Milverton pub index ; private residents in 1883 and traders in 1883
MILVERTON is a large parish, formerly a market town, has a station on the
Great Western railway, 154 miles from London, 3 1/2 north from Wellington, 7
west from Taunton, in the Western division of the county, hundred of Milverton,
Wellington union and county court district, Wellington district of Taunton rural
deanery, and archdeaconry of Taunton and diocese of Bath and Wells, situated on
the road from Taunton to Wiveliscombe. The church of St. Michael is a
Perpendicular edifice erected on the site of a more ancient structure, and was
restored in 1850; it consists of chancel, nave, aisles separated from the nave
by arcades of four arches; south porch and a plain western tower of much earlier
date, containing a clock and 6 bells: the bench ends exhibit a profusion of
excellent oak carving: the aisles extend eastward beyond the nave; the extension
of the north aisle forming an organ chamber, and at the west end of each aisle
are galleries: the font is Norman: the chancel and other windows are stained.
The register dates from the year 1338. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly
value £420, with residence, in the gift of the Archdeacon of Taunton, and held
since 1868 by the Rev. William Henry Fowle B.A. of Trinity College, Oxford. The
Parsonage, an ancient structure, was formerly the residence of Cardinal Wolsey;
it has recently (1883) been restored by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and
made over with the glebe to the church. Here arc Congregational and Wesleyan
chapels. The charities consist of £300 bequeathed by Mary Lamb, increased by
subsequent investments to £948, applied by the school board to the education of
20 poor boys and 20 poor girls; £1,500 bequeathed in 1839 by Mrs. Betty Morgan
to trustees, for establishing a Sunday evening lecture; the vicar being the
lecturer. Aichcombe's charity of £40 yearly, for aged poor; Pawlett's of £36,
divided among such poor persons as have not received parish relief; and other
sums, amounting to about £15 annually, for similar purposes, Bindon, the estate
of Charles Lamport esq. J.P. is partly within this parish, but the house is in
Langford Budville, the adjoining parish. The Queen is lady of the manor. The
principal landowners are Lord Ashburton, Thomas P. Broadmead esq. James
Broadmead esq, the trustees of the late John P. Spurway esq and William Ayshford
Sanford esq. The soil is loamy, and the subsoil various, being a mixture of
clay, sand and lime rock. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats. The area
is 5,475 acres; rateable value, £9,134; the population in 1881 was 1,735.
Preston Bowyer, I mile east; Hounds Moor a quarter of a mile south-east, and
Screedhay, 2 1/4 miles south-west from the church, are hamlets here.
Parish Clerk, James Betty. Post & Money Order & Telegraph Office, Savings Bank &
Government Insurance i. Annuity Office.—(Railway Sub-Office.—Letters should have
R.S.O. Somerset added.)
James Slade Allen, sub-postmaster
Insurance; Agents :—
Royal Exchange, A. R. Payne
Sun, R. Bere
Public Officers :—
Assistant Overseer, James Chappell
Clerk to the Commissioners of Taxes for Bishops Lydeard
Division, Alex. Rd. Payne
Deputy Coroner for West Division of Somerset, George Cordwent M.D
Medical Officer of Health, Wellington Rural $ Wiveliscombe
Urban Sanitary Districts & Public Vaccinator No. 5
District, Wellington Union, Charles Randolph, St. Michael's
house
Medical Officer, No. 5 District, Wellington Union, H. W Randolph, St. Michael's
house
Registrar of Births & Deaths, Milverton Sub-district & Relieving & Vaccination
Officer, Wiveliscombe District Wellington Union, Frederick Flood
Steward of Her Majesty's Borough of Milverton, A. R. Payne
Police Sergeant in Charge, Christian Dewey
Schools :—
A School Board of 5 members was formed in 1871; Thomas Harris, clerk to the
board
Board Schools, erected, with master's house, about 1835 & greatlv enlarged in
1872, for 300 children; average attendance, 210; (boys'), Albert Purnell,
master; (girls') Miss Elvira Saunders, mistress; (infants'). Miss Emma Quick,
mistress
Railway Station, Sansom, station master