Place:Baltonsborough, Somerset, England

Watchers
NameBaltonsborough
Alt namesCatshamsource: hamlet in parish
Ham Streetsource: hamlet in parish
Southwoodsource: hamlet in parish
TypeChapelry, Civil parish
Coordinates51.108°N 2.649°W
Located inSomerset, England
See alsoButleigh, Somerset, Englandancient parish of which it was a chapelry
Glaston Twelve Hides Hundred, Somerset, Englandhundred in which it was located
Wells Rural, Somerset, Englandrural district 1894-1974
Mendip District, Somerset, Englandnon-metropolitan district covering the area since 1974
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Baltonsborough (#1 on map) is a civil parish with a village of the same name in the Mendip District of Somerset, England. Apart from Baltonsborough village, the parish also contains the hamlets of Ham Street, Catsham and Southwood. According to the 2011 UK census the parish had a population of 864.

The ancient, and some would argue "correct", name of the village is Ballsbury. In the 1980s there was some debate as to whether the village should rename itself Ballsbury in order to make the village name road signs shorter.

It originated as a chapelry of the neighbouring parish of Butleigh in the hundred of Glaston Twelve Hides, one of the hundreds or early subdivisions of the county of Somerset. From 1894 until 1974 it was a parish in the Wells Rural District.

History

Baltonsborough's church was built in the 15th century and dedicated to the most famous son of the village: St. Dunstan, born in 909AD, who was to become abbot of Glastonbury and Archbishop of Canterbury. The church's simple Somerset tower is topped by an elaborate ironwork weather vane crafted by the local blacksmith in the 19th century.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Baltonsborough.

Image:Wells Rural 1900 small.png

Research Tips

  • GENUKI page on Baltonsborough.
  • An article on Baltonsborough from the Victoria History of the Counties of EnglandHistory of the County of Somerset, produced by The Institute of Historical Research.
  • The Somerset Heritage Centre (incorporating what was formerly the Somerset Record Office and the Somerset Local Studies Library) can be found at its new location at Langford Mead in Taunton. It has an online search facility leading to pages of interest, including maps from the First and Second Ordnance Survey (select "Maps and Postcards" from the list at the left, then enter the parish in the search box).
    The Heritage Centre has an email address: archives@somerset.gov.uk.
  • Three maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrate the changes in political boundaries over the period 1830-1945. All have expanding scales and on the second and third this facility is sufficient that individual parishes can be inspected.
  • Somerset Hundreds as drawn in 1832. This map was prepared before The Great Reform Act of that year. Note the polling places and representation of the various parts of the county.
  • Somerset in 1900, an Ordnance Survey map showing rural districts, the boundaries of the larger towns, the smaller civil parishes of the time, and some hamlets and villages in each parish
  • Somerset in 1943, an Ordnance Survey map showing the rural districts after the changes to their structure in the 1930s
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Baltonsborough. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.