Bradford, a parish on the Tone, 4 m.  S.W. of Taunton, with a church ded. to St Giles.  The stair-turret is on the S. face of the tower (as at Wellington).  The piers of the arcade seem to be E.E. or Dec., with two in the Perp. style at the E. end, one of them being of the normal Somerset type, whilst the other has the “Devonshire” foliage.  There is an effigy of a knight of the time of Richard II. in the S. wall; and there is also preserved the base of a Norm. font (with foot ornament), supporting a bowl of later date.  Under the W. window of the S. aisle are the old stocks.

An ancient bridge across the Tone (perhaps dating from the 13th cent.) carries the road to Nynehead and Milverton:  the parapet is modern.

Bradley, West, a small village 4 m.  E.S.E. from Glastonbury.  The church is an unattractive-looking little building, but of more interest than its appearance suggests.  It has a short, battlemented W. tower (with pyramidal cap), supposed to date from 1400.  The vault is groined.  In the S. porch is a mutilated stoup.  Within, note (1) in chancel, image brackets and defaced piscina; (2) rood loft stair and window.  The nave roof is original.

Bratton Seymour, a village conspicuously perched on a hill 3 m.  W. from Wincanton.  The church has been rebuilt.  Its prominent position makes it an excellent landmark.  W. of the church is a tumulus where have been discovered the remains of a Roman watch-tower.

Brean, a scattered hamlet 4 m.  N. of Burnham, near the estuary of the Axe.  Its little church, with its foundations much below the level of the neighbouring sand-dunes, is noteworthy merely for its lonely situation.  To the N. is Brean Down, a narrow promontory extending more than a mile into the sea, with traces of earthworks.  From Weston it may be reached in the summer months by a ferry; the road from the same place is a circuitous one, by way of Bleadon or Lympsham.

Brent, East, a village 2 m.  E. of Brent Knoll Station.  The name may refer to the knoll, brent meaning a steep hill.  The place has a church with a stone spire.  Its most interesting features are, externally, the sculptures on the W. face of the tower ((1) Virgin and Child, (2) the Father holding the Crucified Son, (3) Christ crowning the Virgin), and, internally, the roof, the woodwork, and the ancient glass.  The nave roof, of plaster, may be compared with that of Axbridge; its date is 1637.  The Jacobean or rather Caroline pulpit dates from 1634, and the columns supporting the gallery from 1635.  The seat-ends (15th cent.) are good:  among the carvings note the symbols of the Evangelists (that of St Mark is missing, both here and at S. Brent) and the initials of John Selwood, the antepenultimate Abbot of Glastonbury (d. 1473).  The old glass (late 14th cent.) will be seen in two windows in the N. aisle.  Two effigies, one an ecclesiastic, the other probably a layman, have been placed under two of the windows.  The frescoes (in S. porch and chancel) and the cross in the churchyard are modern:  on the latter are statuettes of apostles, and mediaeval and modern ecclesiastics.