In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Williton like this:
WILLITON, a small town, a chapelry, a sub-district, a district, and a hundred, in Somerset. The town stands near the West Somerset railway, under the Quantock hills, 1½ mile from the coast, and 14½ NW of Taunton; belonged, in the time of King Stephen, to the Fitzurses: passed to the Demboroughs and the Wyndhams; is a seat of county courts, and a polling place; publishes a weekly newspaper; presents a neat appearance, with cottages embowered in shrubs; comprises two long streets; and has a post-office‡ under Taunton, a r. ...
station with telegraph, a banking office, a hotel, remains of two old crosses, an early English church restored in 1858, two dissenting chapels, a national school, a workhouse, and two annual fairs.—The chapelry seems to be identical with the town, and is in St. Decumans parish; but the pop is not separately returned. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £70. Patron, the Vicar of St. Decumans.—The sub-district contains 6 parishes. Acres, 17,709. Pop., 5,679. Houses, 1,000.—The district comprehends also Minehead, Dunster, Stogursey, and Stogumber sub-districts; and it formerly included likewise Dulverton sub-district. Acres, exclusive of Dulverton, 109,202. Poor rates in 1863, £11,826. Pop. in 1851, 19,895; in 1861, 19,918. Houses, 3,836. Marriages in 1866, 81; births, 583,- of which 19 were illegitimate; deaths, 304,-of which 75 were at ages under 5 years, and 14 at ages above 85. Births in the ten years 1851-60, 5,659; deaths, 3,525. The places of worship, in 1851, inclusive of Dulverton sub-district, were 39 of the Church of England, with-8,865 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 270 s.; 6 of Baptists, with 1,388 s.; 8 of Wesleyans, with 1,359. s.; 1 of Primitive Methodists, with 34 s.; and 4 of Bible Christians, with 360 s. The schools were 29 public day-schools, with 1,616 scholars; 39 private day-schools, with 783 s.; and 44 Sunday schools, with 2,514 s.-The hundred contains 31 parishes, and bears the name of Williton and Free manors. Acres, 115,485. Pop. in 1851, 17,068; in 1861, 17,345. Houses, 3,285.
Williton through time
Williton is now part of West Somerset district. Click here for graphs and data of how West Somerset has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Williton itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Williton in West Somerset | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/13406
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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