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Since 1933 Cloford (#5 on map) has been a village in the civil parish of Wanstrow (#28) in the Mendip District of Somerset, England. Prior to that date it was a separate parish in Frome Hundred and Frome Rural District.
The parish contained the hamlets of Leighton and Holwell, both redirected here.
Historic Descriptions
1822 - Somersetshire Delineated by Christopher and John Greenwood
A parish in the hundred of Frome, and part of Hillhouse liberty, situate 4½ miles S.W. from Frome, on a brook that rises in the parish of Wanstrow: it contains two hamlets, Leighton and Holwell; the latter is romantically situated in a deep and narrow valley, to the south-west of the parish of Nunney; it is called in old writings Holy-waters, from a well there, over which was a chapel formerly visited by pilgrims. On the east-side of Cloford-common is a very extensive wood, called Postlebury, the remaining vestige of a considerable Roman villa. The church is dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of a nave, chancel, and side aisle or chapel. The living is a vicarage, in the deanery of Frome; Rev. Thomas Williams, incumbent; instituted 1801. Population, 1801, 257 — 1811, 308 — 1821, 312.
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1875 - Somersetshire edited by Edward Robert Kelly
CLOFORD is a village and parish, 118 miles from London, 2 north-east from Wanstrow station on the East Somerset railway, and 5 south-west from Frome, in the Eastern division of the county, hundred, union and county court district of Frome, rural deanery of Frome, archdeaconry of Wells, and diocese of Bath and Wells, situated on the high road from Bruton to Frome. The church of St. Mary is a stone building, in the Third-Pointed style, restored in 1856, and has a chancel, nave, and an embattled tower with 2 bells, organ and vestry on the north of the chancel: the nave was rebuilt in 1856, and a new chancel was erected in 1809, at the cost of the late Rev. J. S. H. Horner; on the north side of the nave is the Horner chapel, wherein lie interred members of that family; it contains an altar monument to Maures Horner, esq., who died In 1621, and a quaint monument to Sir George Horner, knt., who died in 1676, and of his lady, who survived him some years. The register dates from the year 1561. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £100, with residence and 7 acres of glebe land, in the gift of John Francis Fortescne Horner, esq., and held by the Rev. Richard George Boodle, M.A., of Oriel College, Oxford. There is a National school for boys and girls, wherein a Sunday school is held. In 1797 a sura of £1,000 was left by Mr. Thomas Harris, Alderman of Bristol, who was born at Broadgrove Farm, In the parish of Cloford, to women, natives of Cloford, upon their marriage: a new scheme for the guidance of the trustees in the distribution of this charity was issued by the Charity Commissioners in 1862 : the present ex-officio trustees are the vicar, churchwardens and overseers of the parish of Cloford; The Earl of Cork; J. F. F. Horner, esq., and Richard Horner Paget, esq., are appointed trustees by the Charity Commissioners. John Francis Fortescue Horner, esq., lord of the manor, and the Earl of Cork, are the principal landowners. The soil is stiff clay; the subsoil is limestone. The principal part of the land is in pasturage for dairy purposes. The area is 2,243 acres, rateable value, £2,291; the population in 1871 was 193.
1929 - Somerset by George Woosung Wade & Joseph Henry Wade
Cloford, a small village, 2 m. N.E. of Wanstrow. The church, rebuilt in 1856, has a tiny side chapel, containing a monument to Maurice Horner (d. 1621), and a tablet with some quaint-coloured busts to Sir G. Horner and his wife (1676).
LEIGHTON is a hamlet, a mile and three quarters west, with a Primitive Methodist chapel.
HOLWELL is a hamlet, half a mile north.
Research Tips
- 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
- Maps provided by the National Library of Scotland are also very useful. This map is currently set to an area now in the Sedgmoor District as it existed in the late 19th century, but can be moved to anywhere in the county using a variety of background maps. There is a very good search facility.
- A Vision of Britain through Time has a group of pages of statistical facts for almost every parish in the county
- GENUKI gives pointers to other archive sources as well as providing some details on each parish. The emphasis here is on ecclesiastical parishes (useful before 1837)
- A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 and tables of the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. The compiler has gone to a lot of work to provide this material. Respect his copyright.
- The FamilySearch Wiki for Somerset provides a similar but not identical series of webpages to that provided by GENUKI
- English Jurisdictions, a supplementary website to FamilySearch outlining local parish boundaries in the middle on the 19th century. The information provided is especially useful for establishing the relationship of the ecclesiastical parishes in large towns and cathedral cities.
- The Victoria History of the Counties of England – History of the County of Somerset, produced by The Institute of Historical Research at the University of London is a scholarly website with articles tracing the history of individual parishes which are sorted into their hundreds, the early subdivisions of the county. It traces the ownership of estates and manors, describes the local church in detail, and usually provides a map of each parish. The volumes for Somerset are much more recent than those for other counties. It appears to be a work in progress, only covering about half the county so far. A map of the places covered in the series is given in Volume 6, but 3 more volumes have been published since then. If a parish is included there will be a note in its Research Tips.
- The Somerset and Dorset Family History Society
- The Weston super Mare Family History Society
- The Bristol and Avon Family History Society
- A list of all Somerset parishes with online transcripts of parish registers The size of Somerset makes this a huge project. If it does not yield what you are looking for, try getting in touch with the organizer with patience and politeness.
- Somerset Online Parish Clerk project home page
- A collection of West Somerset Parish Register Transcriptions are online courtesy of Martin Southwood
Online Transcriptions
Other Resources
Picture Gallery
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