National Gazetteer (1868) - Churchill

"CHURCHILL, a parish in the hundred of Winterstoke, in the county of Somerset, 13 miles from Bristol, 5 N. of Axbridge, and 5 from the Yatton station of the Great Western railway. It is delightfully situated in a valley, near the old turnpike road leading from Bristol to Bridgwater. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value £98, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is in the perpendicular style of architecture, and contains monuments and a brass; among the former is one with some beautiful lines, said to be the composition of the celebrated Dr. Donne. The register commences in 1650. There are Independent and Wesleyan chapels, and a National school for both sexes.

Churchill Court, once the seat of the Churchills, ancestors of the celebrated Duke of Marlborough, is situated near the church, and at Upper Langford are the remains of the seat of the Jennings family, which, like Churchill Court, is now used as a farmhouse. Situated near Langford is Langford House, a neat edifice with beautiful grounds. From the balconies of Mendip Lodge may be seen the Bristol Channel and some of the Welsh mountains. On Dolberrow Hill are the remains of an ancient camp, supposed to be of Danish construction, but in which both Roman and Saxon coins have been discovered; it occupies more than 30 acres, and is fortified with a double vallum. Calamine is found, and at one time afforded employment to many of the inhabitants, having been used in the composition of brass, but its use is now discontinued by reason of the discovery of a cheaper process."