KINGSTON, a village and a parish in Taunton district, Somerset. The village stands under the S extremity of the Quantock Hills, near the Taunton and Watchet railway, 3½ miles NNW of Taunton; and has a post office under Taunton. The parish contains also the hamlet of Hestercombe. Acres, 3, 477. Real property, £7, 475. Pop., 892. Houses, 174. The property is much subdivided. The Hestercombe estate belonged, in the time of the Confessor, to Glastonbury abbey; was given, by the Conqueror, to the Bishop of Coutance; passed to the Bishops of Winchester; and has belonged, since the time of Henry III., to the family of Warre. The parish is noted for its cider. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £202.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. The church is early and later English; consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with sculptured and pinnacled tower; and contains finely carved bench ends in the flamboyant style, and an interesting old altar tomb of the Warre family. There are an Independent chapel, a school with £15 ayear from endowment, and charities £56.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))