Where and what is Merriott?
Merriott is a parish and village in the hundred of Crewkerne, union of Chard, 2 miles north of Crewkerne in Somerset. The Parish extends over three miles from north east to south west, and is two miles across at its widest point – a roughly triangular shape of about 1750 acres in 1901. By 1934 the parish consisted of approximately 2700 acres after the addition of some of the northern Crewkerne area. The long south east boundary with Chiselborough, West Chinnock and Crewkerne follows the path of the river Parrett or one of its tributaries, while the northern boundary follows the Lopen brook. To the west is Hinton St George and Furland, Crewkerne.
Click on the thumbnails below for a larger view.
Somerset Archives have some good old maps of the area – have a look at: https://www.swheritage.org.uk/somerset-archives
Here are some 1889 maps of Merriott & district from the https://www.old-maps.co.uk/ site: Check out this site for surrounding maps.
Images produced from the https://www.old-maps.co.uk/ service with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. (www.landmark-information.co.uk) and Ordnance Survey (https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/)
Here is my hand-drawn map showing various locations in the village of Merriott. Note the triangular shape of the Hitchen, formed by the three roads: Broadway, Lower Street and Church Street.
This map shows Merriott’s position in regard to surrounding villages.
The village of Merriott has the reputation of being the largest in England. The population was 785 in 1619, rising to 1017 by 1801, and stabilizing at just under 1500 in the years 1831 to 1871. There followed a steady decline to 1116 in 1931. Since World War II there has been a gradual rise, to 1327 in 1951, and 1495 in 1971.
For more information about some of the placenames in Merriott, see Placenames