Congresbury

"CONGRESBURY, a parish in the hundred of Winterstoke, in the county of Somerset, 2 miles E. of the Yatton station on the Bristol and Exeter line, and 12 S.W. of Bristol, its post town. It is situated on the river Yeo. A singular custom of distributing annually the common lands by lot in single acres, hence called Dolemoors, formerly prevailed in this manor. The living is a vicarage * in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value with the curacy of Wick St. Lawrence annexed, £800, in the patronage of the trustees of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, at Bristol. The vicarage house has a very remarkable porch, the arch of which is richly ornamented with an imitation of the well-known tooth ornament of the 13th century, but really built about 1470 by the executors of Bishop Beckington, the arms over the doorway, cut in the original stone-work, being those of the see of Wells and of Beckington's executors, the same as in the Vicar's Close, at Wells, so that this house was built about the same time as that work. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a stone edifice in the perpendicular style; with two small chapels. It contains a font of the 12th century. The register commences in 1557. The charities produce about £5 per annum. The Plymouth Brethren and Primitive Methodists have places of worship, and there is a National school. In the village is a fine market cross, which stands on five tiers of steps. This was once a market town, and St. Congar is said to have founded an oratory here in 711. A fair is held on the 14th September." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003