In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Old Cleeve like this:
CLEEVE (Old), a parish in Williton district, Somerset; on the coast, adjacent to the Brendon-Hills and the Taunton and Watchet railway, 2 miles SW of Watchet r. station. It includes the chapelry of Leighland, and the hamlets of Warren, London, Binham, Chapel-Cleeve, Blue Anchor, Bilbrook, Pittaker, Hungerford, Stouts, Roughmore, Pancras, Roadwater, Croydon, Goldoncott, Traphole, Pitt, Chidgley, Stacklepath, Hookhill, Old-house, Prettys, Stanborough, and part of Washford; and its post town is Williton, under Taunton. ...
Acres, 5, 413; of which 440 are water. Real property, £7, 491. Pop., 1, 529. Houses, 308. The property is divided among a few. High craggy cliffs are on the coast, commanding fine views across the Bristol channel; and alabaster abounds near Blue Anchor, and is collected and ground for cement in a mill at Williton. A Cistertian abbey was founded in the Vallis Florida, or flowery vale, in the time of Henry II., by William de Romana, Earl of Lincoln; and endowed with the property of the entire parish. A gatehouse of it, bearing an inscription, and some dilapidated walls and arches, partly incorporated with farm-buildings, are still standing. A Lady's chapel, long a resort of devotees, and still represented by some fragments, stood between the church and Blue Anchor. A fragment of a cross, for guidance to the chapel, stands between the church and Washford; and another ancient cross, in tolerable preservation, stands in the churchyard. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £520.* Patron, Rev. J. B. Webb. The church is ancient, with floor slanting upward from the tower to the chancel; but is in good condition. The vicarage of Leighland is a separate benefice. Charities, £18.
Old Cleeve through time
Old Cleeve 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 Old Cleeve itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Old Cleeve in West Somerset | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/12610
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Old Cleeve".