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Places in Somerset "I"
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| Once a Roman town on the Foss Way, later a medieval town of some
importance. Ilchester is now a busy road junction, but there are still
many relics of its past around the village green. There are several
Georgian houses, one of which is the town hall; it contains a
13th-century mace which is the oldest staff of office in England and one
if the oldest in Europe. At the top of the 18th—century market cross
is a sun—dial. Ilchester was the birthplace of Roger Bacon, one of the
greatest scholars of the 13th century. who predicted the invention of
submarines, aircraft and the telescope. Lystes Cary, a fine Tudor manor
house miles to the north—east, has a 14th—century chapel and a fine
Elizabethan-style garden. |
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A busy market town at the foot of the Black Down Hills, whose highest
slopes
(800 ft) look down at the town from across the River Isle. Several of
the houses round the market square are 18th century, and the old grammar
school (now a girls’ school) dates from 1586. Where the High Street
joins
North Street an old road climbs Beacon Hill, from which, it is said, 30
churches
can he seen in fine weather. Barrington Court, 3 miles north—east of
the town,
was built in 1514—20 and is a fine example of an early Tudor manor
house, with
striking spiral chimneys. |
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