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Places in Somerset "M"
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| It has a fine church in the Perpendicular and early english styles,
with an old tie-beam roof. Near the church is a fourteenth century manor
house and an old barn, both in good preservation. |
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The Site of one of the lake villages built in the swamps during the
Iron Age.
The villagers’ homes probably had timber foundations, daub and wattle
walls and thatched roofs; and each building was supported by a central
Pole. Finds are in the County Museum at Taunton and the Tribunal at
Glastonbury. In the Middle Ages the Abbots of Glastonbury owned Meare,
and the manorhouse was their summer retreat. It dates from the 14rh
century, as does the curious Fish House, used by local fishermen who
supplied the abbots with fish. |
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Once noted for the number of its mills, this small place was a port,
or borough,
returning two members to Parliament. The remains of a medieval cross
stand
in the centre of the village. The old guildhall, near the market hall.
incorporates a Norman doorway, and the church is partly Saxon and early
Norman. At the east end of the village, on the Salisbury road, stands a
Queen Anne mansion, Ven, formerly the seat of the Medlicott familv. On
the lane to Milborne Wick traces of a prehistoric camp can be seen. |
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The most westerly town in Somerset, and also one of its most popular
seaside
resorts. Situated around a wide, curving bay in the mouth of the Bristol
Channel, it is a place for enjoyable bathing although there is a long
walk to
the sea at low tide. The beach has been recently renovated with many
thousands of tonnes of "new sand" being added. Another
attraction is the Model Village, encircled by a miniature railway.
Minehead has a cheerful, noisy atmosphere, in contrast with the
stillness of nearby Exmoor. The oldest part of the town, known as Quay
Town, rises to the slopes of North Hill, at the Western end of the bay.
Quay Town’s harbour, dating hack to 16th, is used by steamers making
pleasure trips along the coast to Lynmouth and llfracombe.
North Hill. a little to the west of Minehead, offers a choice between
the prehistoric mounds scattered about its crest and the charming
hamlets of
Woodcombe, Bratton, Selworthv. Allerford and Bossington. deep in the
valleys
on the landward side.
Perhaps the best known landmark is the Butlins Holiday Centre. |
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The name comes from the Latin mons acutus, or pointed hill, a
reference to
St Michael’s Hill, a conical knoll, topped by 60 ft St Michael’s
Tower, a folly built in 1760. The hub of the village is an open space,
the Borough, flanked on two sides by old houses built of Ham Hill stone.
Now the property of the National Trust, Montacute House is the best—known
stately home in Somerset and one of the finest mansions in the west of
England. It was built between 1588 and 1601 of Ham Hill stone by the
Phelips family, and contains a valuable collection of furniture and
china, portraits, tapestries, plasterwork and panelling. The gardens are
a fine example of Jacobean planning, sloping from the house through a
series of deep yew hedges and golden-stone terraces.
In summer the grounds are scented by many-coloured roses. Some of the
Atlantic cedars are 50 ft high. |
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