Somerset | Page 8

The
battle had a sad sequel for Somerset. James knew no clemency; and
Jeffreys' bloody assize left a crimson trail across the country, which
even time found some difficulty in obliterating. Macaulay estimates
that the number of the rebels hanged by Jeffreys was 320, and though
the assize extended into Hampshire, Dorset, and Devon, most of its
victims were Somerset folk. A certain poetic justice may perhaps be
discerned in the fact that when, in 1688, the Prince of Orange drove
James from his throne, his march took him through Somerset, and he
had a skirmish with the royal troops at Wincanton. In connection with
Somerset's share in the events of James's reign, it deserves to be

mentioned that Bishop Ken, of Bath and Wells, was among the seven
prelates who presented the famous petition against the king's
Declaration of Indulgence.
The ecclesiastical history of Somerset may be briefly related. When
Cenwealh of Wessex (who had been converted to Christianity by the
King of East Anglia) established the bishopric of Winchester, such
parts of Somerset as belonged to the West-Saxon kingdom were
included in that see. Ina divided his augmented territories between two
bishoprics, Winchester and Sherborne, the latter including Somerset,
with Wilts, Berks, and Dorset. The first Bishop of Sherborne was
Aldhelm (705), who only filled the see for four years, dying at Doulting
in 709. Ina also founded Wells, but as a collegiate church of secular
canons, not as the cathedral of a diocese. It was not until 909 that
Somerset had a bishop all to itself, who was styled the Bishop of the
Somersaetas, with his seat at Wells (the first appointed being Aethelm.)
In 1088, in accordance with the policy of removing bishoprics from
localities of little importance, the see was transferred from Wells to
Bath, the bishop (John de Villula) at the same time becoming the abbot
of the monastery. In 1192 Bishop Savaric procured for the see the rich
abbey of Glastonbury, and became its abbot; and he and his immediate
successor, Joceline, the builder of the W. front of Wells, were styled
Bishops of Bath and Glastonbury. In 1224, however, another change
was made, and the bishop took his title from Bath and Wells, as he has
done ever since. Up to the Reformation the title was justified, both the
monks of Bath and the canons of Wells taking part in episcopal
elections; but, with the suppression of its monastery, Bath naturally lost
this distinction.
Of religious houses Somerset possessed a fair proportion. The chief
were Glastonbury, Bath, Bruton, Dunster, Muchelney, Stogursey
(which were Benedictine), Cleeve, Barlynch (Cistercian), Hinton,
Witham (Carthusian), Taunton, Woodspring, Stavordale (Augustinian),
Montacute (Cluniac). The Templars had a preceptory at Templecombe,
and the Knights of St John had establishments at Bridgwater and
Mynchin Buckland (near Durston).

[3] Thorpe's translation.
[4] See a paper on "Ethandune" by the Rev. C.W. Whistler (reprinted
from "The Saga-book"--"Proceedings of the Viking Club," 1898), who
thinks that the Danish fortress may have been Bridgwater.

VII. ANTIQUITIES
The principal antiquities of Somerset may be classified as (1)
earthworks and other survivals of a primitive time; (2) the Roman
remains at Bath and elsewhere; (3) the ecclesiastical and other
buildings of the Middle Ages.
1. The British camps are numerous. They are probably not the sites of
permanent settlements, but were used for defensive purposes in times
of war. The most notable are Worlebury (near Weston), Combe Down
and Solsbury (near Bath), Hamdon, Brent Knoll, Masbury, Dolbury,
Stantonbury, and the three Cadburys (near Sparkford, Tickenham, and
Yatton respectively). Worlebury is remarkable for having a large
number of pits sunk into the ground within its rampart. (Castle Neroche
and Castle Orchard, which have usually been regarded as of British
origin, are now thought to owe their fortifications to the Normans.)
The remains of megalithic circles occur at Stanton Drew. There are
barrows at Stoney Littleton, Dundry, and Priddy. There is a
lake-village of the crannog type at Godney. Other antiquities of British
origin that deserve notice are the Wansdyke and Pen Pits (the latter
near Penselwood).
2. The most interesting Roman remains are at Bath, where a splendid
system of baths has been brought to light. Villas and other buildings of
Roman origin have been discovered at Whitestaunton and Wadeford
(near Chard), Whatley (near Frome), Wellow, Newton St Loe, Bratton
Seymour, Pitney, Camerton, etc. Traces of Roman mines (such as tools
and pigs of lead) have been found at Priddy and Blagdon, and an
amphitheatre at Charterhouse-on-Mendip. Many of the British camps

enumerated above have at different times been occupied by the Roman
legions.
3. The ancient ecclesiastical buildings of Somerset are very interesting.
Some of them, chiefly monastic foundations, are more or less in
ruins--Glastonbury, Cleeve, Woodspring, Muchelney, Stavordale,
Hinton Charterhouse. Of those that are still used for religious