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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Brean like this:
BREANE, a parish in Axbridge district, Somerset; on the river Axe and on the coast, 4 miles SW by S of Weston-super-Mare Junction r. station, and 8 W of Axbridge. Post Town, Uphill, under Weston-super-Mare. Acres, 3,167; of which 2,000 are water. Real property, £2,389. Pop., 145. Houses, 27. ...
The property is divided among a few. Breane-Down is 300 feet high-;-and projects into a promontory 1¼ mile long, westward from the mouth of the river Axe. Cliffs, with abundance of samphire, are on the coast; and a great extent of sandy beach lies below. An act was passed in 1862 for the construction of harbour, piers or jetties, at Breane-Down, and for the formation of a railway thence to the Bristol and Exeter railway. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells. Value, £216.* Patron, W. Willes, Esq. The church is good.
Brean is now part of SOMERSET Unitary Authority. Click here for graphs and data of how SOMERSET has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Brean itself, go to Statistics.
How to reference this page:
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Brean in Somerset | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/12468
Date accessed: 08th April 2026
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Brean".
