In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Chard like this:
Chard, mun. bor., market town, and par. with r. sta., W. Somerset, on border of co., 14½ miles SE. of Taunton and 143 miles SW. of London -- par., 5449 ac., pop. 5682; mun. bor., pop. 2411; P.O., T.O., 2 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-days, Monday, Thursday, and Saturday; was at one time a parl. bor., returning 2 members, a privilege of which it was deprived in the reign of Edward III. C., which is a well-built town, standing on an eminence, has mfrs. of lace and woollen goods, and iron and brass wares.
Chard through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Chard has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of South Somerset. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Chard and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Chard in South Somerset | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/24
Date accessed: 19th June 2013
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