Norton St Philip

"NORTON ST. PHILIP, a parish in the hundred of Wellow, county Somerset, 7 miles S.E. of Bath, its post town, and 4 S.W. of the Freshford railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the high road from Bath to Frome, and is chiefly agricultural. There was formerly a grange to Hinton Abbey, where a cloth fair was held, and where the royal troops attacked Monmouth in 1685. Malting is carried on, and there are also a brewery and a corn-mill. The soil is of a loamy nature, upon a subsoil of stone. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £123. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value £91, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Philip and All Saints, is an ancient stone structure, with a lofty tower containing six bells, restored in 1847, The register dates from 1585. There is also a district church at Hinton-Charterhouse, the living of which is a perpetual curacy,* value £100. A school for both sexes was erected in 1827, and endowed with an annuity of £50 by Joseph Nield, Esq. There are also infant and Sunday schools. The Wesleyans and Baptists have each a place of worship." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003