Shepton Mallet Tourist Information and Heritage Centre

Nestling in a fold of the beautiful Mendip Hills escarpment in eastern Somerset, Shepton Mallet is an attractive combination of an ancient market town and a modern industrial community. Strategically located within easy reach of major tourist attractions such as Wells Cathedral, Glastonbury Abbey and Cheddar Gorge and caves, Shepton Mallet itself has many historic sites and associations for the visitor to explore.

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 archaeological discoveries have revealed even 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 trace.

The Romans left their mark on Shepton Mallet. The Fosse Way, their "motorway" from Exeter to the north of the country - passes through the east of the town, and its route can be traced up the narrow tracks of Brecon Hill, where ancient tumuli dot the landscape. Remains of Roman potters' kilns were found where the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery was built in he 1860s. Then in 1988, the discovery of a lead coffin led to the 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 very rare Christian amulet decorated with the Christian Chi-Rho symbol. This represents the earliest evidence of a Christian burial in Britian.

'Sceapton' or Sheep Fold was an Anglo-Saxon village. 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 all date from this period.

The river became an important source of energy for wollen 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 in the town. The are 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 Gaymers.

The Somerset and Dorset Railway 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.

The newest addition to the town must be the "Rock Flock".

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.