S. E.) from Langport; containing, with the hamlet of Thorney, 349 inhabitants, of whom 62 are in the hamlet of Muchelney-Ham. This place was the site of a Benedictine abbey, said by some to have been founded by Athelstan in 939, and by other writers ascribed to Ina, king of the West Saxons; it was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, and flourished till the Dissolution, when its revenue was returned at £498. 16. 3. The remains are now converted into a farmhouse called the Abbey. The parish comprises 1558a. 1r. 36p. of land, principally rich meadow subject to inundation from the river Parret: the village is pleasantly situated on the road from Langport to South Petherton. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king's books at £10; net income, £93; patron and impropriator, Walter Long, Esq., whose tithes have been commuted for £336. 11., and who has a glebe of 11¼ acres. The church is in the early English style, with a square embattled tower, and has been recently beautified and repewed by the patron.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.