Crewkerne

"CREWKERNE, a parish and market town in the hundred of Crewkerne, in the county of Somerset, 18 miles S.E. of Bridgwater, and 8½ S. W. of Yeovillage It is a station on the Yeovil and Exeter branch of the London and South Western railway. It is mentioned in the Saxon will of King Alfred, under the name of Crocern, or Cruaern, and at the time of the Domesday Survey was a royal manor. The town is pleasantly situated in a well wooded valley, near the river Parrot. It consists of about 750 houses, with market-house, two banks, and several factories for the weaving of sail-cloth, in which about 500 looms are employed. A stuff called dowlas and hosiery are also manufactured to a small extent. The living is a perpetual curacy* in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value with the curacy of Christ Church, £158, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Winchester. The church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, is a handsome cruciform structure of stone, in the decorated English style, consisting of nave, transepts, chancel, and aisles, with lofty embattled tower, and angular turrets. The charities amount to £524 per annum, including the endowment of two almshouses. The Baptists, Wesleyans, Unitarians, and Plymouth Brethren have each a chapel. There is an endowed grammar school with an annual income of £460, formed by John de Coombe in 1449; also National and infant schools. Earl Poulett is lord of the manor. A market is held weekly on Saturday, and a fair annually on the 4th of September." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003