Bruton map ref F8

How much money can you amass as a royal auditor? Bruton’s Hugh Sexey served both Elizabeth I and James I and left enough to found an almshouse that still accommodates the elderly and a school that is now one of the few state boarding schools.

Bruton clings to a hill above the Brue valley, surrounded by more hills. With its narrow main street and packed together buildings, each one of interest, the town has been saved from major development by its geography. Bartons, narrow medieval alleys, lead down from the High Street to Lower Backway that runs beside the river.

In the middle of the High Street is seventeenth century Sexey’s Hospital, its beautiful quadrangle affording a stunning view across the valley. The charming small, candle-lit chapel has dark, Jacobean oak pews and pulpit. Chapel and next door hall are open to the public.

Everywhere are signs of the prosperity Bruton enjoyed fi rst through wool and then silk. For details visit the little museum and Gants Mill, a thousand year old working mill on the edge of Bruton.

From Lower Backway the Brue is crossed by foot over the ancient Packhorse Bridge or by a ford. Cars require the Church Bridge. Brue comes from the Welsh bryw, meaning vigorous, brisk. And brisk it can be. Look for the sign in Patwell Street indicating the 1917 fl ood level. In 1982, both bridges were carried away.

Patwell Pump at the corner of Church Bridge is around two hundred years old. A rare example of a public pump complete and in working order, it replaced an earlier one.

A major puzzle is the location of Bruton’s market cross. In 1540 it had six arches and a central pillar. Today there’s no trace left.

St Mary’s Church is famous for having two towers. Inside, English perpendicular suddenly gives way to a wide, classical chancel, plastered and gilded to amazing effect. It contains a rather crowded Elizabethan tomb with Sir Humphrey Berkeley lying between both his wives.

The ruined tower on the hill behind the church is an old Dovecote that once produced food for the long vanished Abbey, its fi nal remnant the handsome buttressed wall known as the Plox, opposite the independent King’s School, founded in 1519. St Bartholomew’s Church, Crewkerne

Bruton Dovecote

Castle Cary

Crewkerne map ref B4

Sails for HMS Victory from a town miles from the sea? Flax farming founded a canvas making industry, evidence of which can still be seen today in Crewkerne. At Viney Bridge the last of several companies that wove canvas and webbing in the town still has pieces of the sails that carried Nelson’s fl ag ship to victory in the Battle of Trafalgar. And that’s not the only connection Crewkerne has with that famous engagement.

At the local museum, located in a beautifully restored eighteenth century house, homage is paid to Nelson’s captain, Sir Thomas Hardy, educated at Crewkerne grammar school.

Crewkerne has hidden its modern shopping developments behind main streets with a wealth of period shops and houses. Where once stood the stables of the historic George Hotel, fi lled with bustling ostlers and grooms hurrying to service the stages, today there are charming small shops. The hotel is still there, though, facing Market Square, and nearby the White Hart Inn dates from medieval times.

From the square radiate out a series of roads that all contain a rich variety of architecture. An appropriate setting for the many antique and book shops Crewkerne is noted for. And down South Street is the famous auction house of Lawrence’s, housed in a restored linen yard.

The jewel of Crewkerne has to be the medieval church of St Bartholomew’s but it requires searching out. Yes, the tower can be glimpsed but where is the rest of the building? When you fi nally climb Church Street the size and magnifi cence of St Bartholomew’s, as it seems to fl oat above the town against a backdrop of green meadows, is a revelation. Inside it’s wonderfully light with a soaring nave furnished with angels. It is said that early in the sixteenth century, Odolina, the fi rst in a series of female hermits, occupied a cell in the west end of the church. Do look for Rear-Admiral Joseph Symes’ monument with its splendid account of an action packed naval career from Trafalgar to his death in 1856.

Somerton map ref E5

A church, dragons and barrels of cider - odd partners? Not in Somerton.

The town’s right to be called an ancient capital of Wessex is disputed but it was certainly a very early settlement and gave the county its name.

Today, Somerton’s lovely stone houses and cottages lie somnolent under Somerset skies. Look, though, at beautiful Broad Street, wonder why it is quite so wide? Once it was the setting for noisy and active cattle markets. The attractive little Cow Square - no sign of any such animal today - is thought to have been the site of the county gaol and court house that for nearly a hundred years in the fourteenth century effectively made Somerton the county town.

Broad Street leads into picturesque Market Square, a generous area rich in the blue lias stone buildings that at fi rst glance give Somerton a remarkably uniform appearance. A second glance reveals different styles and periods. Tucked away in one corner is the church of St Michael and All Angels, its octagonal tower echoed in both the covered market cross and the Millennium sun dial on the Parish Rooms, specially designed and made by a local artist. It shows local Somerton time.

Out of Market Square leads West Street, with its almshouses built in 1624 and a well tucked away modern shopping centre, housed in buildings converted from the old brewery.

But what of the dragons and cider barrels? The sixteenth century roof of St Michael’s is one of the most stunning in Somerset. Gloriously coffered and richly carved, probably by monks from Muchelney Abbey, the tie beams each support a pair of dragons that gradually increase to a fearsome size as they approach the altar. And the cider barrels? Look up high and fi nd one whole, one in half relief. The altar is a remarkably fi ne Jacobean holy table that cost £3 in 1626, plus ten shillings transportation from Langport. Illuminated historical notes and a fi ne modern silk hanging are in the south transept’s Holy Spirit chapel.

Castle Cary map ref E7

Watch your step in Castle Cary, not only is its famous Round House in excellent condition, but there is a restored cell available in the Market House local information centre!

Local Hamstone gives Castle Cary a golden charm. There are excellent shops and the handsome Market House, rebuilt in 1856, is home to an interesting museum that includes a fi ne collection of agricultural and domestic bygones. One room is devoted to the diarist Parson Woodforde, born in Ansford in 1740 and curate of both Castle Cary and Ansford from 1771-1773.

No trace today of the Norman castle that once was one of the largest in the kingdom. Standing behind the horse pond, it was pulled down after the struggles between Stephen and Maud. But the high pavements in South Cary date back to Saxon times and are said to have aided the loading of pack ponies with cloth woven in the cottages there.

The fi fteenth century church with, unusually for Somerset, a spire instead of a tower, has a wonderfully carved sixteenth century pulpit, a medieval font and a mosaic created by the children of Ansford School in 1967.

Once there were livestock markets on Bailey Hill. The Round House there was built in 1779 for £23 as a temporary lock-up for malefactors. The Post Offi ce is housed in a beautiful eighteenth century building and rope used to be made in the Ropewalk.

In the High Street, the George Hotel, one of many local hostelries, dates back to the thirteenth century, and Lush Butchers has been owned by the same family for over a hundred years. Amongst many interesting buildings, outstanding is the restored shop front of T White, formerly an ironmongers.

How many war memorials have you seen standing in ponds? At the southern end of Castle Cary, the Horse Pond’s original use was as a drive-through bath for muddy horse and carts. It also came in useful for washing horsehair. The John Boyd company, founded in 1837, still produces world famous and royally patronised horsehair fabric in their Torbay Road nineteenth century premises using century old machinery. No longer needed by horses or their hair, today the pond proudly surrounds the war memorial.

Langport map ref E4

To capture the essence of Langport is as diffi cult as trying to catch an eel. And young eels swim up from the Saragasso Sea and invade the rhynes and ditches that lace through the levels all around this small Somerset town. In medieval times, eels could act as currency.

Once barges brought produce up the River Parrett from Bridgwater to a thriving industrial town with its own Customs House. Twenty ale houses catered for the sailors, bargees and navvies.

In the 1770’s, George Stuckey and Thomas Bagehot, as an offshoot of their successful trading company, founded a bank. At one time Stuckey’s Bank had a bank note circulation second only to the Bank of England. Finally taken over by the Westminster Bank, the original head offi ce is now Langport’s NatWest branch.

Langport Visitor Centre beside the Great Bow Bridge offers bicycle hire and displays chronicling Langport’s history and the wetlands. Stand by the bridge and look up Bow Street. It’s no illusion that the houses on either side lean backwards. Their fronts are built on a Roman stone causeway that led across the marshy levels and their backs are gradually sinking into those same levels!

A walk will take you to the delightful catchwater or Back River that runs between Langport and the River Parrett, and the Common Moor, where townspeople still have grazing rights.

Above the ancient gate at the top of the hill is the Hanging Chapel. It’s been Town hall, grammar school, museum, armoury and Sunday School. Now a Masonic Lodge, it’s rarely open to the public. Nearby, the redundant church of All Saints has fascinating gargoyles and interesting stained glass windows. Walter Bagehot, nineteenth century economist and descendant of both founders of Stuckey’s bank, is buried in the churchyard, where there are wonderful views over the fascinating Somerset Levels. Not far from the church a green, wooded triangle marks the site of the original market. In the eighteenth century a rival one triumphed in Cheapside.

On the edge of Langport, beyond the chapel, is St Mary’s Church of Huish Episcopi, now the town’s parish church, much to local chagrin. Its tower is one of the most beautiful in Somerset and inside is a vivid stained glass window by Burne Jones.

Yeovil map ref C6

Handsome pedestrian precincts, generous car parking, a wide variety of shops and a number of weekly markets make Yeovil a treasure trove for shoppers.

Yeovil, though, offers much more. This is a town that has always developed, always taken new opportunities, never lived in the past. But the past is all around for those who look. Often the older buildings are pubs and hotels that combine history with hospitality. Not all, though. The Town Hall is housed in a handsome period hamstone house. A detecting talent will soon establish its previous role by spotting the wording incised into a lintel above a window that was once a door. All around the rebuilt centre of Yeovil, in fact, can be seen a variety of period buildings. Look above the modern shop fronts for the evidence.

In the wide and pleasant precinct between the Library and the Post Offi ce is a sculpture which imaginatively depicts the industries that have sustained Yeovil and made it prosperous: the fl ax that provided linen for sailmaking and webbing; the leather tanning and glove making; engineering and helicopters.

St John’s Church stands in beautifully planted gardens above the modern Quedam shopping precinct. Fourteenth century, it is almost pure perpendicular. At its west end there used to be a chantry, used as a charity school and a sixteenth century painting shows the pupils hurrying into church with their master. In the mid-nineteenth century new schoolrooms were built on the edge of the gardens. Today they are shops and offi ces but the original chantry can still be seen, rebuilt in 1855 beside the schoolrooms.

Organ recitals and concerts are held in St John’s and Yeovil itself is a thriving social centre offering a wide range of activities for young and old.

Visitor Informationwww.visitsouthsomerset.com

Contact Information Centres for these FREE leafl ets

Stepping into BrutonCastle Cary and AnsfordChard Town GuideCrewkerne: Historic Market Town in the South Somerset HillsIlchester History TrailIlminster Town GuideLangport Town TrailSomerton: Ancient Royal Town of WessexWincanton: Offi cial GuideYeovil Town GuideYeovil: Your Guide to Shopping,Eating Out and Leisure

If you would like the information in this booklet in large print, Braille, audio or another language,

please contact 01935 462462

Published by Economic Development, Heritage & Tourism,South Somerset District Council, Brympton Way, Yeovil BA20 2HT

Telephone: (01935) 462462 Fax: (01935) 462243,Email: tourism@southsomerset.gov.uk

Written by Janet Laurence. Photography by Nigel Andrews, Terry Donovan, Malcolm Kitto, Cliff Towler and Martin Woods

Designed by creative-studios.com© South Somerset District Council 2011

Chard map ref A2

Forget about the Wright brothers, the fi rst powered fl ight took place in Chard in 1848. This historic town has in fact given birth to a number of notable pioneers.

In a remarkably comprehensive museum are models of James Stringfellow’s early steam-powered aeroplanes. Also some of James Gillingham’s pioneering artifi cial limbs that in the second half of the nineteenth century made Chard an international centre for three generations. The museum gives a valuable picture of nineteenth century rural life with a complete blacksmith’s forge, carpenter’s, wheelwright’s and plumber’s workshops, a kitchen, laundry, childhood and costume galleries and agricultural implements.

Margaret Bonfi eld, the fi rst female British cabinet minister, came from Chard. The museum has a recording of her confi dent, no-nonsense voice, made while she was Minister of Labour in the Labour Government of 1929.

Chard itself dates back to the thirteenth century, the result of opportunism on the part of the church as it branched out into medieval property development. Capitalising on the traffi c passing to the north of the ecclesiastical Manor of Chard, fi fty-two parcels of land were offered in 1235 in return for an annual rent. Explore through the arch of the Elizabethan Manor Court in Fore Street for an idea of the original ‘burgages’. Manor Court escaped a disastrous fi re that destroyed much of medieval and Elizabethan Chard.

Chard’s oldest building has to be St Mary’s Parish Church. Its attractive perpendicular exterior is equipped with a marvellously grotesque set of gargoyles. Inside is a charming memorial to a seventeenth century physician, William Brewer and his wife, shown in profi le with their six sons and fi ve daughters. At fi rst sight there seem only to be fi ve boys but search from a different angle and another face appears, looking the other way!

The only reminder of Chard’s nineteenth century canal is the water channelled down part of Fore Street which originates from springs on Snowdon Hill. Local folklore claims one stream fl ows north to the Bristol channel, another south to the English channel. The water runs past three interesting sculptures representing rural Chard, Chard’s industrial development and the future, down to a bronze model of Stringfellow’s plane near the Guildhall, a modern link with the past. Look up the street, though, and the town’s varied history can be traced through the attractive buildings that line each side.

Ilminster map ref B3

Up until 1857, Ilminster was a peculiar town. Royal Peculiar, that is, a parish only answerable to the crown, not to a local bishop or archdeacon. As such it held its own church court, in which wills were proved.

Today, perched on the side of a hill, with its main street running round, not up and down the slope, Ilminster is one of the most charming of Somerset towns. Once the High Street, with its wonderfully named Strawberry Bank, took the main London-Exeter traffi c. Today a bypass has returned thousand year old Ilminster to peaceful enjoyment of its unique atmosphere.

Seventeenth century Ilminster was the fourth largest town in Somerset, its cloth trade remarkably prosperous. Market Square, with its attractive colonnaded market cross, rebuilt in 1813, is surrounded by handsome eighteenth century buildings. The George pub proudly sports a sign announcing that it was the fi rst hotel that Queen Victoria stayed in. The date was 1819, when the newly born future queen was on her way with her parents to Sidmouth in Devon. The royal Kents were one small facet of the lucrative coach trade that came through Ilminster during the later eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

West of Market Square, in Silver Street, is the minster church of St Mary, set like a jewel in a green churchyard and surrounded by outstandingly attractive buildings, including the grammar school founded in 1549. Just off the churchyard is Court Barton with an enchanting series of seventeenth and eighteenth century cottages and houses.

For the Millennium, the gracious fi fteenth century perpendicular minster added exceptionally attractive engraved glass doors to the nave entrance. Admire also the fan vaulting of the tower and the tomb of Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, founders of Wadham College, Oxford. For sheer incident, search out the history of Humphrey Walrond, an ebullient local aristocrat whose support of Charles I sent him into adventurous exile in Spain and Bermuda.

Dyers is a wonderful period looking draper and costumier in Silver Street. Down Brewery Lane at the western end of Ilminster is the popular Warehouse Theatre. Near the top of East Street, one of the earliest of Somerset’s many chapels, built in 1719, has been converted into a Meeting House complete with exhibition gallery, information centre and restaurant.

Wincanton map ref E8

A walk round Wincanton suggests a town devoted to God and drink. Everywhere are churches, chapels and pubs. There is even a Men’s Social Club approached through a graveyard.

Two hundred years ago, as many as seventeen stage coaches a day would pass through Wincanton. Today, approach it from the north along what was once the main London road (the A303 now bypasses the town) and it is easy to imagine very little has changed. The wide street contains handsome houses and staging inns, the Market Place is backed by an attractive eighteenth century building, now a post offi ce. Yet two hundred years ago buildings were decrepit and the town desperately poor, suffering from a decline in the weaving industry. It was rescued by the coach trade and the opening of the railway in 1862.

God can be found everywhere, in the nineteenth century church of St Peter and St Paul at the bottom end of town, in the Roman Catholic church in South Street, the Quaker, Methodist and Baptists Chapels and a Community Church which is housed in the old South Street cinema.

Most of the handsome coaching inns still survive. The Greyhound, though, has been converted into a most attractive series of apartments plus an attractive women’s clothes shop. The old stables are now houses.

Running down one side of the post offi ce is Mill Street, once containing shops. Here are old weavers cottages and half way down on the right is the former Congregational Chapel, now a Social Club, its approach bordered with interesting old graves. On the left is the old school house and hall, now an antique business.

In St Peter & St Paul’s churchyard stands a monument to Nathaniel Ireson. It is said he carved his own terracotta memorial. Wincanton’s famous architect left monuments all around the area: Stourhead (built to Colin Campbell’s designs); Ven House, Milborne Port; the chancel at Bruton’s church; his own house at the top of Ireson Lane in Wincanton. He also provided the town with an industry making highly collectable delft-type pottery from 1737 until 1748 - when the clay ran out.

South Somerset’s Market Towns

Chard Toll House

Wincanton

Ilminster

Yeovil

Martock map ref C4

Even on a dull day Martock’s handsome hamstone houses seem to slumber in a golden light. Once a royal estate belonging to Edith, Queen to Edward the Confessor, it had a moated manor house that has now disappeared. As has much of the wealth that came from both farming and the cloth trade. Today, though, it is still one of the largest of Somerset parishes.

The Treasurer of Wells Cathedral was also Rector of Martock and the interesting National Trust Treasurer’s House is one of the oldest domestic dwellings in Somerset. Opposite is impressive All Saints church with its marvellous sixteenth century panelled roof fi nished with angels. More angels decorate the corbels and there is a series of empty niches painted with contemporary representations of the apostles. Look for the little mouse at one end of the altar table carved by John Thompson, the Mouse Man of Kilburn, and fi nd the charming monument to ‘William Cole, An eminent Clothier of this place’.

If you think that time stands still in Martock, search out the ‘scratch dials’ on the side of All Saints that enabled the illiterate to fi nd the times of services. Then note the Pinnacle Monument outside the Market House, north of the church. On top of its column, four sundials are arranged in a square, the whole fi nished with an attractive weather-vane.

South of the church is the old grammar school, founded in 1661, now a private house, where boys rose early and learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew, never speaking English. The inscription above the front door probably refl ects the town’s affl uence in those days: ‘Martock, neglect not thy opportunities’. In the nineteenth century, the town’s serenity was disturbed. A dispute between the Baptists and Independents resulted in the gradual abandonment of the chapel south of All Saints’ graveyard, it was fi nally demolished in 1913. And Reverend Salmon refused to permit political meetings in the Market Hall so the Liberals built the Parish Hall.

Typical of Martock’s charm is the NatWest bank, housed in a little cottage fronted by a lawn. All around are attractive houses and beautifully kept hedges.

On the town’s southern outskirts is the Parrett works. It had a chequered industrial career, including grinding snuff. It now houses several small industries, but still offers its square chimney as a landmark.

Ilchester map ref D5

Founded by the Romans on the Fosse Way, Ilchester was originally Lendiniae. By medieval times it was the second most important town in Somerset. Its walls were stoutly defended against the rebel Robert of Mowbray, who sacked and burned Bath but failed to reduce Ilchester. King Ethelred deemed the town prosperous and secure enough for a mint and for over a century its gaol awarded it the status of county town. In Ilchester’s little museum is a clue to its thriving industry, the remains of a medieval public urinal. Placed on street corners, the urine was collected and used for various manufactory processes.

Thirteenth century inhabitants worshipped in any one of at least six churches, some say as many as eighteen. Today there is St Mary Major. Inside is a plaque to Roger Bacon, ‘Doctor Mirabilis’, the founder of modern science, Ilchester-born in 1214. Note the church’s solid tower that starts square then becomes octagonal. Ilchester also has a Pinnacle Monument. It stands on the village green surrounded by several attractive eighteenth century buildings.

Beside the museum is the High Street Garage, where Merlin aero engines were uncrated and repaired during the second world war. For in 1940 the Royal Naval Air station was founded at Yeovilton. In 1990 its personnel were granted honorary parishioner status. The naval air station continues to be an important feature of Ilchester and is home to the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

In the Town Hall and Community Centre is an interesting display of historic photographs, including many featuring the river. Roman quays were excavated in 1948 and barges brought coal and other commodities up past Langport until the end of the nineteenth century. Now the weir that powered a mill has collapsed and the river fl ows tranquilly beneath the thirteenth century foundations of the bridge, apart from the occasional fl ood conditions.

St Michael and All Angels, Somerton

Ilchester

Langport town centre

Martock

in South Somerset

Market Towns

Bruton, Castle Cary, Chard, Crewkerne,Ilchester, Ilminster, Langport, Martock,

Somerton, Wincanton, Yeovil

••••

•••••••

Shambles

and InnsOnce or twice a week the square would

come to life with pens for livestock and stalls

for produce. Shambles were semi-

permanent standing stalls more or less

protected with a roof - there is one in the

back of Castle Cary’s nineteenth century

market house, recently restored to give a wonderful idea

of one aspect of a medieval market square. Handsome

permanent market crosses appeared where dairy and

other products could be sold protected from the worst of

the weather, those in Ilminster and Somerton still stand.

Houses, shops, warehouses and hostelries developed around

the square. Especially, it seemed, hostelries, where contracts

could be sealed, sales celebrated, thirsts assuaged - all those

animals raised a lot of dust from dirt roads.

Thirsts assuaged

with a local brew

Castle Cary’s nineteenth century Market House Museum (left) a model of the George Inn at Yeovil (now demolished)

and Crewkerne Farmers Market (right)

The start of mechanisation demonstrated at a craft show

Weaving at home, recreated at ‘Yesterdays Farming’ in Yeovil

Medieval market trading

Farm fresh local produce

Traditional shopping in Castle Cary

Wincanton Medieval Fair

Castle Cary

Explore these old market towns, full of quirky features and historical riches ... experience their magic.

Medieval markets weren’t allowed just to spring

up, they had to be granted and were subject to as

many rules and regulations as our bureaucratic

age can offer. Market towns needed a combination

of thriving agriculture and local industry and

their heart was their market square - which was

sometimes quite a different shape.

Urban necessitiesToday we are used to shopping with the minimum of effort:

mail order, internet, supermarkets. In days gone by, you

bought your agricultural produce in the market square and

looked for a wide range of goods and services in the rest

of the town: butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, grocers,

cutlers, ironmongers and hardware merchants, cabinet

makers, drapers, tailors and haberdashers, shoemakers,

jewellers and banks. As life grew more sophisticated, the list

lengthened, shambles gave way to more and more permanent

shops, the roads improved and traffi c increased.

A wealth of woolApart from agriculture, until the nineteenth century,

Somerset’s main industry was wool. In medieval times,

England’s cloth was renowned and Somerset had all the

ingredients needed to benefi t from the trade: pasture

for grazing and an abundance of the water needed for

production processes. Until the Industrial Revolution,

weaving was, literally, a cottage industry. In these market

towns are cottages with generous windows to let in

suffi cient light for the weavers to work at home, the little

house fi lled with the noisy clack and rumble of the looms and

their shuttles that operated from dawn until dusk.

It was profi ts from wool that built the famous churches and

the handsome merchant houses that decorate the main streets.

Over the centuries they have changed back and forth from

residences to shops and back again - and again. Look above

commercial ground fl oors for Georgian sash windows and

gracious dimensions.

Fire and depressionFire was a constant hazard. Medieval houses built close

together of infl ammable materials, combined with the

diffi culty of bringing water to bear on a blaze, meant a fi re

could bring disaster. The reddened stonework on the Saxon

arch of Huish Episcopi Church shows the power of fi re. Little

wonder that few medieval buildings still stand. In 1762 a

sermon in Castle Cary church had as its text: ‘Concerning

private interest giving way to public good in regard to our

having an Water Engine to prevent fi re spreading’. They

bought one!

Art galleries, craft shops and fairs keep local traditions alive

Towards the end of the

eighteenth century the

wool trade, which had had

its ups and downs, moved

inexorably to the north of

the country in the wake

of industrialisation, the

spinning jenny was merely

the start of mechanisation.

Imported cotton provided

the new mills with a popular

alternative cloth to weave

that didn’t require water

the way wool production did. And English wool was

no longer in such demand. The increased popularity of

mutton for eating had resulted in animals with a lesser

quality of wool. Somerset suffered badly. But enterprising

merchants saw other opportunities for using the skills of

the labour force. Flax was grown and Crewkerne, Yeovil

and Castle Cary were all involved in the weaving of canvas

and webbing. Silk weaving was successfully developed in

Ilminster and Bruton. In Chard a prosperous trade was

developed in machine made plain lace. As the nineteenth

century advanced, industry broadened. In Yeovil the

engineering talents of the Petter family eventually led to

Westland helicopters, Langport was a commercial and

trading centre, its Stuckey’s Bank branching out all over

Somerset. In Wincanton, Cow and Gate was founded.

What’s in a name? One of the fascinations in going round these market

towns is studying street names. What is the Barton

in Court Barton, found in Ilminster and Crewkerne?

Apparently it was an outlying grange, usually attached

to a monastery. The Barton alleys in Bruton used to

be animal pens attached to houses. What about Silver

Street? Was that where silversmiths congregated at the

height of each town’s prosperity? Or was there some

other reason for the name? Bury, or Burh, is Old English

for a fortifi ed settlement, from which we get burgh and

borough. Somerton’s Behind Berry is the street running

behind the area known as ‘Bury’, thought to have been

the site of the original Saxon town. ‘New’ Street often

dates back hundreds of years. Some names commemorate

incidents, such as Florida Street in Castle Cary, named for

the forty or so inhabitants that went out to settle Florida

in the eighteenth century. The settlement failed and only

four of the original party returned. And what was thrown

in Castle Cary’s Pitching Lane? The name for the modern

Quedam precinct in Yeovil dates back to the Roman

settlement, it’s Latin for ‘a certain’; what the ‘certain’ is

must be up to each shopper to decide.

StoneworkGolden hamstone and cool, grey-blue lias are Somerset

signatures. Though there are several Elizabethan stone

houses to be found, the bulk of the area’s town centre

architecture is gracefully proportioned Georgian.

Somerset’s famed perpendicular churches almost all have

towers rather than spires.

Local banking and engineering ; new opportunities for the labour force

Lacy inserts allow their bells to ring out over the

parishes. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

saw the building of many dissenting chapels, a large

proportion of which are still in use, most are noted for

the austerity of their architecture.

LinksAnother satisfying activity is discovering links between

one town and another. Chard canal was the last and the

most sophisticated to be built in Britain in the middle

of the nineteenth century, sadly soon superseded by the

railway. However its two ends can both be seen, the one

just outside Chard in an enchanting nature reserve where

water fowl can be studied from a hide, and the other in

Ilminster on the edge of the recreation ground where it

forms a charming waterway.

In Castle Cary Museum is a delightful water colour by

W Gosse made in 1844 of Mary Biss, former inhabitant

of Castle Cary, then 107 years of age and living in Sexey’s

Hospital in Bruton. Her indomitable face brings alive the

reality of the almshouse.

Tourist Information Centresat Cartgate, Chard and Yeovil operate an accommodation booking service. They have varying opening hours. Please check before visiting.

Local Information Centres (LICs) are not part of the national Tourist Information Centre (TIC) network. They are staffed mainly by volunteers who are knowledgeable about their areas and very able to assist you. However, the LICs have more limited opening hours than TICS, particularly in the winter months and it is therefore wise to phone before visiting.

Bruton Local Information Centre The Dovecote Building, 26 High Street, Bruton, Somerset. BA10 0AATel: 01935 462462 Email: bruton.offi ce@ukonline.co.uk

Castle Cary Local Information Centre The Market House, Castle Cary, Somerset. BA7 7AHTel: 01963 359631

Crewkerne Local Information Centre Town Hall, Market Square, Crewkerne, Somerset. TA18 7LNTel: 01460 75929 Email: lic@crewkerne-tc.gov.uk

Ilminster Local Information Centre The Meeting House, East Street, Ilminster, Somerset. TA19 0ANTel: 01460 57294

Langport Local Information Centre Bow Street, Langport, Somerset. TA10 9PRTel: 01458 253527

Somerton Local Information Centre Market Cross Antiques, West Street, Somerton, Somerset. TA11 7PSTel: 01935 462462 Email: somerton-t.c@tiscali.co.uk

Wincanton Local Information Centre Town Hall, Market Place, Wincanton, Somerset. BA9 9LDTel/ Fax: 01963 31693Email: wintic@hotmail.com

To fi nd out more about travel to the area, places to stay and eat, events and attractions, public transport and local souvenirs, please contact one of the tourist information centres. The centres at Chard, Yeovil and Cartgate also operate an accommodation booking service, just call in and let them know your requirements. Some of the information centres also sell discounted tickets to local attractions and events - please ring to check availability.

Several towns have their own museums or heritage centres. Please contact Information

Centres for full details of these and for information about places to stay and other

attractions to visit.

Castle Cary Museum

Chard Tourist Information Centre The Guildhall, Fore Street, Chard, Somerset. TA20 1PPTel: 01460 260051 Email: chard.tic@chard.gov.uk

South Somerset Tourist Information Centre Cartgate, A303/A3088, Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset. TA14 6RATel: 01935 829333 Fax: 01935 824644 Email: cartgate.TIC@southsomerset.gov.uk

Yeovil Heritage and Visitor Information Centre Petters House, Petters Way, Yeovil, Somerset. BA20 1SHTel: 01935 462781 Fax: 01935 462783 Email: yeoviltic@southsomerset.gov.uk

Local Information CentresLocal Information Centres are mainly staffed by volunteers and have limited opening hours.

SOUTH SOMERSET

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

G

F

E

D

C

B

A

Yeovil Junction

Yeovil Pen Mill

Thornford

Yetminster

Sherborne

Taunton

Crewkerne

Castle Cary

Bruton

Chillington

BRIDGWATER

NorthPetherton

CheddonFitzpaine

Wellington

JUNCTION

25

JUNCTION

24

Stoke St. Gregory

Burrowbridge

Othery

Curry Rivel

SwellFivehead

Isle BrewersCurry Mallet

Beercrocombe IsleAbbotts

Westport

Barrington

Bishopswood

Horton

Donyatt

CombeSt. Nicholas

Whitestaunton

Ashill

YarcombeWambrook

Chardstock

Forton

CHARD

TAUNTON

High Ham

Aller Low HamPitney

Huish EpiscopiLong Sutton

MuchelneyMuchelneyHamThorney

Long LoadHambridge

Kingsbury Episcopi

LANGPORT

KnowleSt. Giles

CricketMalherbie

DowlishWake

Cricket St. Thomas

Winsham

ILMINSTERDinnington

Hinton St. George

Hewish

Wayford

SOMERTON

Beaminster

South Perrott

Chedington

Halstock

North Perrott

Evershot

SuttonBingham

HaselburyPlucknett

Over Stratton

Lopen

Merriott

CREWKERNE

East Chinnock

West Chinnock

Pendomer

Hardington Mandeville

WestCoker

East Coker

Chiselborough

LittleNorton Higher &

LowerOdcombe

Norton-sub-Hamdon

Stoke-sub-HamdonBower HintonMid Lambrook

South Petherton

SheptonBeauchamp

Barwick

TintinhullChilthorneDomer

Thorne

Montacute

Ash

MartockEast Lambrook

ILCHESTER

Kingsdon

CharltonMackrell

Kingweston

ComptonDundon

BartonSt. David

Lydford-on-Fosse

CharltonAdam

Babcary

Cary Fitpaine

KeintonMandeville

PodimoreWestCamel

SouthBarrow

North Barrow

South CadburySutton Montis

Marston Magna

Bridgehampton

YeoviltonCortonDenham

North CadburyComptonPauncefoot

Sparkford

LovingtonCASTLE CARY

Blackford

South CheritonCharltonHorethorne

StowellChilton Cantelo

Holton

Oborne

SHERBORNEYEOVIL

Mudford PoyntingtonMilbornePort

StofordThornford

Bradford Abbas

Henstridge

YenstonTemplecombe

Abbas CombeHorsington

StokeTrister Cucklington

Bayford

Holbrook

Charlton Musgrove

Pen Selwood ZealsSheptonMontague

WINCANTON

Stourhead

HardwayRedlynch

SouthBrewham

Ansford

WykeChampflower

Alhampton

DitcheatWraxall

Lamyatt

BRUTON

Batcombe

North Brewham

Shepton Mallet

GLASTONBURY

STREET

Pilton

Seavington St. Mary

Dowlish Ford

Buckland St. Mary

Marsh

Mosterton

Broadway

Ilton

Drayton

Woolminstone

Bawdrip

Coat

Northover

Wadeford

Templecombe

Corscombe

Cudworth

North Wootton

Knoll

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Tourist Information Centres

C5 Cartgate (off A303) A2 Chard C6 Yeovil

Local Information Centres

F8 Bruton E7 Castle Cary B4 Crewkerne B3 Ilminster E4 Langport E5 Somerton E9 Wincanton

Trails & Walks

Ÿ••• The Leland Trail

Ÿ••• The Liberty Trail

Ÿ••• The River Parrett Trail

Ÿ••• The Brit Valley Way

Ÿ••• The Macmillan Way

Railway

Golf course

Swimming pool