Place:Rode, Somerset, England

Watchers
NameRode
Alt namesRoadsource: Family History Library Catalog
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates51.285°N 2.282°W
Located inSomerset, England
See alsoFrome Hundred, Somerset, Englandhundred in which it was located
Frome Rural, Somerset, Englandrural district 1894-1974
Mendip District, Somerset, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Rode (formerly Road) (#22 on map) is a civil parish in Somerset, England located 5 miles (8.0 km) northeast of Frome (#F) and 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Trowbridge in Wiltshire. The village was formerly in Wiltshire, before being transferred to Somerset, probably in 1844. (It was in Somerset by 1870 according to John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72.)

The village lies within a mile of the Wiltshire border and is the easternmost settlement in Somerset. The Wiltshire village of Southwick is only 2 miles (3 km) to the east.

The parish was part of the hundred of Frome and the Frome Rural District (1894-1974). According to the UK census of 2011, the parish had a population of 1,025.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Rode, Somerset.

Historic Descriptions

1822 - Somersetshire delineated by Christopher & John Greenwood

A parish in the hundred of Frome, 5 miles N. N. E. from Frome ; containing 232 inhabited houses, and 257 families, 42 of whom are employed in agriculture, 213 in trade, manufacture, or handicraft, and 2 not comprised in either class. Road was formerly a large market-town, the charter for which was obtained by Laurence de St. Maur, from Edward the First; it has no market at present, but is a very considerable village, and the population has increased nearly one-fourth within the last ten years, in consequence of the improved state of the very handsome houses in the neighbourhood. The river Frome woollen manufacture, the proprietors of which have built some runs through the parish, turning several mills in its course; a fair is held here on the Monday after August i29th. The church is situated nearly half a mile from the village ; it is dedicated to St. Lawrence, and consists of a nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a tower at the west end containing six bells. The living is a rectory, in the deanery of Frome, and is consolidated with Woolvington; Rev. Charles Glossop, incumbent; instituted 1812. Population, 1801: 927; 1811: 957; 1821: 1217.

Image:Frome Rural 1900 small A.png

1929 - Somerset by George Woosung Wade & Joseph Henry Wade

Road, a village on the borders of Wiltshire, 4 m. N.N.E. from Frome. The church has a heavy embattled tower, from the top of which Charles II. is said to have reconnoitred the surrounding country after his hurried flight from Worcester. The interior is disappointing. There is an empty canopied recess in the S. aisle, and a piscina in the chancel.

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

Online Transcriptions

Other Resources

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Rode, Somerset. 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.