CONGRESBURY, a parish (formerly a market
town) in the hundred of WINTERSTOKE, county of
SOMERSET, 7 miles (N. by "W.) from Axbridge, containing
1202 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, with the
perpetual curacy of Wick St. Lawrence annexed, in the
archdeaconry of Wells, and diocese of Bath and Wells,
rated in the king's books at £42. 1.8., and in the patronage
of the Mayor and Corporation of Bristol. The
church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a handsome structure
with a tower and lofty spire. This is a very large parish,
bounded on the west by extensive marshes stretching to
the Bristol channel: the legendary account of it states
that the name is derived from St. Congar, son of an
eastern monarch, who in 711 fled from his father's court,
to avoid a marriage to which he was disinclined, and
ultimately settled here, where he built an oratory, received
a grant of land from Ina, King of the West
Saxons, and founded an establishment for twelve canons;
he then proceeded on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where
he died, and was brought hither for interment. Jocelyn,
Bishop of Bath, obtained from Henry III. a grant of
a weekly market and an annual fair; the market is
disused, but the fair is held on the 14th of September:
a large and lofty cross stands in the centre of the
village.