BURNHAM, a parish in the hundred of BEMPSTONE,
county of SOMERSET, 9 miles (W.S."W.) from Axbridge,
containing 920 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage;
in the archdeaconry of Wells, and diocese of Bath and
Wells, rated in the king's books at £ 16.11.10., and in
the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Wells. The
church, dedicated to St. Andrew in 1316, is a spacious
edifice, with a lofty plain tower, that serves as a landmark.
It contains the fine altar-piece designed by
Inigo Jones for the chapel of the intended palace of
Charles II. at Whitehall, and afterwards placed in Westminster
abbey, by the dean and chapter of which it
Was presented to Dr. King, Bishop of Rochester, for
many years incumbent of this parish, who erected it in
the church at his own expense. It is of white marble,
and is executed in the Grecian style: the principal objects
are three boys holding a bible, two children in a
kneeling attitude, one pouring incense on the altar from
a thuribulum, and the other bearing a paten, with two
angels in the act of reverence, inclining toward the
altar, as supporters. This parish lies on the coast of
the'Bristol channel, and the fine sandy beach has induced
many respectable families to reside here during
the summer. A lighthouse, formerly the property of
a private individual, has lately been purchased by the
Corporation of the Trinity House, for the guidance of
vessels passing up the channel.