CAXTON, and YEOVIL; all of these are noticed under their respective titles. The other towns, including Castle Cary, Dnuster, Detester, Ililborno Port, 31ilverton, Minehead, South Fetherton, Somerton, Watehett, and Wiveliscombe, we notice here; the populations are those of 1851 : (Suds Glory, population of the pariah 1860, is about 26 miles S.S.W. from Bath. The castle was built or strengthened by William Gouel de Percheval, in the reign of Stephen. The earthworks alone remain.
The town is irregularly arranged ; the houses are neatly built. The village of Ahnaford is almost part of the town. Castle Cary church is • handsome building on an elevated site. There are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists and Independents, National schools, and a savings bank. Flax-mills afford some employment There are three fairs and seven great cattle-markets in the year.
Duster, population of the parish 1184, is 18 miles N.W. by W. from Taunton- The West-Saxon kings had a fortress here. Dunster sent members to parliament in the 31th and 36th Edward III. There was • Benedictine priory here, founded by the De Mohuns. Dunster castle is a building in the Elizabethan style, in a richly-wooded park. The church is a spacious and handsome building, erected in the reign of Henry VII. A tower in the centre rests on four pillars. There are a chapel for Wesleyan Methodists, and an Endowed school. Tho market is on Friday, and there is a yearly fair on Whit-Monday.
lichen., or Irelchester (from the river Ivel or Yeo, on which it stands), population 889, is about 33 miles S.S.1V. from Bath. This town was an important Roman station, the lechalis of Ptolenuens, who mentions it as one of the chief towns of the Belga The Roman town was defended by a wall and deep ditch, comprehending an oblong quadrangle, through which the Fosse-way passed from north to south. Roman hypocausts and bathe, foundations of ancient buildings, vast arches, tesselated pavements, urns, lachrymatories, paters, fibulae, bracelets, and other relics of antiquity, have been dis covered, and medals, especially of Vespasian, Trajan, and Antoninus Pius. Under the Saxons, who called the town Givelcestre, it was a
place of note. It sent members to parliament in the reigns of Edward I. and Edward IL, and with intervals subsequently till it was disfranchised by the Reform Act There were three religious establishments in the town. The town lies in a rich valley, and consists of two parts Iteheater proper and the village of Northover, which are separated by the Yeo or Ivel, which is crossed by a stone bridge of two large arches. Tho church is an ancient building, consisting of a nave, chancel, and north aisle or chapel, with a low octagonal tower. There are National schools. The county jail is at Ilchester. It is a spacious building of freestone. The town-hall is a neat modern building. Ilchester wan the birthplace of Roger Bacon.
DI %Thorne Port, population of the parish 1746, is on the Dorsetshire border, about 8 miles E. by N. from YeoviL It was a borough and market-town at the time of the Domesday survey, and sent members to parliament In the time of Edward I., after which it ceased to send them till the reign of Charles I., when it regained the franchise, which it finally lost by the Reform Act The town is pleasantly situated in a valley, and consists chiefly of detached houses. The ancient town-hall has a curious Norman doorway. The church is a large cruciform edifice, with a square tower : there are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists and Independents, and National schools. Leather-dressing and glove-making are carried on.
Milrerton, population of the parish 2146, about 7 miles W. by N. from Taunton, was a market-town at the Conquest. The church, which occupies an elevated site in the centre of the town, is a spacious building of perpendicular character, 112 feet long by 60 feet broad : there are meeting-houses for Quakers and Independents, and a school for children of all denominations. Silk-throwing and the menu factnro of flannel and woollen-cloth afford some employment to the inhabitants. The market is on Friday, and there are three yearly fairs.