In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described South Petherton like this:
PETHERTON (South), a small town, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred, in Somerset. The town stands near the Fosse way and the river Parret, 3 miles S W by W of Martock r. station, and 4½ N by W of Crewkerne; and has a post-office‡ under Ilminster, a banking office, a hotel, a police station, a church, three dissenting chapels, and an endowed national school, with £60 a year. ...
The church is cruciform, and variously early English, decorated, and perpendicular; has a centraloctagonal tower; was restored in 1861; and contains three brasses. A weekly market is held on Saturday, but has nearly become extinct; and a sheep fair is heldon 6 July. Pop. of the town in 1851, 1, 165; in 1861, 2,031. Houses, 423. The parish includes the tythings of Compton-Durvill, South Harp, and Over-Stratton. Acres, 3, 311. Real property, £9, 961. Pop. in 1851, 2, 606; in 1861, 2, 423. Houses, 503. The property is much subdivided. The manor belongs to W. P. Peters, Esq. Yeabridge House, Knap House, and Bridge Houseare chief residences. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £550.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Bristol.—The sub-district contains also three other parishes, and is in Yeovil district. Acres, 5, 385. Pop., 3, 862. Houses, 835. The hundredcontains fifteen parishes. Acres, 15, 688. Pop. in 1851, 5, 674; in 1861, 6, 196. Houses, 1, 307.
South Petherton through time
South Petherton is now part of South Somerset district. Click here for graphs and data of how South Somerset has changed over two centuries. For statistics about South Petherton itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of South Petherton in South Somerset | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/13144
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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