Some perception of modern
Williton inevitably derives from the two main roads which meet in the
town, the A358 from Taunton and the busy A39 heading east-west between
the Quantock Hills and the sea. But there is more to Williton than its
position on these two modern transport routes and much of interest to
see there.
The original Domesday manor subsequently passed into the hands of Sir
Reginald FitzUrse, one of the slayers of Thomas a Becket, and was then
divided in two as part of his penance, one of the halves being given to
the Knights Templar by way of atonement. Much later Williton was the
home of the Wyndhams who inherited the earldom of Egremont and held the
title until it lapsed in 1845. Early Williton was also a place of
numerous small farms and the machines today offered for sale on the
old auction market site still provide a reminder of the town’s
agricultural heritage.
The 19th century had a great deal of influence on the character of today’s
Williton. It became a Poor Law Union centre in 1836 and this resulted in
increased commercial and administrative activity, the latter still
echoed hy the current West Somerset District Council functions based in
the town. The old turnpike road and coach links with the wider world
were improved when it acquired a station on the railway line opened to
Watchet in 1862. Williton had become a place of substance with its own
police station and courts, five inns, two banks and a newspaper.
Although the annual toy and hardware fair withered
away, cattle fairs and markets took it and the town soon developed a
collection of small industries ranging from the making of organs and
umbrellas to cycles to false teeth.
The car park in Killick Way, beyond the library, offers a good starting
point for a look round Williton. Return to the main road, with its busy
mixture of garage, shops, bank and post office, and turn left towards
the Egremont Hotel. This was built around 1820 on the site of an older
Coach & Horses and still has features revealing its importance in
the coaching era. In addition to the buildings at the rear, it had an
adjacent lock-up for those awaiting a hearing from the magistrates
before these functions were transferred to a purpose-built police
station and court in Priest Street. On the opposite side of the road
stands the NatWest Bank with the remains of two market crosses in the
open space to the left.
We turn right along Bank Street, which derives its name from the opening
of the bank around 1860, and soon see numbers 4 and 6 Priest Street, the
1858 police station cum-court building, on the right. A superintendent,
sergeant and two constables once functioned here but part became a
library and a part today is used by the Community Health Advisor. Beyond
this attractive building are numbers 12 and 14, thatched and picturesque
and dating from the 17th century.
A turn into Bridge Street and past the old school brings us to the
junction with the road to the Orchard Wyndham estate where
the main house has medieval origins. There is public access as far as
the former estate mill, now a museum and tea room. Just beyond Bridge
Farm is St Peter’s Church which started life as the FitzUrse penitence
chapel and may still have some of the materials from those days in its
fabric. It was originally a chapel of St Decumans at Watchet - although
the two communities did not always agree - but the present building
derives from a restoration of the 1850s. The remains of yet another
cross stand on the green opposite while behind are the venerable Church
Cottages, part of the group originating in the 16th century and being
used for brewing the church ales.
Return to the bridge over the hastening stream, turn right and walk the
length of Bridge Street. This starts with a succession of linked 17th
century buildings numbered 13 to 23, with a former farmhouse of the same
period opposite. There is more recent but still attractive housing on
the left, as Bridge Street leads to the beginning of Tower Hill where
Turnpike Cottage stands on the corner. The 1883 Methodist Church lies a
little way along the main road on the right, hut we turn left for High
Street with a short excursion up Half Acre on the way. On the right
there, numbers 4 to 8 date
from 1724 with 10 to 14 even older.
A right turn into Robert Street immediately reveals a cottage inscribed
1616 with a former farmhouse further on and an intriguing group on the
right before the corner. The street then lead on to Long
Street, the A39, which has come from the east via the old station, now
part of the reopened West Somerset Railway. Before the extension of the
railway to Minehead, the Preddy & Thistle coaches provided an onward
service from here to Dunster, Minehead and Lynton and Lynmouth. The
basic walk turns left but a stroll to the right would prove well
worthwhile, especially as it would lead to the former union workhouse
building, later a hospital and now awaiting redevelopment. When built in
1836-40 it served 36 parishes and had accommodation for 300 inmates with
master, matron, chaplain, relieving officers and school and medical
staff to match. Designed by G. G. Scott and W Moffat, the
building is to a cruciform plan with octagonal centre and Bath stone
entrance. There are several other period buildings along the
same, north, side of the road.
Where Robert Street joins Long Street, a section of causeway acts as a
reminder that a watercourse used to run beside the road
and winter flooding was commonplace. On the section to the corner with
North Street note numbers 13 to 15 which were built in 1624 and then
numbers I and 3 which are also 17th century. There used to be another
cross at this corner but it finished up as just a vehicle rubbing post.
North Street itself was another turnpike route and its former name of
Shutgate Street reflected this.
Two further left turns will lead back to the starting point.
Somerset Magazine/April 2000
Photographs by the authors
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