Somerton

Somerton
Somerset
Somerton's market square
Location
Grid reference:	ST485285
Location:	51°3’13"N, 2°44’10"W
Data
Population:	4,706
Post town:	Somerton
Postcode:	TA11
Dialling code:	01458
Local Government
Council:	South Somerset
Parliamentary constituency:	Somerton and Frome

Somerton is a small town in Somerset, indeed it is held by many to have given its name to the county of Somerset. Somerton was, around the start of the 14th century, reckoned the county town, and around AD 900 was possibly the capital of Wessex.

Somerton has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages, and the main square with its market cross is today an attractive location for visitors. It sits on the River Cary, approximately 9 miles northwest of Yeovil, and had a recorded population of 4,706 in 2001.

In the Anglo-Saxon era, when it was an important political and commercial centre. A local legend has it that Ine King of Wessex was originally a farmer in Somerton. After the Norman Conquest the importance of the town declined despite being the county town of Somerset by the late thirteenth century and early fourteenth century. Somerton later became a market town in the Middle Ages, whose economy was supported by transport systems using the River Parrett, and later rail transport by the Great Western Railway, and by light industries including glove making and gypsum mining.

In the centre of Somerton the wide market square, with its octagonal roofed market cross, is surrounded by old houses, while close by is the 13th century Church of St Michael and All Angels. Somerton also had links with Muchelney Abbey in the Middle Ages.

History

The earliest reference to the town is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which records that in 733 the King of Wessex, Æthelheard lost control of Somerton to Æthelbald, King of Mercia. A local legend has it that Ine of Wessex (688–728), who ruled Wessex for 37 years, was originally a farmer in Somerton. Locally they say that Somerton was the capital of the Kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 901, and though this is not supported by modern research, it was the site of the 949 meeting of the Witenagemot, a form of Anglo-Saxon parliament. The town returned to West Saxon royal control in the ninth century.

The town is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Sumertone". The name may come from Old English for "summer town" or "summer farmstead". The name of Somerset is the "Summer folk" or "Summer settlers"

The town was onsidered the county town of Somerset from the late thirteenth century into the early fourteenth century. A building referred to as "Somerset Castle" is believed to have been built around 1280 as a county gaol, with a visitor in 1579 describing the remaining portion as "an old tower embattled about castle-like". It was owned by Sir Ralph Cromwell between 1423 and 1433. Details are vague and visible remains have vanished, so its status as a castle and its very existence is in doubt, with one writer, D.J.C. King, feeling that people were confusing it with Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire.

The Butter Cross

The Abbots of Muchelney Abbey held the Rectorship of the parish church of Somerton during the Middle Ages. They built a tithe barn, to house the tithes of crops and produce paid by the parish to the town's Rector. The Abbey was dissolved in 1539 during the Reformation, and the tithes and the tithe barn passed into the ownership of Bristol Cathedral. In the 20th century the barn was converted into private housing.

Glove making was a major industry in the town in the early nineteenth century, along with the production of rope and twine. The Somerton Brewery, owned by a local landowner named Thomas Templeman, was first recorded under the Tithe Apportionment Act of 1841. The brewery became a large producer in Somerset until its final closure around 1935. Gypsum was extracted by hand at the Hurcott open-cast mine from the Victorian era up until it closed down in 1953. In 1906, a railway station opened on the Castle Cary Cut-Off which was built by the Great Western Railway. Whilst the line still remains in use, the station was closed in 1962. When the Marconi Company built the radio stations known as the Imperial Wireless Chain for the Post Office during 1925–26, they also established their own transmitting station at Dorchester with a receiving station 30 miles away at Somerton.

Somerton was hit by four Luftwaffe bombs on the morning of 29 September 1942 during the Second World War. Ten nearby houses were badly damaged. Nine people were killed and thirty seven injured. A memorial at the dairy site commemorates those killed.

Economy

A weekly market has been held in Somerton for much of its history. The cloth industry dominated the town's market from the 17th century until the 20th century, when agriculture took over as the leading industry. Some light industries and services, such as garage repair, physiotherapy, water treatment, and builders and decorators, are located in the business park on Bancombe Road.

Sights of the town

St Michael and All Angels

The main square, Market Place, with its market cross is today an attractive location for visitors. The present Butter Cross, a roofed market cross, was rebuilt in 1673, and is Somerton's most noted feature. The structure was the property of the Earls of Ilchester who sold it to the town in 1916. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Next to the Butter Cross stands the Market Hall, previously known as the Town Hall, although the building has never fulfilled either of these functions. Bordering the square are the church, and the Lady Smith Memorial Hall, also known as the Parish Rooms, which was built in 1902, and the 17th century Market House, now a restaurant. The Red Lion was opened by the Earl of Ilchester in 1768 as a model coaching inn. It closed in 1995; after a period of neglect it has been redeveloped as town houses.

From the early 1980s onwards projects aiming to improve Somerton for film industry purposes have been undertaken. The market square was heavily revamped, creating a central parking area with easy access to the local amenities. The BBC drama The Monocled Mutineer was filmed in Somerton from 1985 to 1986.

Somerton Court

Somerton Court, originally known as "Somerton Erleigh", was built in the 12th century. The house has had various owners including Edward IV's brother, the Duke of Clarence, and Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland, who sold the estate in 1530. It passed through a number of hands until 1597 when it was purchased by James Fisher, whose son later rebuilt it in 1641. The court remained in the Fisher family's possession until 1808 when it was sold. Its new owner renamed the house "Somerton Court", and replaced the gabled dormers with Gothic battlements and turrets. The house was later enlarged by the Hall-Stephenson family. The house is set in 55 acres of parkland and gardens.

Churches

The Church of St Michael and All Angels has origins from the 13th century, with a major reshaping in the mid 15th century, and further restoration in 1889.

It is notable for a carved roof, with lions and a small cider barrel purportedly carved by the monks of Muchelney Abbey. Sir John Betjeman was also inspired by an inscription on the candelabra. The church is quite plain on the outside but inside is one of the finest wooden carved roofs in the county.

It is shallow pitched with massive, richly decorated tie beams and short king posts. The whole area of the roof is divided into square carved panels set in the framework of the structural timbers which are decorated with carved bosses where they intersect. There are 640 panels each carved with the same quatrefoil design. In the triangular spaces above each beam are dragon-like beasts. It is said there are bullet holes in the timbers, caused by soldiers who camped in the church in 1646 before the Battle of Langport. The 17th century pulpit and communion table are Jacobean woodwork.

There are six churches in the town including:

• Church of England:
  • Church of St Michael and All Angels
• Methodist
• Roman Catholic

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Somerton)

• The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey: Somerton

References

• Victoria History of the County of Somerset: Vol 3: Somerton, R.W.Dunning (1974)