East Brent, Somerset

Description
Brent, East, a village and a parish in Somersetshire. The village stands 1 1/2 mile from Brent Knoll station on the G.W.R., and 6 miles WSW of Axbridge. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Highbridge (R.S.O.) The parish includes also the hamlets of Rooksbridge and Edingworth. Acreage, 3631; population of the civil parish, 716 ; of the ecclesiastical, 683. Brent Knoll, on the southern border, is a conical hill 883 feet high, commands an extensive view, and is crowned with vestiges of a doubly entrenched Roman camp. Roman coins and other relies have been found here, and King Alfred is said to have fought with the Danes at Battleborough, at the foot of the hill. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £666 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The church, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, is an interesting edifice, with a spire 140 feet high, and has several windows of ancient painted glass. There is also a Methodist chapel, and there was anciently a cell to Glastonbury Abbey.