Lydeard St Lawrence or St Lawrence Lydiard is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Taunton. The village has a population of 506.
History
The Lydeard part of the name is believed to be a corruption of Lidegaard from the Celtic garth meaning ridge and Old English led meaning grey. The second part of the village name is taken from the dedication of the church.
From Saxon times the manor was owned by the Bishop of Winchester as part of their Taunton Deane estate. After the Norman Conquest it was granted to Wilward by William the Conqueror and known as Pylegh. The parish of Lydeard St Lawrence was part of the Taunton Deane Hundred.
In the 18th century the manor was acquired by the Hancock family.
It is also part of the Tiverton and Minehead county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Religious sites
The parish Church of St Lawrence dates from 1350 and has been designated as a Grade I listed building. It was granted to Taunton Priory by Simon de Florey in the late 12th century with the patronage later being held by the Portman family during the 17th and 18th centuries.
- Henry Wolcott (6 December 1578 – 30 May 1655) Emigrant to Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut, sailing on "The Mary and John" to Boston in 1630. Grandfather of Gov. Roger Wolcott, and great-grandfather of Gov. Oliver Wolcott.
Less notable residents
Thomas Benet, clerk, suffered the cutting down & removal of trees from his land in Lydeyerde St Laurence, in 1396.