Axbridge, Somerset Family History Guide

|
Updated on
Links marked with a * mean that we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you. It all helps to keep the site online and free for everyone.

Axbridge is an Ancient Parish and a market town in the county of Somerset.

Parish church: St. John the Baptist

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1561
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1597

Nonconformists include:

Adjacent Parishes

Axbridge Parish Registers

Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers.

Axbridge Somerset Church of England Baptisms Marriages and Burials 1531-1812

Axbridge Somerset Church of England Baptisms 1813-1914

Marriage and Banns Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of marriages and banns records.

Axbridge Somerset Marriage Registers Bonds and Allegations 1754-1914

Death and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers of deaths and burial records.

Axbridge Somerset Church of England Burials 1813-1914

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

AXBRIDGE, a small town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a district, in Somerset. The town stands near the river Axe, and near the Cheder valley and Yatton railway, at the NW end of the Mendips, 10 miles NW of Wells; and has a railway station. It is an ancient place; and Roman roads went from it to Portishead and Ilchester. It consists chiefly of a tolerably neat street, running in a winding manner from east to west; and is practically no more than a village. The guildhall and market house stands at the east end; and is a modern edifice, rebuilt at a cost of about £1,800.

The parish church stands on an eminence near the market house; is a large, cruciform, early English structure, with a handsome tower; and contains old monuments to the family of Prowse. The town has a post office under Weston-super-Mare, two banking offices, and a chief inn; and is a polling-place, and a seat of petty sessions. Markets are held on Saturdays; and fairs, on 3 Feb., 25 March, and 2d Tues. of Oct.

Axbridge was formerly a borough by prescription, and sent members to parliament during the reigns of the first three Edwards, but was afterwards excused on the ground of poverty; and it still is governed, under charter from Queen Elizabeth, by a mayor, a bailiff, and ten aldermen. A tract adjacent to it was so improved by drainage of the Axe, about the year 1800, at a cost of £70,000, that land which previously was worth only about 2 s. 6d. yearly per acre, is now rented at £5 and £6.

The parish comprises 540 acres. Real property, £2,625. Pop., 799. Houses, 173. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £158. Patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Plymouth Brethren, and charities £101.

The subdistrict contains the parishes of Axbridge, Christon, Loxton, Compton-Bishop, Winscombe, Rowberrow, Shipham, Cheddar, and Nyland. Acres, 18,297. Pop., 5,856. Houses, 1,234.

The district comprehends also the subdistrict of Wedmore, containing the parishes of Wedmore, Mark, Chapel-Allerton, Weare, Badgworth, and Biddisham; the subdistrict of Burnham, containing the parishes of Burnham, East Brent, South Brent, Berrow, Brean, Lympsham, and Bleadon; the subdistrict of Banwell, containing the parishes of Banwell, Worle, Uphill, Hutton, Locking, Weston-super-Mare, Kewstoke, and Wick-St. Lawrence; and the sub district of Blagdon, containing the parishes of Blagdon, Burrington, Churchill, Puxton, Congresbury, Wrington, and Butcombe, and the ville of Charterhouse-on-Mendip.

Poor-rates in 1866, £21,819. Pop. in 1841, 32,204; in 1861, 36,106. Houses, 7,053. Marriages in 1866, 254; births, 1,071, of which 45 were illegitimate; deaths 792, of which 291 were at ages under 5 years, and 29 at ages above 85 years. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 1,903; births, 9,637; deaths, 6,029.

The places of worship in 1851 were 41 of the Church of England, With 13,148 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 730 s.; 13 of Baptists, with 2,729 s.; 2 of Quakers, with 600 s.; 24 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 3,856 s.; 2 of the Wesleyan Association, with 538 s.; 7 of Bible Christians, With 820 s.; and 1 undefined, with 30 attendants. The schools were 36 public day schools, with 2,271 scholars; 67 private day schools, with 1,036 s.; 54 Sunday schools, with 3,444 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 12 s. The workhouse is in Compton-Bishop.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

AXBRIDGE (St. John the Baptist), a market-town and parish, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of a union, locally in the hundred of Winterstoke, E. division of Somerset, 18 miles (S. by W.) from Bristol, and 130 (W. by S.) from London; containing 1045 inhabitants. This place, which derives its name from a bridge over the river Axe, was formerly the residence of some of the West Saxon monarchs, by whom it was invested with many privileges. The town is of mean appearance, and indifferently paved, but amply supplied with water.

The chief occupation of the poorer class of inhabitants was the knitting of stockings, but that trade was destroyed by the introduction of machinery, and the prosperity of the town declined until a fresh impulse was given to it by the drainage of the adjacent levels, which so much increased the value of the property in the neighbourhood, that land which previously was reckoned worth only 2s. 6d., is now let for £5 and £6 per acre. The navigation of the river Axe also has been greatly improved by an act obtained in 1802, and is now toll-free. The market is on Saturday; fairs for cattle are held on February 3rd, and March 25th, and day following.

Axbridge received its first charter of incorporation from Philip and Mary in 1556, but this was superseded by one granted by Elizabeth in 1598, the defects of which were supplied by a charter of James I., and these two last have been the governing charters. The corporate body consists of a mayor, recorder, alderman, eight capital burgesses or councillors, and an indefinite number of free burgesses; and a bailiff, townclerk and prothonotary, chamberlain, and several other officers, are also appointed.

The corporation hold a court of quarter-sessions, a court of pie-poudre during the fairs, and, as lords of the manor, a court baron once a year, generally in October. A new guildhall and market-house has been erected by the corporation, at a cost, including the improvements connected with it, of about £1800. Axbridge sent members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., but discontinued in the 17th of Edward III., on petition of the burgesses.

The parish comprises 541a. 2r. 30p., of which 73 acres are estimated to be covered with buildings and water, and 212 are waste and unproductive except as sheep pasture: the Mendip hill, close to the town, abounds with limestone of excellent quality for building and for burning into lime. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king’s books at £11. 4. 4., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Bath and Wells: the tithes have been commuted for £62. 3., and the glebe comprises 36 acres.

The church is a very ancient structure, occupying an elevated situation on the north-eastern side of the town, and supposed to have been erected by one of the West Saxon monarchs, two of whose statues formerly ornamented the tower. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. About £100 per annum, arising from lands bequeathed by different individuals, are applied to the relief of the poor. The union of Axbridge comprises 38 parishes and places, and contains a population of 32,206. Near the town is a mineral spring, which has been found efficacious in chronic diseases.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Family History Links

FamilySearch Historical Records

FreeREG Parish Registers 1597 to 1912

Administration

  • County: Somerset
  • Civil Registration District: Axbridge
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Wells
  • Diocese: Bath and Wells
  • Rural Deanery: Axbridge
  • Poor Law Union: Axbridge
  • Hundred: Winterstoke
  • Province: Canterbury