Nether Stowey Somerset Family History Guide

Nether Stowey is an Ancient Parish in the county of Somerset.

Alternative names:

Parish church: St. Mary

Parish registers begin:

• Parish registers: 1640
• Bishop’s Transcripts: 1598

Nonconformists include: Independent/Congregational

Adjacent Parishes

• Over Stowey
• Fiddington
• Stogursey
• Holford
• Spaxton

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

STOWEY (Nether), a village and a parish in Bridgewater district, Somerset. The village stands 7½ miles WNW of Bridgewater r. station; was once a market-town; and has a post-office under Bridgewater, and a fair on 18 Sept. The poets Coleridge, Southey, and Wordsworth were, for some time, residents. The parish comprises 1,215 acres. Rated property, £2,948. Pop., 876. Houses, 179. The manor belongs to Lord Tannton and Sir P. P. Acland, Bart. Castle Hill House is the seat of the Sealys. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £450. Patrons, the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The church, excepting the tower, was recently rebuilt; and is in the early English style. There are an Independent chapel, a national school, and charities £24.

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

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

STOWEY, NETHER (St. Mary), a small market-town and a parish, in the union of Bridgwater, hundred of Williton and Freemanners, W. division of Somerset, 8 miles (W. N. W.) from Bridgwater, and 147 (W. by S.) from London; containing 787 inhabitants. This place, which is situated on a stream tributary to the river Parret, consists of three streets diverging obliquely from the market-place, and is neat and well built. At the western extremity is a hill said to have been the site of an ancient castle, but nothing more than a circular earthwork now remains; it commands a fine view of the Channel, with the Mendip hills, and the surrounding country, which is agreeably diversified. The manufacture of silk is carried on to a limited extent. The market is on Saturday, but, from its proximity to Bridgwater, very little business is transacted; the market-house is a rude building. A fair for cattle takes place on September 18th; and a court leet and baron is held at Michaelmas, when constables and other officers are appointed. The living is a vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king’s books at £5. 2. 8½,; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The tithes have been commuted for £300; there is a glebe-house, built by the present incumbent, and the glebe contains 50 acres. The church is situated at the entrance into the town from Bridgwater. Here is a place of worship for Independents. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the gifted poet and moral philosopher, resided at the close of the last century at Nether Stowey, where he first became acquainted with Wordsworth.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848

Parish Records

FamilySearch

Use for:
England, Somerset, Stowey (Nether)

Maps

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

Administration

• County: Somerset
• Civil Registration District: Bridgwater
• Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Dean of Wells
• Diocese: Bath and Wells
• Rural Deanery: Pre-1845 – None, Post-1844 – Bridgwater
• Poor Law Union: Bridgwater
• Hundred: Williton and Freemanors
• Province: Canterbury