Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset Family History Guide

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Burnham-on-Sea is an Ancient Parish in the county of Somerset. Highbridge is a chapelry of Burnham-on-Sea.

Other places in the parish include: Huish juxta Highbridge, Edithmead, and Aston Morris.

Alternative names: Burnham

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1630
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1604

Nonconformists include: Baptist and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Burnham-on-Sea Parish Registers

Baptism, Marriage and Burial Records

These records include images of Church of England parish registers.

Burnham-on-Sea Somerset Church of England Baptisms Marriages and Burials 1531-1812

Burnham-on-Sea 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.

Burnham-on-Sea 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.

Burnham-on-Sea Somerset Church of England Burials 1813-1914

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

BURNHAM, a village, a parish, and a subdistrict in the district of Axbridge, Somerset. The village stands on the coast, at the mouth of the rivers Brue and Parret, at the terminus of a short branch railway, in connection with the central Somerset and the Bristol and Exeter railways, 2 miles NW of the Highbridge Junction, and 9 SW by W of Axbridge. It has a post-office under Bridgewater, and an hotel; and is frequented as a watering-place. The beach at it is a fine sand; but is left bare, to the breadth of 4 miles, at low water.

A project was authorized in August 1860 for constructing a tidal harbour in connection with the branch railway, with the view of traffic by steam-vessels, to the various ports of the Bristol Channel and of South Wales. There is a large monthly market. Two mineral springs, severally saline and sulphurous, are close to the beach; and the two lights, for guiding vessels into the river Parret, 91 and 23 feet high, 1,500 feet asunder, the higher one intermitting, the lower one fixed, are in the neighbourhood.

The parish includes also the tything of Huish-juxta-Highbridge, the hamlets of Edithmead and Highbridge, and part of the tything of Aston-Morris. Acres, 4,302; of which 430 are water. Real property, £16,557. Pop., 2,252. Houses, 473. The property is much divided. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £559. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Wells. The church is an ancient building, 140 feet in length, with a lofty tower, serving as a landmark; was recently well restored; and contains a magnificent altar piece designed by Inigo Jones. The vicarage of Highbridge is a separate benefice. There are a national school and charities £72. Bishop King was vicar.

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

Maps

National Library of Scotland Maps – includes OS 25 inch 1892-1918 maps, a vast range of other historical OS maps and land use maps

Old maps of Britain and Europe from A Vision of Britain Through Time

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: Bempstone
  • Province: Canterbury