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Wanstrow (#28 on map) is a civil parish and a village in Somerset, England, 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Frome. Since 1933 the parish has included the former parish of Cloford (#5). According to the UK census of 2011, the parish had a population of 489.
The parish was part of the hundred of Frome and the Frome Rural District (1894-1974). Since 1974 it has been part of the non-metopolitan Mendip District.
The village was involved in the production of coarse earthenware, using clay dug on Wanstrow Common, until 1826.
Historic Descriptions
1822 - Somersetshire Delineated by Christopher and John Greenwood
A parish in the hundred of Frome, 6 miles S. W. from Frome; containing, with the hamlet of Weston, 64 inhabited houses, and 93 families, 60 of whom are employed in agriculture. The church is dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of a nave, chancel, and two side aisles, with a tower containing five bells. The living is a rectory, in the deanery of Frome; Rev. Thomas Valentine, incumbent; instituted 1818. Population: 1801: 325; 1811: 365; 1821: 397.
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1875 - Somersetshire edited by Edward Robert Kelly
WANSTROW is a village, and station on the branch from Witham to Wells on the Great Western railway, 123 miles from London, 5 north-east from Bruton, and 6 from Frome (its nearest market town), in the Eastern division of the county, eastern division of Frome hundred, Frome union, county court district, and rural deanery, Wells archdeaconry, 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 Early English style, having a chancel, nave, aisles, transept, tower with 5 bells, porch, and organ. The register is supposed to date from about the year 1628. The living is a rectory, yearly value £360. with residence and 60 acres of glebe land, in the gift of Mrs. C. S. Clarke, and held by the Rev. Cicero Babbitts, B.A., of Worcester College, Oxford, non-resident; the Rev. Christopher Bousfield, M.A., of Queen's College, Oxford, is curate in charge. There is a National school for boys and girls, where a Sunday school is also held; also chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. Mrs. C. S. Clarke, who is lady of the manor, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners are the chief landowners. The soil is principally clay, and the subaoil stone and clay, but the latter predominates. The land is pasture, and a little arable, and dairy farming is carried on very extensively. The acreage is 2,054; gross estimated rental, £3,757 2s. 3d.; rateable value, 3,377 9s. 8d.; the population in 1871 was 396.
1929 - Somerset by George Woosung Wade & Joseph Henry Wade
Wanstrow, a village 6 m. S.W. of Frome, with a station on the G.W.R. branch to Wells. The church is ancient, but without interest.
Research Tips
General Somerset 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
Other Resources
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