Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for FARLEIGH-HUNGERFORD

FARLEIGH-HUNGERFORD, a village and a parish in Frome district, Somerset. The village stands on the river Frome, adjacent to Wilts, 2½ miles S by E of Freshford r. station, and 8 SSE of Bath; occupies a pleasant spot, commanding picturesque views; claims a very remote antiquity; and has a tolerable inn. The parish comprises 904 acres. Post town, Charterhouse-Hinton, under Bath. Real property, £1, 862. Pop., 127. Houses, 32. The property is divided among a few. The manor was given, by William the Conqueror, to Roger de Cour-celle; and passed to the Montforts, the Burghershes, the Hungerfords, and the Bayntons. A castle was built on it, in the times of Richard II. and Henry IV., by the Hungerfords; and was held, in the civil war of Charles I., for the king. This appears to have comprised an oval double court, with towers upon the walls; but it is now an utter ruin, consisting of a strong arched entrance, two ivy-mantled towers, and some fragments of thick walls. The chapel still stands within the enclosure; has later English windows, with traces elsewhere of early English; and contains armour, altar - tombs, and other monuments of the Hungerfords. Farleigh House is the seat of the Houltons. A Roman pavement was found in 1685. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £195.* Patron, J. T. Houlton, Esq. The church was recently enlarged.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Farleigh Hungerford AP/CP       Frome RegD/PLU       Somerset AncC
Place: Farleigh Hungerford

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