Wootton Courtenay

"WOOTTON-COURTENAY, a parish in the hundred of Carhampton, county Somerset, 4 miles S.W. of Dunster, and 4 S. of Minehead. The village is situated on the road from Dunster to Portlock, in a valley between the heights of Grabhurst and Dunkerry, which latter has an elevation of 1,668 feet above the level of the sea. The soil is a mixture of clay, stone brash, and marl, on a subsoil of shellet rock. There are quarries of Red sandstone and limestone, and a mine of iron-ore at the base of Dunkerry. The manor anciently belonged to the Courtney family, but is now the property of the Hon. R. H. Dutton, M.P. The living is a rectory's in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value £390, in the patronage of Eton College. The church is dedicated to All Saints. The rectory was once held by Bishop Montague, of Norwich. The charities produce about £40 per annum. A fair is held on the 9th September." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003