Weston

"WESTON, a parish in the hundred of Bath-Forum, county Somerset, 2 miles N.W. of Bath. The upper road from Bath to Bristol passes through the parish, and the line of the Great Western railway within a mile. A stream rising in Lansdown hill flows through the village to the river Avon, skirting the southern boundary of the parish, and here crossed by a stone bridge. On Lansdown hill is a monument to the memory of Sir Bevill Grenville, who fell in a battle between the Parliamentarians and Royalists in 1643. The substratum in the uplands is of inferior oolite, and in the lower grounds blue lias, which is quarried for burning into lime. The soil is loamy. The quarries contain many fossil remains, including bones of the ichthyosaurus. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value with the curacy of St. John's annexed, £460, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to All Saints, was rebuilt in 1832, with the exception of the tower. The register dates from 1538. There are besides, the district church of St. John, erected in 1838, and the chapel of Partis College. The Wesleyans, Baptists, and Lady Huntingdon's Connexion have chapels. The are National, infant, and Sunday-schools. The local charities produce about £25 per annum. A fair is held on the 10th August for cattle, sheep, pigs, and cheese." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003