Place:Winsham, Somerset, England

Watchers
NameWinsham
Alt namesAmmerhamsource: hamlet in parish
Bridge near Winshamsource: hamlet in parish
Purtingtonsource: hamlet in parish
Whatley near Winshamsource: hamlet in parish
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates50.853°N 2.89°W
Located inSomerset, England
See alsoKingsbury Hundred, Somerset, Englandhundred in which it was part located
South Petherton Hundred, Somerset, Englandhundred in which it was part located
Chard Rural, Somerset, Englandrural district 1894-1974
South Somerset District, Somerset, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia.

Winsham (#35 on map) is a village and civil parish 4 miles (6 km) southeast of Chard and 6 miles (10 km) from Crewkerne, in the South Somerset District of Somerset, England. The parish is on the border between Somerset and Dorset. It had a population of 748 residents living in some 320 households in the 2011 UK census. The parish covers an area of approximately 12 square miles (3,100 hectares) and includes the hamlets of Whatley, Bridge, Purtington and Ammerham. (The suffix "near Winsham" has been added to Whatley and Bridge to prevent confusion with parishes of the same names elsewhere in Somerset.)

Winsham Parish Council was one of the first to be formed in 1894, shortly after the passing of the Local Government Act of the same year.

Winsham had its roots in Saxon times, and was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. Three estates had a major influence on Winsham's rural community: Forde Abbey, Cricket St. Thomas and Leigh House. The Fry family, the Bristol chocolate manufacturers, who owned the Cricket St Thomas estate from 1897 until 1919, and the Hall family who followed them, were particularly active in their support of the village. The Henley family (Henry Henley (1612–1696)) and the Davies family (George Davies (1875-1935)) of Leigh House also played an active part in village affairs.

Image:Chard Rural 1900 small.png

In the nineteenth century, the West of England Woollen Mill employed large numbers (said to be 600 at its peak). During that time the population of Winsham increased to over a thousand (1,062 in the UK census of 1851). This boom was over by 1850, when the mill closed, having lost its business to the north of England. At a later date, it continued on reduced scale processing jute until the early twentieth century.

Governance

Winsham was a parish in the South Petherton Hundred and also in the Kingsbury Hundred, both of which were hundreds or early subdivisions of the county of Somerset. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of the Chard 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. Winsham joined the non-metropolitan South Somerset District in 1974.

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