Doulting

"DOULTING, a parish in the hundred of Whitstone, in the county of Somerset, 1½ mile E. of Shepton Mallet, its post town and nearest railway station on the Great Western line, and 7 miles E. of Wells. It contains the hamlets of Prestleigh, Newman Street, and Waterlip. There are some extensive quarries of freestone, from which Wells Cathedral was built. There is a spring called St. Aldelm's Well, which is the source of the river Sheppy. The living is a vicarage* with the curacies of East and West Cranmore and Downhead annexed, in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value £640, in the patronage of Colonel Horner. The church is a spacious and elegant edifice in the form of a cross, with octagonal tower and spire. It is dedicated to St. Aldelm, whose effigy, as well as those of SS. Peter and John, is carved in stone. An ancient cross stands in the churchyard. The parochial charities produce about £5 per annum. The register commences in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. There is a parochial school. A barn with a handsome carved roof is said to have belonged to Glastonbury Abbey. W. Melliar, Esq., is lord of the manor." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003