England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Isle Brewers All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Isle Brewers lies in southern central Somerset roughly 4 miles north of the small market town of Ilminster, the prefix to the name refers not to the island in the marshland on which it sits rather to the River Isle. Isle Brewers sits a little over a mile west of the B3168 which connects Ilminster through towards Langport. Isle Brewers is made up of 2 distinct settlements, Isle Brewers, itself, is a long straggle of properties running southeast from the bridge over the Isle to its church, the more modern settlement is to its east, Westport on the B3168 which grew up at the terminus of the (bow disused) Westport Canal, wharves were established to serve the coal trade from the small Somerset coal-field. Much of the western portion of Isle Brewers parish was alongside the Isle where rich grazing meadows supported the dairy cattle of the area, drier areas were intensely arable. The modern development of Westport Canal arrived in 1834 courtesy of consultation from the famous Isambard Kingdom Brunel and functioned as a canal until closed and reduced to a drainage channel in 1878 by the Somerset Drainage Commissioners, it now solely carries out that function. Isle Brewers is drained northwards by the River Isle which soon meets the Parrett and crosses the Levels to reach the outer Bristol Channel bypassing Bridgwater to its north. Both Isle Brewers and Westport are sited at around 10 metres above the sea, just sufficient to avoid all but the most extreme flooding events. the low peninsula on which they sit rises to 41 metres at Golden Hill. Isle Brewers parish was a typical small Somerset parish covering just over 1,200 acres and supporting a population of around 350 parishioners. Domesday Isle Brewers was shared by Count Robert of Mortain with a Spaniard Alfred, its assets of 6 ploughs were backed by meadows, pastures and woodland and 2 mills, 1 each.

The Church

All Saints' church stands just over midway through the run of properties that constitutes Isle Brewers village, it sits on the northern side of that lane. As can readily be seen today's church is a relatively modern construction having replaced the medieval church in 1861, that earlier structure was described in gazetteers as "a handsome structure, in the later English style of architecture"; presumably a typical example of the Perpendicular. The church which replaced it is certainly unusual and reflects the taste and life-journey of the Reverend Joseph Wolff; Wolff began life as a Catholic converting to Anglicanism, spent many years in Asia and was a noted orientalist. The layout is unconventional too with the tower placed to the south rather than the west and the whole appears distinctly exotic in the Somerset countryside, shades of Eastern Europe mused Pevsner. A substantial gravelled parking area complete with picnic benches allows a leisurely visit, an arched wooden gateway grants access to the churchyard which has no obstacles whatsoever for the photographer.