A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph . A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb , or the tomb may be considered to be within the mausoleum.
119-503: Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in Somerset , England, some 16 miles (26 kilometres) southwest of Bath , 18 miles (29 kilometres) south of Bristol and five miles (eight point zero kilometres) east of Wells . It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council was based there. The Mendip Hills lie to the north and the River Sheppey runs through
238-513: A London borough . (Since the new county was beforehand a mixture of metropolitan boroughs , municipal boroughs and urban districts, no extant parish councils were abolished.) In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 retained rural parishes, but abolished most urban parishes, as well as the urban districts and boroughs which had administered them. Provision was made for smaller urban districts and boroughs to become successor parishes , with
357-417: A US Army detention facility. Between 1943 and 1945, 18 US servicemen were executed within the prison walls, after convictions for murder, rape or both. In the 1960s and 1970s many historic buildings were demolished to build Hillmead council estate in the north of the town and a retail development and theatre in the market place. The population of Shepton Mallet was fairly stable through the 19th century and
476-478: A Grade II listed building of 1848. Later serving as the Norah Fry mental hospital, it is now a housing development. On the nearby western edge is a modern community hospital. Down the valley are the hamlets of Darshill, once the site of several mills, and Bowlish, which contains several grand clothiers' houses. The sloping fields by the river between Bowlish and the rest of Shepton are known as The Meadows. To their east
595-515: A Special Expense, to residents of the unparished area to fund those activities. If the district council does not opt to make a Special Expenses charge, there is an element of double taxation of residents of parished areas, because services provided to residents of the unparished area are funded by council tax paid by residents of the whole district, rather than only by residents of the unparished area. Parish councils comprise volunteer councillors who are elected to serve for four years. Decisions of
714-576: A boundary coterminous with an existing urban district or borough or, if divided by a new district boundary, as much as was comprised in a single district. There were 300 such successor parishes established. In urban areas that were considered too large to be single parishes, the parishes were simply abolished, and they became unparished areas . The distinction between types of parish was no longer made; whether parishes continued by virtue of being retained rural parishes or were created as successor parishes, they were all simply termed parishes. The 1972 act allowed
833-457: A brewing business, and then headquarters of a leather-goods manufacturer. Behind are Kilver Court Gardens, originally built by Showerings for the recreation of its staff and set against a backdrop of part of the Charlton Viaduct . These are now open to the public. On the eastern edge of the town is Charlton , which has former breweries and mills, now converted into a trading estate. Right on
952-462: A burial chamber either wholly above ground or within a burial vault below the superstructure. This contains the body or bodies, probably within sarcophagi or interment niches. Modern mausolea may also act as columbaria (a type of mausoleum for cremated remains) with additional cinerary urn niches. Mausolea may be located in a cemetery , a churchyard or on private land. In the United States ,
1071-786: A centre for cider production. For some of the Second World War , Shepton Mallet Prison was used to store national records from the Public Record Office , including the Magna Carta , the Domesday Book , the logbooks of HMS Victory , dispatches from the Battle of Waterloo and the "scrap of paper" signed by Hitler and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain at the Munich Conference of September 1938. The prison also became
1190-472: A city council (though most cities are not parishes but principal areas, or in England specifically metropolitan boroughs or non-metropolitan districts ). The chairman of a town council will have the title "town mayor" and that of a parish council which is a city will usually have the title of mayor . When a city or town has been abolished as a borough, and it is considered desirable to maintain continuity of
1309-456: A city council. According to the Department for Communities and Local Government , in England in 2011 there were 9,946 parishes. Since 1997 around 100 new civil parishes have been created, in some cases by splitting existing civil parishes, but mostly by creating new ones from unparished areas. Parish or town councils have very few statutory duties (things they are required to do by law) but have
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#17328524521001428-548: A city was Hereford , whose city council was merged in 1998 to form a unitary Herefordshire . The area of the city of Hereford remained unparished until 2000 when a parish council was created for the city. As another example, the charter trustees for the City of Bath make up the majority of the councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. Civil parishes cover 35% of England's population, with one in Greater London and few in
1547-440: A civil parish is usually an elected parish council (which can decide to call itself a town, village, community or neighbourhood council, or a city council if the parish has city status). Alternatively, in parishes with small populations (typically fewer than 150 electors) governance may be by a parish meeting which all electors may attend; alternatively, parishes with small populations may be grouped with one or more neighbours under
1666-481: A civil parish which has no parish council, the parish meeting may levy a council tax precept for expenditure relating to specific functions, powers and rights which have been conferred on it by legislation. In places where there is no civil parish ( unparished areas ), the administration of the activities normally undertaken by the parish becomes the responsibility of the district or borough council. The district council may make an additional council tax charge, known as
1785-568: A common parish council. Wales was also divided into civil parishes until 1974, when they were replaced by communities , which are similar to English parishes in the way they operate. Civil parishes in Scotland were abolished for local government purposes by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ; the Scottish equivalent of English civil parishes are the community council areas established by
1904-465: A contract bottling operation for other drinks firms. In October 2016 it was announced that the cider factory and bottling plant would be taken over by Brothers Drinks. As well as an annual Royal Bath and West Show and other agricultural shows , the Royal Bath & West Showground near Evercreech , 2.5 mi (4.0 km) south-east of the town, hosts events such as New Wine Christian festival and
2023-581: A field to the east of Stoke Lane Quarry. The countryside around Shepton is mostly farmed, although there are nearby areas of woodland. About 1.8 mi (2.9 km) to the north-east is Beacon Hill Wood, owned by the Woodland Trust ), at the junction of the Fosse Way and a Roman road topping the Mendip Hills , which contain a number of tumuli . To the north-west of the town are Ham Woods, within which are
2142-455: A fine of 2000 marks for participating in a rebellion against the king) it passed through his daughter Mabel to her husband Hugh de Vivonne . Some generations later, the part of the estate containing Shepton Mallet was sold to a relative, Sir Thomas Gournay. His son, also Thomas, took part in the murder of Edward II . His estates were confiscated by Edward III in 1337, but returned some years later. When Mathew de Gournay died childless in 1406,
2261-462: A more balanced economy. In 2001, there were slightly more jobs in town than the economically active, giving a small influx. The town centre has a high proportion of empty premises in Market Place and the adjacent north end of High Street, but the pedestrianised Town Street north of the Market Place to Waterloo Bridge has had marked investment in its heritage, bringing almost full occupancy. Since 2010
2380-517: A new code. In either case the code must comply with the Nolan Principles of Public Life . A parish can be granted city status by the Crown . As of 2020 , eight parishes in England have city status, each having a long-established Anglican cathedral: Chichester , Ely , Hereford , Lichfield , Ripon , Salisbury , Truro and Wells . The council of an ungrouped parish may pass a resolution giving
2499-431: A new smaller manor, there was a means of making a chapel which, if generating or endowed with enough funds, would generally justify foundation of a parish, with its own parish priest (and in latter centuries vestry ). This consistency was a result of canon law which prized the status quo in issues between local churches and so made boundary changes and sub-division difficult. The consistency of these boundaries until
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#17328524521002618-689: A parish (a "detached part") was in a different county . In other cases, counties surrounded a whole parish meaning it was in an unconnected, "alien" county. These anomalies resulted in a highly localised difference in applicable representatives on the national level , justices of the peace , sheriffs, bailiffs with inconvenience to the inhabitants. If a parish was split then churchwardens, highway wardens and constables would also spend more time or money travelling large distances. Some parishes straddled two or more counties, such as Todmorden in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Mausoleum The word mausoleum (from
2737-416: A parish council, and instead will only have a parish meeting : an example of direct democracy . Alternatively several small parishes can be grouped together and share a common parish council, or even a common parish meeting. A parish council may decide to call itself a town council, village council, community council, neighbourhood council, or if the parish has city status, the parish council may call itself
2856-503: A population of between 100 and 300 could request their county council to establish a parish council. Provision was also made for a grouped parish council to be established covering two or more rural parishes. In such groups, each parish retained its own parish meeting which could vote to leave the group, but otherwise the grouped parish council acted across the combined area of the parishes included. Urban civil parishes were not given their own parish councils, but were directly administered by
2975-530: A quarter of independent shops is emerging in Town Street and Market Place. Since 2004 town-centre buildings have enjoyed a Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme and a Townscape Heritage Initiative, which makes grants for building repair, reinstatement of architectural features and enhancement of public spaces, and for community involvement, education and training. As the body that bid for the funding, Mendip District Council has run both schemes, but decisions lie with
3094-1079: A range of discretionary powers which they may exercise voluntarily. These powers have been defined by various pieces of legislation. The role they play can vary significantly depending on the size, resources and ability of the council, but their activities can include any of the following: Parish councils have powers to provide and manage various local facilities; these can include allotments , cemeteries, parks, playgrounds, playing fields and village greens , village halls or community centres , bus shelters, street lighting, roadside verges, car parks, footpaths, litter bins and war memorials. Larger parish councils may also be involved in running markets , public toilets and public clocks, museums and leisure centres . Parish councils may spend money on various things they deem to be beneficial to their communities, such as providing grants to local community groups or local projects, or fund things such as public events, crime prevention measures, community transport schemes, traffic calming or tourism promotion. Parish councils have
3213-409: A role in the planning system; they have a statutory right to be consulted on any planning applications in their areas. They may also produce a neighbourhood plan to influence local development. The Localism Act 2011 allowed eligible parish councils to be granted a " general power of competence " which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it
3332-589: A set number of guardians for each parish, hence a final purpose of urban civil parishes. With the abolition of the Poor Law system in 1930, urban parishes became a geographical division only with no administrative power; that was exercised at the urban district or borough council level. In 1965 civil parishes in London were formally abolished when Greater London was created, as the legislative framework for Greater London did not make provision for any local government body below
3451-482: A site by the Fosse Way in 1988. This discovery and impending commercial development of the site by the landowner, Showerings, led archaeologists to excavate more extensively in the 1990s. The grave belonged to a cemetery containing 17 burials aligned roughly east and west, indicating probable Christian beliefs. Two smaller cemeteries had graves aligned north–south, possibly signifying pagan religious practices. One burial
3570-938: A small village or town ward to a large tract of mostly uninhabited moorland in the Cheviots, Pennines or Dartmoor. The two largest as at December 2023 are Stanhope (County Durham) at 98.6 square miles (255 km ), and Dartmoor Forest (Devon) at 79.07 square miles (204.8 km ). The two smallest are parcels of shared rural land: Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington (Devon) at 0.012 square miles (0.031 km ; 3.1 ha; 7.7 acres), and Lands Common to Brancepeth and Brandon and Byshottles (County Durham) at 0.0165 square miles (0.043 km ; 4.3 ha; 10.6 acres). The next two smallest are parishes in built up areas: Chester Castle (Cheshire) at 0.0168 square miles (0.044 km ; 4.4 ha; 10.8 acres) (no recorded population) and Hamilton Lea (Leicestershire) at 0.07 square miles (0.18 km ; 18 ha; 45 acres) (1,021 residents at
3689-514: A spur to the creation of new parishes in some larger towns which were previously unparished, in order to retain a local tier of government; examples include Shrewsbury (2009), Salisbury (2009), Crewe (2013) and Weymouth (2019). In 2003 seven new parish councils were set up for Burton upon Trent , and in 2001 the Milton Keynes urban area became entirely parished, with ten new parishes being created. Parishes can also be abolished where there
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3808-442: A steering group of the main stakeholders in the town. For centuries there has been a Friday market in the Market Place, but it has declined for some years. In 2010 there was initial interest in attempts to revitalise it, but the stallholder numbers still fell. In recent months a number of suitcase traders have supported the market on a regular basis, which has attracted local interest. The furniture store Haskins, which originated in
3927-527: A stone-lined well. The many artefacts found included local and imported pottery such as Samian ware , items of jewellery such as brooches, rings and bracelets, toilet items including tweezers, ear scoops and nail cleaners, bronze and iron tools, and a lead ingot which probably originated from the Roman lead mines in the Mendip Hills . Coins minted across the Roman empire were also found. The finds indicate occupation from
4046-446: Is Cornhill, on which the former prison stands. Roughly eastwards, Garston Street, also in the valley-bottom, consists of a row of weavers' and other artisans' cottages dating from the 17th century. The eastern end of the area, adjacent to Kilver Street, is now occupied by cider breweries. Across Kilver Street (the A37 ) is Kilver Court , which in the 20th century was a factory, headquarters of
4165-552: Is Hillmead, a council estate of the 1960s. Like much of South West England, Shepton Mallet has a temperate climate wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50 °F) with seasonal and diurnal variation, but due to the modifying effect of the sea, the range is less than in most other parts. January is coldest, with mean minimum between 1 °C (34 °F) and 2 °C (36 °F). July and August are warmest, with mean daily maxima around 21 °C (70 °F). In general December
4284-439: Is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes , which for centuries were the principal unit of secular and religious administration in most of England and Wales. Civil and religious parishes were formally split into two types in the 19th century and are now entirely separate. Civil parishes in their modern form came into being through
4403-507: Is at present the only part of England where civil parishes cannot be created. If enough electors in the area of a proposed new parish (ranging from 50% in an area with less than 500 electors to 10% in one with more than 2,500) sign a petition demanding its creation, then the local district council or unitary authority must consider the proposal. Since the beginning of the 21st century, numerous parish councils have been created, including some relatively large urban ones. The main driver has been
4522-539: Is evidence that this is in response to "justified, clear and sustained local support" from the area's inhabitants. Examples are Birtley , which was abolished in 2006, and Southsea , abolished in 2010. Every civil parish has a parish meeting, which all the electors of the parish are entitled to attend. Generally a meeting is held once a year. A civil parish may have a parish council which exercises various local responsibilities prescribed by statute. Parishes with fewer than 200 electors are usually deemed too small to have
4641-510: Is felt locally that Shepton Mallet has been in economic decline for some time. Some 350 manufacturing jobs were lost in the late 1990s and early 21st century. However, the District Council asserts that despite the loss in manufacturing, on which Shepton Mallet historically depended, more jobs in distribution, business services and public administration, health, education, quarrying, construction and hi-tech services have been created, so creating
4760-522: Is in the Museum of Somerset , but analysis by Liverpool University in 2008 using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy showed it was a fake: its silver content dates from the 19th century or later. Excavations in the 1990s confirmed the presence of a linear settlement along the Fosse Way for perhaps a kilometre, with cobbled streets, wooden and stone workshops and houses (some with two storeys) containing hearths and ovens, workshop areas and
4879-405: Is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this, a parish council must meet certain conditions such as having a clerk with suitable qualifications. Parish councils receive funding by levying a " precept " on the council tax paid by the residents of the parish (or parishes) served by the parish council. In
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4998-571: Is the Royal United Hospital in Bath. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has retained its fire station adjacent to the ambulance station of South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust. Avon and Somerset Constabulary closed the town police station in 2014, but reopened it in 2020, next to the Haskins retail park. The town belongs to Somerset East policing district. Shepton Mallet lies in
5117-537: Is the closest town to the Glastonbury Festival and nearby the Royal Bath and West of England Society showground. The name Shepton derives from the Old English scoep and tun , meaning "sheep farm"; the Domesday Book of 1086 records a settlement known as Sceaptun in the hundred of Whitstone . The current spelling is recorded at least as far back as 1496, in a letter from Henry VII . The second part of
5236-579: Is the dullest month and June the sunniest. South-west England is favoured, particularly in summer, as the Azores High extends its influence north-eastwards to the UK. Cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and reduces exposure to sunshine. The average annual sunshine totals around 1600 hours. Rainfall tends to tie in with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface-heating sometimes forms shower clouds and much of
5355-504: The 'Standards Board regime' with local monitoring by district, unitary or equivalent authorities. Under new regulations which came into effect in 2012 all parish councils in England are required to adopt a code of conduct with which parish councillors must comply, and to promote and maintain high standards. A new criminal offence of failing to comply with statutory requirements was introduced. More than one 'model code' has been published, and councils are free to modify an existing code or adopt
5474-756: The Ancient Greek : μαυσωλεῖον ) derives from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (near modern-day Bodrum in Turkey), the grave of King Mausolus , the Persian satrap of Caria , whose large tomb was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . Mausolea were historically, and still may be, large and impressive constructions for a deceased leader or other person of importance. However, smaller mausolea soon became popular with
5593-516: The Battle of Sedgemoor , the Duke fled, spent the night of 6 July at Downside, a mile north of Shepton, and was captured two days later. After the Bloody Assizes , twelve local supporters of Monmouth were hanged and quartered in the market place. In 1699 Edward Strode built almshouses , close to the rectory that his family had built, to house the town's grammar school , which lasted until 1900. In
5712-521: The Duchy of Cornwall in 1536. Charters for markets and fairs were granted in 1235, but revoked in 1260 and 1318 after objections by the Bishop of Wells to the competition it represented to the market in his city. This shows that the town was developing and prospering in the 13th and early 14th centuries. The Black Death struck in 1348, reducing the population to about 300. In the late 14th and early 15th centuries,
5831-573: The English Civil War , the town supported the Parliament side, although Shepton appears largely to have escaped conflict apart from a bloodless confrontation in the market place on 1 August 1642 between Royalists under Sir Ralph Hopton and Parliament led by Colonel William Strode . In 1645 Sir Thomas Fairfax led the New Model Army through the town on the way to capturing Bristol , and in 1646
5950-742: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which have fewer powers than their English and Welsh counterparts. There are no equivalent units in Northern Ireland . The parish system in Europe was established between the 8th and 12th centuries, and an early form was long established in England by the time of the Norman Conquest . These areas were originally based on the territory of manors , which, in some cases, derived their bounds from Roman or Iron Age estates; some large manors were sub-divided into several parishes. Initially, churches and their priests were
6069-1010: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) to become the smallest geographical area for local government in rural areas. The act abolished the civil (non-ecclesiastical) duties of vestries . Parishes which straddled county boundaries or sanitary districts had to be split so that the part in each urban or rural sanitary district became a separate parish (see List of county exclaves in England and Wales 1844–1974 ). The sanitary districts were then reconstituted as urban districts and rural districts , with parishes that fell within urban districts classed as urban parishes, and parishes that fell within rural districts were classed as rural parishes. The 1894 act established elected civil parish councils as to all rural parishes with more than 300 electors, and established annual parish meetings in all rural parishes. Civil parishes were grouped to form either rural or urban districts which are thereafter classified as either type. The parish meetings for parishes with
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#17328524521006188-411: The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which established elected parish councils to take on the secular functions of the parish vestry . A civil parish can range in size from a sparsely populated rural area with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, to a large town with a population in excess of 100,000 . This scope is similar to that of municipalities in continental Europe, such as
6307-481: The River Sheppey , in a valley about 115 m (377 ft) above sea level. The edges of the town lie about 45 m (148 ft) higher. The river has cut a narrow valley, and between Shepton Mallet and the village of Croscombe , to the west, it is bounded by steeply sloping fields and woodland. However, it flows through much of Shepton Mallet itself in underground culverts. It occasionally floods after heavy rain, as on 20 October 2006, and again on 29 May 2008, when
6426-830: The Windsor Hill Marsh biological SSSI, a marshy silted pond with adjacent damp, slightly acidic grassland of interest for its diverse flora, largely due to varied habitats present within a small area. Two species present are rare in Somerset: Flat-sedge ( Blysmus compressus ) and Slender Spike-rush ( Eleocharis uniglumis ). Other marshland plants include Purple Loosestrife , Yellow Flag ( Iris pseudacorus ), Hard Rush ( Juncus inflexus ), Soft Rush ( J. effusus ), Flowering Rush ( Butomus umbellatus ), Devil's-bit Scabious ( Succisa pratensis ), three species of Horsetail Equisetum and seven sedges Carex spp. The centre and older parts of Shepton Mallet are adjacent to
6545-472: The break with Rome , parishes managed ecclesiastical matters, while the manor was the principal unit of local administration and justice. Later, the church replaced the manor court as the rural administrative centre, and levied a local tax on produce known as a tithe . In the medieval period, responsibilities such as relief of the poor passed increasingly from the lord of the manor to the parish's rector , who in practice would delegate tasks among his vestry or
6664-687: The communes of France . However, unlike their continental European counterparts, parish councils are not principal authorities , and in most cases have a relatively minor role in local government. As of September 2023 , there are 10,464 parishes in England, and in 2020 they covered approximately 40% of the English population. For historical reasons, civil parishes predominantly cover rural areas and smaller urban areas, with most larger urban areas being wholly or partly unparished ; but since 1997 it has been possible for civil parishes to be created within unparished areas if demanded by local residents . In 2007
6783-575: The gentry and nobility in many countries. In the Roman Empire , these were often in necropoles or along roadsides: the via Appia Antica retains the ruins of many private mausolea for kilometres outside Rome . When Christianity became dominant, mausolea were out of use. Later, mausolea became particularly popular in Europe and its colonies during the early modern and modern periods . A single mausoleum may be permanently sealed. A mausoleum encloses
6902-463: The (often well-endowed) monasteries. After the dissolution of the monasteries , the power to levy a rate to fund relief of the poor was conferred on the parish authorities by the Poor Relief Act 1601 . Both before and after this optional social change, local (vestry-administered) charities are well-documented. The parish authorities were known as vestries and consisted of all the ratepayers of
7021-512: The 17th and 18th centuries thriving wool and cloth industries were powered by the waters of the River Sheppey . There were said to be 50 mills in and around the town in the early 18th century, and a number of fine clothiers' houses survive, particularly in Bowlish, a hamlet on the western edge of Shepton Mallet. Although these industries still employed some 4,000 towards the end of the century, they were beginning to decline. Discontent at mechanisation of
7140-458: The 19th and 20th centuries brewing became one of the major industries. The Anglo-Bavarian Brewery , built in 1864 and still a local landmark, was the first in England to brew lager . At its height, it was exporting 1.8 million bottles a year to Australia , New Zealand , India , South Africa , South America and the West Indies . It closed in 1921. However the town, home of Babycham , is still
7259-564: The 19th century is useful to historians, and is also of cultural significance in terms of shaping local identities; reinforced by the use of grouped parish boundaries, often, by successive local authority areas; and in a very rough, operations-geared way by most postcode districts. There was (and is) wide disparity in parish size. Writtle , Essex traditionally measures 13,568 acres (21 sq mi) – two parishes neighbouring are Shellow Bowells at 469 acres (0.7 sq mi), and Chignall Smealy at 476 acres (0.7 sq mi) Until
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#17328524521007378-584: The 2011 census, Newland with Woodhouse Moor and Beaumont Chase reported inhabitants, and there were no new deserted parishes recorded. Nearly all instances of detached parts of civil parishes (areas not contiguous with the main part of the parish) and of those straddling counties have been ended. 14 examples remain in England as at 2022, including Barnby Moor and Wallingwells , both in Nottinghamshire. Direct predecessors of civil parishes are most often known as "ancient parishes", although many date only from
7497-505: The 2021 census). The 2001 census recorded several parishes with no inhabitants. These were Chester Castle (in the middle of Chester city centre), Newland with Woodhouse Moor , Beaumont Chase , Martinsthorpe , Meering , Stanground North (subsequently abolished), Sturston , Tottington , and Tyneham (subsequently merged). The lands of the last three were taken over by the Armed Forces during World War II and remain deserted. In
7616-734: The A37. Shepton Mallet had railway stations on two lines, both now closed. The first, called Shepton Mallet (High Street) in British railways days, was on the East Somerset Railway branch line from Witham and opened in 1859. It was extended to Wells in 1862 and later connected to the Cheddar Valley line branch of the Bristol & Exeter Railway from Yatton to Wells via Cheddar . Through services between Yatton and Witham started in 1870. The line
7735-693: The MP has been Tessa Munt of the Liberal Democrats. Before Brexit , the town was in the South West England European Parliamentary constituency , electing six MEPs . There are two medical surgeries in Shepton Mallet, a National Health Service community hospital formerly operated by Somerset Primary Care Trust , and an independent sector treatment centre , which carries out certain surgical procedures. The nearest general hospital
7854-615: The National Adventure Sports Show, fairs and markets including Shepton Mallet International Antiques & Collectors' Fair, and exhibitions and trade shows such as the National Amateur Gardening Show . Until recently, Royal Bath and West Show hosted the Soul Survivor Christian festivals. The A37 runs north–south through Shepton Mallet along the line of the Fosse Way between the south of
7973-648: The Windsor Hill railway tunnels and a viaduct, – remnants of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway . The East Mendip Way long-distance path passes round the northern edge of Shepton Mallet and through Ham Woods. South-west of the town is the Friar's Oven SSSI, site of herb-rich calcareous grassland classified as the Upright Brome ( Bromus erectus ) type , and north-east is the Windsor Hill Quarry geological SSSI and
8092-724: The administration of the poor laws was the main civil function of parishes, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866 , which received royal assent on 10 August 1866, declared all areas that levied a separate rate or had their own overseer of the poor to be parishes. This included the Church of England parishes (until then simply known as "parishes"), extra-parochial areas , townships and chapelries . To have collected rates this means these beforehand had their own vestries, boards or equivalent bodies. Parishes using this definition subsequently became known as "civil parishes" to distinguish them from
8211-575: The annual precipitation falls as showers and thunderstorms at that time of year. Average rainfall is 800–900 mm (31–35 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, June to August the lightest. The prevailing wind is from the south-west. In the 2001 census the population was 8,981: 4,482 (49.9%) male and 4,499 (50.1%) female, with 1,976 (22%) aged 16 or below, 5,781 (64.4%) between 16 and 65, and 1,224 (13.6%) 65 or over. Of those aged 16–74, 4,200 (66%) were employed and only 224 (3.5%) unemployed,
8330-399: The charter, the charter may be transferred to a parish council for its area. Where there is no such parish council, the district council may appoint charter trustees to whom the charter and the arms of the former borough will belong. The charter trustees (who consist of the councillor or councillors for the area of the former borough) maintain traditions such as mayoralty . An example of such
8449-624: The church organ was apparently destroyed by Cromwellian soldiers. During the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, the Duke of Monmouth was welcomed when he passed through Shepton Mallet to stay at Longbridge House in Cowl Street on the night of 23 June, with his men quartered around the town, before setting out for Bristol next day. Many Shepton men joined the cause, but Monmouth failed to take Bath or Bristol and had to return to Shepton on 30 June. After
8568-529: The council are carried out by a paid officer, typically known as a parish clerk. Councils may employ additional people (including bodies corporate, provided where necessary, by tender) to carry out specific tasks dictated by the council. Some councils have chosen to pay their elected members an allowance, as permitted under part 5 of the Local Authorities (Members' Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003. The number of councillors varies roughly in proportion to
8687-464: The council of the urban district or borough in which they were contained. Many urban parishes were coterminous (geographically identical) with the urban district or municipal borough in which they lay. Towns which included multiple urban parishes often consolidated the urban parishes into one. The urban parishes continued to be used as an electoral area for electing guardians to the poor law unions . The unions took in areas in multiple parishes and had
8806-466: The council will an election be held. However, sometimes there are fewer candidates than seats. When this happens, the vacant seats have to be filled by co-option by the council. If a vacancy arises for a seat mid-term, an election is only held if a certain number (usually ten) of parish residents request an election. Otherwise the council will co-opt someone to be the replacement councillor. The Localism Act 2011 introduced new arrangements which replaced
8925-453: The creation of town and parish councils is encouraged in unparished areas . The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 created a procedure which gave residents in unparished areas the right to demand that a new parish and parish council be created. This right was extended to London boroughs by the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 – with this, the City of London
9044-463: The desire to have a more local tier of government when new larger authorities have been created, which are felt to be remote from local concerns and identity. A number of parishes have been created in places which used to have their own borough or district council; examples include Daventry (2003), Folkestone (2004), Kidderminster (2015) and Sutton Coldfield (2016). The trend towards the creation of geographically large unitary authorities has been
9163-468: The east, separated from the Market Place by the Academy complex, is the parish church of St Peter and St Paul . Lower Lane, under Waterloo Bridge along the bottom of the river valley to the north of the town centre, is one of the few parts where the River Sheppey runs above ground. At the eastern end is Leg Square, surrounded by three large houses originally built by owners of some of the town's mills. Close by
9282-439: The ecclesiastical parishes. The Church of England parishes, which cover more than 99% of England, have become officially (and to avoid ambiguity) termed ecclesiastical parishes . The limits of many of these have diverged; most greatly through changes in population and church attendance (these factors can cause churches to be opened or closed). Since 1921, each has been the responsibility of its own parochial church council . In
9401-459: The edge of the town is Charlton House, a luxury hotel and spa. On the south side of the town is a triangle of land bounded on the east by the A37 , on the north by the former East Somerset Railway , and on the west by Cannard's Grave Road: Tadley Acres is a modern housing development built on land partly belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall . The development has been praised for its design quality and use of local, natural building materials. North of
9520-452: The erosive action of water beneath the water-table at considerable pressure (" phreatic " development), but as the water table has fallen, many now lie well above it and the system contains a variety of cave formations ( stalagmites , stalactites and calcite curtains) which in extent and preservation are among the best in Britain. Shatter Cave and Withyhill Cave are generally seen to be among
9639-521: The established English Church, which for a few years after Henry VIII alternated between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England , before settling on the latter on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558. By the 18th century, religious membership was becoming more fractured in some places, due in part to the progress of Methodism . The legitimacy of the parish vestry came into question, and
9758-580: The estate reverted to the Crown and was then granted to Sir John de Tiptoft. It was again confiscated from his son by Henry VI during the Wars of the Roses , when the family sided with Edward IV , but restored to Sir John's grandson, Edward Tiptoft, when Edward IV regained the throne. He died without issue, and there followed a succession of grants and reversions until Glastonbury Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII , and its lands, including Shepton Mallet, were granted to
9877-474: The finest decorated caves in Britain in terms of sheer abundance of pure white and translucent calcite deposits. Small numbers of greater horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ), lesser horseshoe bat ( R. hipposideros ) and Natterer's bat ( Myotis nattereri ) hibernate in the cave system. An area of nationally rare species-rich, unimproved calcareous grassland of the Sheep's-fescue-Meadow Oat-grass type lies in
9996-611: The first part of the 20th: 5,104 in 1801 and 5,117 in 1851, then 5,446 by 1901, falling back to 5,260 in 1951. By 2001, it had grown again to 8,981. Shepton Mallet is in the unitary authority area of Somerset Council . Prior to April 2023, it was the principal town in the Mendip local government district , which governed together with Somerset County Council . In the 80 years up to 1974, it lay in Shepton Mallet Urban District . The civil parish of Shepton Mallet has adopted
10115-565: The former railway is Collett Park. Across Cannard's Grave Road from Tadley Acres is the Mid-Somerset Showground . Just to the south-west of the town centre, on a site which at the start of the 20th century had been the grounds of the former Summerleaze House and then a shoe factory, is the Townsend Retail Park, built in 2006–2007. West Shepton, the south-west corner of town, contains the former Shepton Mallet Union Workhouse ,
10234-638: The gift and continued patronage (benefaction) of the lord of the manor , but not all were willing and able to provide, so residents would be expected to attend the church of the nearest manor with a church. Later, the churches and priests became to a greater extent the responsibility of the Catholic Church thus this was formalised; the grouping of manors into one parish was recorded, as was a manor-parish existing in its own right. Boundaries changed little, and for centuries after 1180 'froze', despite changes to manors' extents. However, by subinfeudation , making
10353-455: The government at the time of the Local Government Act 1972 discouraged their creation for large towns or their suburbs, but there is generally nothing to stop their establishment. For example, Birmingham has two parishes ( New Frankley and Sutton Coldfield ), Oxford has four, and the Milton Keynes urban area has 24. Parishes could not however be established in London until the law was changed in 2007. A civil parish can range in area from
10472-471: The late 19th century, most of the "ancient" (a legal term equivalent to time immemorial ) irregularities inherited by the civil parish system were cleaned up, and the majority of exclaves were abolished. The census of 1911 noted that 8,322 (58%) of "parishes" in England and Wales were not geographically identical when comparing the civil to the ecclesiastical form. In 1894, civil parishes were reformed by
10591-480: The late 1st or early 2nd centuries to the late 4th or early 5th centuries. As no public buildings were found, the settlement was probably not a town. Evidence of Saxon settlement includes some Saxon stonework in the parish church of St Peter and St Paul . A charter of King Ine of Wessex , from 706, witnessed by nine bishops including the Archbishop of Canterbury , records that the area where Shepton Mallet now stands
10710-576: The late Neolithic period. Two barrows on Barren Down, to the north of the town centre, contained cremation burials from the Bronze Age ; another Bronze Age burial site contained a skeleton and some pottery. The remains of Iron Age roundhouses and artefacts such as quernstones and beads were found at Cannard's Grave , as was a probable Iron Age farming settlement at Field Farm. Nearby countryside provides evidence of Iron Age cave dwellings in Ham Woods to
10829-465: The mid 19th century. Using a longer historical lens the better terms are "pre-separation (civil and ecclesiastical) parish", "original medieval parishes" and "new parishes". The Victoria County History , a landmark collaborative work mostly written in the 20th century (although incomplete), summarises the history of each English "parish", roughly meaning late medieval parish. A minority of these had exclaves , which could be: In some cases an exclave of
10948-647: The mills resulted in the deaths of two men in a riot in the town in 1775. This apparently discouraged mill-owners from modernising further. The decision resulted in Shepton's cloth trade losing out to the steam-powered mills in the north of England in the early 19th century. The manufacture of silk and crepe revived the town's fortunes somewhat, and Shepton's mills made the silk used in Queen Victoria 's wedding dress. However, these industries also died out eventually. While wool, cloth and silk declined, other industries grew. In
11067-477: The name derives from that of the Norman family of Malet . Gilbert Malet, son of William Malet, Honour of Eye , held a lease from Glastonbury Abbey around 1100. The second letter "l" appears to have been added to the spelling in the 16th century. Archaeological investigations have found evidence of prehistoric activity in the Shepton Mallet area, with large amounts of Neolithic flint and some pottery fragments of
11186-465: The new district councils (outside London) to review their parishes, and many areas left unparished in 1972 have since been made parishes, either in whole or part. For example, Hinckley , whilst entirely unparished in 1974, now has four civil parishes, which together cover part of its area, whilst the central part of the town remains unparished. Some parishes were sub-divided into smaller territories known as hamlets , tithings or townships . Nowadays
11305-457: The north-west, and several burial mounds at Beacon Hill, a short distance to the north. Shepton Mallet is about halfway between the Roman towns of Bath and Ilchester on the Fosse Way . Although there are no visible remains apart from the line of the Roman road , there is archaeological evidence for early military and later civilian settlement lasting into the 5th century. Domed pottery kilns , with pottery still present, were identified on
11424-488: The other conurbations. Civil parishes vary greatly in population: some have populations below 100 and have no settlement larger than a hamlet , while others cover towns with populations of tens of thousands. Weston-super-Mare , with a population of 71,758, is the most populous civil parish. In many cases small settlements, today popularly termed villages , localities or suburbs, are in a single parish which originally had one church. Large urban areas are mostly unparished, as
11543-401: The parish the status of a town, at which point the council becomes a town council . Around 400 parish councils are called town councils. Under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 , a civil parish may be given one of the following alternative styles: As a result, a parish council can be called a town council, a community council, a village council or occasionally
11662-404: The parish. As the number of ratepayers of some parishes grew, it became increasingly difficult to convene meetings as an open vestry. In some, mostly built-up, areas the select vestry took over responsibility from the entire body of ratepayers. This innovation improved efficiency, but allowed governance by a self-perpetuating elite. The administration of the parish system relied on the monopoly of
11781-562: The parish; the church rate ceased to be levied in many parishes and became voluntary from 1868. During the 17th century it was found that the 1601 Poor Law did not work well for very large parishes, which were particularly common in northern England. Such parishes were typically subdivided into multiple townships , which levied their rates separately. The Poor Relief Act 1662 therefore directed that for poor law purposes 'parish' meant any place which maintained its own poor, thereby converting many townships into separate 'poor law parishes'. As
11900-499: The perceived inefficiency and corruption inherent in the system became a source for concern in some places. For this reason, during the early 19th century the parish progressively lost its powers to ad hoc boards and other organisations, such as the boards of guardians given responsibility for poor relief through the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 . Sanitary districts covered England in 1875 and Ireland three years later. The replacement boards were each entitled to levy their own rate in
12019-528: The population and economy were boosted by craftsmen and merchants arriving from France and the Low Countries , who were escaping wars and religious persecution. They introduced cloth-making, which together with the local wool trade , became a major industry in Shepton and other Somerset and Wiltshire towns. Wool became such a source of riches that when Henry VII needed money to fight the Scots in 1496, he called on
12138-411: The population of the parish. Most rural parish councillors are elected to represent the entire parish, though in parishes with larger populations or those that cover larger areas, the parish can be divided into wards. Each of these wards then returns councillors to the parish council (the numbers depending on their population). Only if there are more candidates standing for election than there are seats on
12257-477: The rainfall was too heavy for the culverts. Some houses round Leg Square, Lower Lane and Draycott Road were submerged to a depth of 1 metre (3 ft 3 in). A study by the Environment Agency identified that the current standard of flood protection in these parts of the town is insufficient, as it was of a 5–10-year event-standard, whereas current guidelines require protection of a 50–200-year standard. In
12376-462: The rest being economically inactive. About 69% of the employed were in service industries, the rest in manufacturing, while 1,459 people had managerial or professional occupations, 522 were self-employed, and 1,888 worked in routine and semi-routine occupations. Some 3,714 dwellings were recorded, of which 2,621 (70.6%) were owner-occupied, 515 (13.9%) rented privately and 578 (15.6%) from social landlords; 3,688 (99.3%) heads of households were white. It
12495-438: The right to create civil parishes was extended to London boroughs , although only one, Queen's Park , has so far been created. Eight parishes also have city status (a status granted by the monarch ). A civil parish may be equally known as and confirmed as a town, village, neighbourhood or community by resolution of its parish council, a right not conferred on other units of English local government. The governing body of
12614-472: The site of the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery in the mid-19th century, suggesting military activity in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Several hoards of Roman coins ranging from the 1st to 4th centuries have been found and more than 300 fibula brooches , potsherds and other artefacts. A few isolated burials near the Fosse Way were found in the 19th century. A lead coffin in a rock-cut grave was discovered at
12733-577: The site to try to block the felling of an avenue dating back to the 19th century. It also split opinion in the town between those awaiting revitalisation and those who feared that local traders would fail to compete, bringing further High Street decline. Kilver Street has a Mulberry Factory Shop near the old Mulberry headquarters. Shepton Mallet housed three major alcoholic drinks producers. Gaymer Cider Company closed in 2016. Constellation Brands , former owners of Gaymers, still produces Babycham . Family-run Brothers Drinks produces Brothers Cider and runs
12852-602: The southern foothills of the Mendip Hills . The area rests geologically on Forest Marble , Blue Lias and Oolitic limestone . To the north of the town are several caves of the Mendip Hills , including Thrupe Lane Swallet , a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and the St. Dunstan's Well Catchment , a cave system with a series of spectacularly-decorated caves totalling about 4 miles (6.4 km) of mapped passage. The caves at Fairy Cave Quarry were formed mainly by
12971-514: The style of a town. It has a town council of 16 members, split equally between the two wards: Shepton East and Shepton West. The most recent elections, in May 2015, left the council made up of five Conservatives, five Liberal Democrats , three Labour Party members and three independents. Shepton Mallet falls within the Wells and Mendip Hills parliamentary constituency . Since the general election on 4 July 2024
13090-487: The summer of 2010, the Agency began constructing a flood alleviation scheme at a cost of about £1.3 million. Shepton Mallet has distinct areas that originated as separate communities around the central point of the church and Market Place. The town centre consists of two streets: High Street, running south from the Market Place towards the Townsend Retail Park, and the pedestrianised Town Street running north to Waterloo Bridge. To
13209-528: The term may be used for a burial vault below a larger facility, such as a church. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, California, for example, has 6,000 sepulchral and cinerary urn spaces for interments in the lower level of the building. It is known as the "crypt mausoleum". In Europe, these underground vaults are sometimes called crypts or catacombs . A chapel mausoleum or mausoleum chapel in
13328-506: The time of the Domesday survey in 1086. When Corcella died, sometime before or around 1100, the land passed to the Malets , a Norman family whose name was added to that of the settlement (and another of their holdings, Curi – now Curry Mallet ). The Malets retained the estate until the reign of King John , when on the death of William Malet ( fl. 1192–1215) and the payment by his sons-in-law of
13447-543: The town and Ilchester . The A361 from Frome and Trowbridge skirts the eastern edge of Shepton on its way to Glastonbury and Taunton . The A371 from Castle Cary passes through on its way west to Wells ; for some distance, both routes follow the line of the A37. The nearest motorway connections are at junction 23 of the M5 motorway via the A361 and A39 and at junction 1 of the M32 via
13566-554: The town in 1938, has its main showroom in the High Street Haskins Retail Centre. This includes other shops: a supermarket, Edinburgh Woollen Mill , Ponden Home, Pavers Shoes and an outlet clothing store. Retail jobs rose in 2006–2007 with a new shopping development, including a Tesco supermarket, a clothes store and other retailers on a site just south of the town centre, once held by a footwear factory. This attracted national media attention when protesters occupied
13685-452: The town, as does the route of the Fosse Way , the main Roman road between north-east and south-west England. There is evidence of Roman settlement. Its listed buildings include a medieval parish church. Shepton Mallet Prison was England's oldest, but closed in March 2013. The medieval wool trade gave way to trades such as brewing in the 18th century. It remains noted for cider production. It
13804-416: The wool merchants of Shepton to contribute £10. To our trusty and wellbeloved John Calycote of Shepton Malet... ...because as we here ye be a man of good substaunce—we desire and pray you to makelone vnto us of the som of ten poundes whereof ye shal be vndoubtedly and assuredly repayd in our Receipt at the fest of Seynt Andrewe next coming... In 1675, a House of Correction was set up in Shepton Mallet. In
13923-575: Was absorbed into the Great Western Railway in the 1870s. A second, Shepton Mallet (Charlton Road) railway station , opened in 1874 with the building of a Bath extension to the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway . This station was some distance east of the town centre and approached over Charlton Viaduct. Civil parishes in England In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government . It
14042-462: Was in a substantial stone coffin positioned beneath a mausoleum , whose foundations remained. One find in the Fosse Way burials was a Chi-Rho amulet , thought then to be from the 5th century and considered among the earliest clear evidence of Christianity in England . A copy was presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury , George Carey , by the churches of the Diocese of Bath and Wells . The amulet
14161-591: Was passed to Abbot Berwald of Glastonbury Abbey . According to some legends Indract of Glastonbury was buried in Shepton. The town was in the Whitstone Hundred ; the hundred courts were held at Cannard's Grave, just south of the town. The Exeter Domesday Book records that on the death of Edward the Confessor in 1066, the site was held (probably by lease from the Abbey) by one Uluert, and then by Roger de Corcella at
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