Place:Oare, Somerset, England

Watchers
NameOare
Alt namesOarefordsource: hamlet in parish
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates51.2°N 3.71°W
Located inSomerset, England
See alsoCarhampton Hundred, Somerset, Englandhundred in which it was located
Williton Rural, Somerset, Englandrural district 1894-1974
West Somerset District, Somerset, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Oare (#20 west on map) is a civil parish and a village in Somerset, England, located on Oare Water on Exmoor and on the border with Devon. The parish includes the hamlet of Oareford and the village of Culbone (#6 west) which contains its own tiny church and was a separate parish until 1933. In the UK census of 2001 the population of the parish was 67. In the census of 2011, the population of a parish of that size was added into the population of a neighbouring parish to maintain the security of the data.

The village was known as "Are" in the Domesday Book of 1086. After the Norman Conquest the manor was granted to Ralph de Pomeray. Later it was held by the Kelly family.

The Church of St Mary dates from the 15th century and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. The fictional wedding of Lorna Doone in R. D. Blackmore's novel was set in this church. Blackmore's grandfather had been the rector there from 1809–1842.

Image:Williton Rural West small.png

Governance

Oare was originally a parish in the Carhampton Hundred, one of the hundreds or early subdivisions of the county of Somerset. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of the Williton 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. Oare joined the non-metropolitan West Somerset District which covered northwestern Somerset.

In 2019, for economic reasons, the West Somerset District joined with the Taunton Deane District to become the Somerset West and Taunton District.

Research Tips

  • GENUKI page on Oare
  • The Victoria History of the Counties of EnglandHistory of the County of Somerset, produced by The Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, does not provide any details on the parishes and chapelries of Carhampton Hundred.
  • 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 Oare. 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.