Place:Lullington, Somerset, England

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia Lullington (#15 on map) is a civil parish with a village of the same name in Somerset, England. It is located just across the River Mells from Beckington (#2) and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northeast of Frome. Since 1933 the parish has included the hamlet of Laverton (#13), where the Church of St. Mary dates from the 11th century. According to the UK census of 2011, the parish had a population of 162. Before the Norman Conquest of 1066 the estate belonged to King Harold, later passing to Longleat Priory and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the late 1530s, was acquired by the Thynne family. It was sold in the early 19th century by the Marquess of Bath and bought by William Duckworth, who rebuilt the village. The parish was part of the Frome Hundred, one of the hundreds or early subdivisions of the county. From 1894 until 1974 it was in the Frome Rural District. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, all urban and rural districts across England were abolished and counties were reorganized into metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts. Lullington became part of the non-metropolitan Mendip District in 1974.

Historic Descriptions

1822 - Somersetshire delineated by Christopher & John Greenwood

A parish in the hundred of Frome, 3 miles N. from Frome, containing 37 inhabited houses, and 39 families, 25 of whom are employed in agriculture. This parish contains 790 acres of land, chiefly applied to pasture: the river Frome divides it on the east from Beckington. At the south-west extremity of the parish is Orchardleigh, the seat of Sir T. S. Champneys, Bart. The church of Lullington is a very ancient structure of Saxon architecture, dedicated to All-Saints, consisting of a nave and chancel, with a large tower in the centre. It is a rectory, in the deanery of Frome; Rev. F. Skurray, incumbent; instituted 1807. Population, 1801: 157; 1811: 178; 1821: 224.

1875 - Somersetshire edited by Edward Robert Kelly

Lullington is a small parish and village, 118 miles from London, 2½ north-by-east from Frome railway station, in the Eastern division of the county, hundred, union, county court district, and rural deanery of Frome, Wells archdeaconry, and diocese of Bath and Wells. The church of All Saints (restored and enlarged in 1862) is an old stone building, believed to be of the period of King Stephen, though certain portions of the edifice indicate signs of a much earlier foundation; it has a chancel, nave, tower with 1 fine bell, and porch: there is a fine old font, also Early Norman, with this inscription encircling it: " Hoc fontis sacro pereunt delicta lavacro," and an organ: the church presents some beautiful specimens of architecture, the nave is Transition from Norman to Early English, the transept (which was formerly a chapel and contains a piscina; from Early English to Decorated, and the chancel from Decorated to Perpendicular; inserted in the wall of the vestry is a stone slah, discovered during restoration, supposed to be the lid of a coffin, and is said by many antiquarians to be of adate not later than 1085: there are several stained windows; one under the tower, of two lights, representing St. John and the Virgin. The register dates from the year 1712. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Orchard Leigh, gross yearly value £310, in the gift of William Duckworth, esq., J.P., of Orchard Leigh Park, and held by the Rev. Arthur Drummond Wilkins, M.A., late Fellow of New College, Oxford. Here is a Church of England school for boys and girls, built and endowed at the expense of William Duckworth, esq.; there is also a Sunday school. Oburn's charity of £6 yearly is for bread. The soil is loam and marl, and the subsoil is marl. The land is chiefly in pasture for dairy purposes. William Duckworth, esq., j.P. and ILL. is lord of the manor and principal landowner. There are charities of £3 yearly value. The area is 687 acres; rateable value, £1,355; the population in 1871 was 256.

1929 - Somerset by George Woosung Wade & Joseph Henry Wade

Lullington, an obscurely situated village, 3 m. N. from Frome. It should certainly be visited by anyone in the neighbourhood, as the church is of exceptional antiquarian interest and contains one of the finest Norm, doorways in the county. It is a small building having a low central tower without transepts. A small S. chantry projects from the nave. Features to be noted are: (1) the Norm, doorway mentioned above, a little to the right of main entrance. The capitals are richly carved, and support an arch ornamented with deeply cut chevron and grotesque bird's beak mouldings. The tympanum bears in relief the curious device of some winged creatures devouring a tree. Above is a roundheaded niche containing the figure of our Lord, with hand uplifted in blessing. (2) Tub-shaped Norm. font, bearing inscription, Hoc fontis sacro pereunt delicta lavacro, and another legend undecipherable. (3) Clusters of Norm. columns beneath tower supporting an arch, evidently rebuilt out of original materials (observe S. pier of chancel arch standing idle). (4) E.E. arch opening into chantry chapel, and large piscina within. (5) Body stone built into W. wall of vestry. The whole of the Norm. work is unusually rich for a small country church, but it may possibly be accounted for by the fact that Lullington at the Conquest, amongst other good things, fell to the share of Geoffrey of Coutances, who perhaps brought here his staff of continental workmen, as the figures on the capitals of the doorway are known to occur also at Coutances and Caen. The body stone in the vestry, which may at one time have marked the Bishop's own grave outside, is also said to bear traces of continental craftsmanship. The "mediaeval" gateway at the entrance of the neighbouring park is a sham.

Research Tips

Provision for all of Somerset

• 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

Other Resources

• Family and Local History in Frome
• Frome Yahoo Group
• Somerset Record Office
• Somerset Archives holdings for Parish of 'Lullington'
• Beckington Village Website
• Frome Registration District Research Guide