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 This text has been reproduced with the kind permission of Shepton-Mallet.org.uk Website organisers.
For 3,000 years, Shepton Mallet has been a hive of industry. The livelihoods of at least 120 generations have been spent in this small market town nestling in a fold of the Mendip Hills, along the narrow valley of the stream known as the river Sheppey.
Recently, exciting new archeological discoveries have revealed more of the town's early history. In 1995 Bronze Age homesteads and pottery were found during excavations near Cannards Grave, to the south of the town. Maesbury Ring, the Iron Age town, 950 feet up on the Mendips, is the earliest visible trace.
The Romans also left their mark on Shepton Mallet. The Fosse Way – their ‘motorway’ from Exeter to the north passes through the east of the town, and it’s route can be traced up the narrow tracks to the summit of Beacon Hill, where ancient tumuli dot the landscape. Remains of Roman potters’ kilns were found when the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery was built in the 1860s. Then, in 1988, the discovery of a lead coffin led to excavations in 1990 which revealed signs of a whole Roman industrial town beside the Fosse Way. It is believed that there is much more to unearth. Most exciting of all was the discovery of a small silver amulet decorated with the Christian Chi-Rho symbol. This represents the earliest evidence of Christianity in the West Country by more than 200 years. The working town of Shepton Mallet has a religious heritage longer than that of the traditional local ecclesiastical centres.
‘Sceapton’ or Sheep Fold was an Anglo-Saxon village at the time of the Domesday Book. Over the next few centuries it grew into a prosperous market town, its wealth based on sheep and wool. The fine Parish Church, the Market Cross and the ‘shambles’ market stall in the Market Place date from this period.
The river became an important source of energy for woollen and silk mills. There were said to be 30 mills along the valley in Shepton from Charlton in the east to Darshill in the West. The owners built their ‘manor’ houses close to the factories. The medley of manors, mills and cottages crowded together into small industrial communities is a feature of Shepton Mallet that can still be seen, particularly in Leg Square and the hamlet of Bowlish where there are two fine examples of manor houses.
In the 19th century, brewing became an important industry for the town. The Anglo-Bavarian Brewery – the first in England to brew lager – provides the most strikingly visible building of the town. There were other large breweries in Charlton, now imaginatively restored as a business park, and at Kilver Street where Babycham and a variety of ciders are still produced by Mathew Clark.
The Somerset and Dorset was one of two 19th century railways to cross the town and a mighty 26 arch viaduct still forms the eastern boundary. Evercreech Junction – so evocative of the past age of the rural railway – is only four miles to the south, but sadly, little of the railway remains to be seen there.
Shepton Mallet retains a strong character as a small market town and place to live. Most importantly, it remains a working town which has grown and developed through the industry of its own inhabitants
For more details surrounding Shepton Mallet Go to website
http://www.shepton-mallet.org.uk
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