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Places in Somerset "T"
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The county town of Somerset; a lively commercial centre, but with much
of interest for the tourist. It lies in the Vale of Taunton Deane, on
the River
Tone. The restored Norman castle (open to the public) is the grandest of
the town’s public buildings; it contains a museum, and its great hall,
on the far
side of the courtyard, was a scene of Judge Jeffrevs’s Bloods Assizes,
in
which vengeance was wreaked upon the Duke of Monmouth's followers after
his defeat in 1685 at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Must of the rebels were
deported to the West Indies; hundreds of others were hanged. The parish
church, St Mary’s, and the nearby Church of St James, are noted for
their
splendid towers (rebuilt in the 19th century). Other buildings include
Gray’s
Almshouses (1635) in East Street; the old grammar school (15th and 16th
centuries) which now forms part of the Municipal Buildings in
Corporation
Street; the Octagon Chapel in Middle Street, opened by Wesley in 1776;
and a
well—preserved medieval leper hospital marooned amid the traffic in
Hamilton Road. On the outskirts of the town, Wilton has all attractive
small church and Wilton House, the birthplace of Alexander Kinglake,
author of Eothen, the famous Victorian book about travel in the East. |
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The village takes its name from the Knights Templar, who held the
manor
in 1185. Scanty remains of their preceptory (the name given to an estate
of
the Templars) are preserved in Manor Farm; the large fireplace in the
kitchen is
the most interesting survival. The church contains some narrow upright
seats
which have been called 'the most uncomfortable in Christendom |
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A pretty, old-world village, where the stocks may still he seen.
Tintinhull
House is a small and beautiful house built of Ham Hill Stone in a
delightful
formal garden. It was built C. 1700, but a century later was given a new
west
front. The gardens have been laid out and developed since 1900. |
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