COUNTY OF SOMERSET
a hole be bored into such a place as this, an artesian well is made.
This is not the village well with chain and bucket, but an artificial spring from which the water flows up with great force.
When the water of itself can find a
Neolithic, Beaker and “ Food Vessel : sherds from Rowberrow Cavern
With the pottery was a service of Hint implements wrought by shallow scaling, including part of a polished tool and barbed stone arrowheads. But undoubtedly the important feature of the industry here found was the presence of , pygmy flints ;
though not quite the same as the earlier pygmies from King Arthur’s Cave they are probably derived from the Arthursian industry.
They suggest that the indwellers in Rowberrow Cavern were the descendants of men who dwelt in Britain in y. lardenoisian times.
They in turn perhaps were derived from the
cave men of Old Stone Age.
Cheddar, has also produced an association of round
bottomed Neolithic pottery, sherds of Beaker-ware, finely scaled flint implements and small fragments of a polished axe.
Soldier’s Hole in Cheddar Gorge has so far given us a set of stone implements including a polished axe and a chipped stone spear-head.
The most significant Neolithic site m this district was found by the Somerset Archaeological Society under an overhanging rock in. Chelm’s Combe, Cheddar, where round bottomed bowls and the bones of the men who used them had survived.
One of the bowls is of a Spanish type. The Neolithic men who dwelt in these seven caves had domestic beasts, but they hunted freely to augment their food stocks.
Neolithic Man.
The description of the Palaeolithic man of Aveline’s Hole and Gough’s Cave could be used for the men from the Gloucestershire and Somersetshire long barrows and from Chelm’s Combe without much amending.
Perhaps the main difference is that the long-barrow men had narrower faces than the cave men.
Judging by the skeletons we have there is no reason to suppose that the long-barrow men were other than the descendants of the cave men. But this is a theory that needs testing by research in transitional stations.
A skull was taken from Bisley long-barrow upon which the dangerous and delicate surgical operation of trepanning had been successfully performed. >
It has been asserted that the Megalithic culture was carried across Europe by traders from the Near East who were in quest of gold, amber and pearls.
They were dark broad-heads, and are known as Prospectors.
Professor Fleure has discovered in Pembroke and South Cardigan, where Megaliths are numerous, numbers of men who may be their descendants. Never the less, no oriental Neolithic objects have appeared in the West of England and, moreover, the skeletons from the long-barrows all appear to belong to the distinctive native type.
At this period it is probable that work began on the gold bearing gravel of Wicklow.
For centuries this was the most important gold-field in Europe and this may account for the enormous number of flint axes and early bronze implements found in Ireland. But there are few signs of the gold trade in these parts.
Trade there was: no one can walk across a ploughed field on Mendip without discovering a flint implement or flake.
No flint is found naturally in the district, therefore, the presence of such enormous quantities on the land is testimony of settled conditions and an interchange of commodities in the New Stone and Bronze Ages.
Die Megalithie stage certainly lasted into the early Bronze Age; the occurrence of Beaker-ware with Neolithic pottery is good evidence of that. Stonehenge itself was raised after the close of the New Stone Age.
It is now well-known that the inner circle of blue stones was brought thence from Pembrokeshire.
Merlins' Cave , Symond's Vat.
There must be an intense heat to cause these outbursts; and when water rises from a depth so great that the rock around it is hot, we find a hot spring such as there is at Bath.
Very ancient peoples made baths, and some of the oldest books mention warm bathing ;
but the Romans before they came to Britain built handsome public baths in their great cities, and used them not only for cleanliness but for luxury.
Therefore, although the site upon which the city of Bath now stands may have been a solitary forest when they came, the hot springs soon led them to think of making a settlement there. They built a fine city such as they possessed in their own country, with a temple and a forum (which was an open space where the markets and courts of justice were held) and many villas. The baths you may see to-day, with the ancient masonry containing the water, and tall pillars carrying a portico around it.
But the Romans, as you know, were called away and the city remained in the hands of the Britons, who had learned the Roman ways and customs. In the period of war and waste that followed most likely it was much injured ; but when the Saxons at last came into the north of this county they took it, and the name afterwards appears in their chronicles. At first they called it Akermanscaster, but afterwards Haet Bathun, because of its hot springs. Where the Roman temple had stood they founded a monastery, in which Dunstan afterwards placed his favourite Benedictine monks, and made it of such great importance with a mitre on his head and a book of the Gospels in his hand. And he raised his hand and gave his blessing . And in the dream they asked, “ Who art thou ? ” And unto each the stranger had given the same reply. “ I am called Cuthbert, the soldier of Christ; and to me, this morning out of thy scanty store thou didst give both bread and wine . Now am I come to bid thee be of good courage , for the day of victory is at hand . For the king shall blow his horn, and all the folk shall gather together, and drive the heathen out of the land. And this shall be a sign. When the fishers presently return, their boat shall be laden with fish, as none of them have ever before known.
” Then the king and queen were very glad, for they felt sure that the troubles of their kingdom were drawing to an end. And towards evening the fishermen came home, shouting that they had caught more fish on that one day than during all the time of their stay upon the island . So there was plenty again, and they all made merry.
And when King Alfred told them of his vision they were all eager to go out against the Danes. Now the miraculous part of this legend was most likely added by the monks to a true story.
The giving of the bread and wine which did not waste reminds us of Elijah the Tisbite and the widow’s handful of meal and cruse of oil. The unexpected catch of fish is very like the marvellous draft of fishes on Galilee . Yet it is likely that King Alfred may have dreamt that St.Cuthbert came to him , and believed that he received divine help to drive the pagans out of his land. At any rate he afterwards built an abbey 011 Athelney out of gratitude to God for his deliverance. No trace of it remains until the present day, although some relics have been found before now upon the spot. A little stone monument now stands near the place where King Alfred remained hidden , is supposed to have derived its name from Ced , signifying a brow or conspicuous height , and Dwr W ater; it is situate at the foot of the Mendip Hills, on the southern side, about two miles from the borough-town of
Axbridge, eight from the city of Wells, eighteen miles from the city of Bristol, and near twenty miles from the town of Bridgwater, in the eastern division of the county of Somerset.
Its circuit is about twelve miles, and comprises 6633a. 3r. 12p. of land, of various soils ,but chiefly limestone ! distributed into meadow , pasture, and arable, interspersed with many orchards, whose appearance in the blooming season, when seen from the heights, adds much to the beauty of the prospect; the soil is particularly adapted to the growth of peas and potatoes , the early sorts of which are sent in large quantities to the Bristol market, where,
The slightly raised ridgeway from South Cadbury north-west towards Glastonbury is known as King Arthur’s hunting causeway and the great earthwork of Cadbury Camp carries legends of silver horseshoes and knights who ride at midnight.
In fact excavation has uncovered Dark-Age pottery and wine-amphorae within the ramparts, while weapons and other remains point to warfare there.
After Arthur’s death in 539 the Saxons over-ran Somerset
and built a palace for their King, Ine, at South Petherton, while for a time Somerton became the country’s capital.
With the coming of Alfred and his long, heroic struggle against the Danes, the history of Somerset becomes the history of England, and the names of humble Somerset villages leap into the pages of our school In story books.
There is Athelney and the cakes , then to Penselwood to raise the men of Wessex beyond the Danish lines, so to the decisive battle of Ethandune , the Treaty of Wedmore, and the bap-tising of the Danish leader, Guthrum, at Aller. Today, these Somerset places, once so important, exist quietly among the withies and peat and the green ash . In 1693, at North Newton, a few miles from Athelney, the Alfred Jewel,
enamelled and engraved with the great king’s name, was found and is now in the Ashmolean Museum.
In 1214 Roger Bacon, the brilliant scientific monk, was born at Ilchester;
He has been called “the greatest man that Somerset has produced”.
He died at Oxford in 1294.
After this the history of England was the history of Somerset.
The great abbeys suffered under Henry VIII the Merchant Venturers sailed from Bristol, and then civil war llaioil up and down the county.
There was a battle at Babylon Hill on lb. A30 just outside Yeovil and great houses were invested and held out oi surrendered. But after the Restoration, Somerset came to the forefront flared with the Monmouth Rebellion.
In 1685 was fought the last battle on English soil,
when the Duke of Monmouth was defeated and Somerset became “occupied” territory as his Protestant adherents were rounded up by a Papist King and his minions,
notably Colonel Kirke and his "Lambs” and Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys and his “Bloody Assize”.
After this, Somerset took the lead in happier events, Beau Nash, Ralph Allen and the Prince Regent put Bath in the forefront of fashion and
Remains of a fortified site of Saxon date, known as Daw's Castle.
The fortification survives as a curvilinear earthen bank, which encloses an area of approximately 2 hectares.
The northern side of the site has been lost to coastal erosion and landslips.
The surviving section of bank measures roughly 180 metres in length and has been shown by excavation to have been constructed in two phases.
The first phase is thought to date from the reign of King Alfred, between 871 and 899.
A mortared stone wall at its base fronted a bank.
The second phase involved the construction of a more substantial wall, with a wider bank behind and a berm and ditch in front.
This phase is believed to date from the 10th century.
This is probably the site of the burh of Weced (Watchet), first mentioned in the Burghal Hideage .
Watchet was a mint .
Inhumations possibly dating to the 5th century have been found near by.
The site was discovered during the construction of three lime kilns in the mid to late 19th century (see ST 04 SE 112).
The site is scheduled and in guardianship, the limekilns are also listed.
The bank defining the southern part of the enclosure is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs.
It measure 255m long and curves sharply at its north west end by the cliff.
Daw's Castle, St. Decuman's: remains of an enclosure which may once have been very extensive
, but much has been lost through landslips.
The principal remaining feature is a scarp about 200 yards long running in a curved line from E. to W., with its
convexity pointing S. At both E. and W. ends, there is a bank
running along the crest of the scarp for a short distance. Two
further portions of bank are visible just above the cliff.
Listed under unclassified earthworks
The enclosure apparently extended for 300 yards east, as there is a small piece of bank remaining by the road at this distance
further towards Watchet.
The name "Daw's Castle" seems a recent corruption of "Dart's Castle" which appears on the O.S. 1" Edn. It is a cliff top
enclosure in a commanding situation half a mile from Watchet. The northern half has been eroded by cliff falls and the
southern half consists principally of a rather weak scarp with
some evidence of a stone bank or wall along the top. There are unsurveyable traces of a berm at the foot of the scarp but no
indications of a ditch. In the east the work has been
obliterated by limestone digging and the construction of a
former golf course and the small piece of bank mentioned by Burrows has disappeared with land-slip.
The enclosure does not appear to be of I.A. origin, and Wedlake (4) suggested that it might be the remains of a Burghal Hidage fort.
Ralegh-Radford (5) examined the site and expressed the opinion that it was almost certainly Saxon,
confirming
Wedlake's suggestion.
Brooks in his article on unidentified
forts (6) of the Burghal Hidage does not go into the problem of
Watchet but quotes the Chronicle of 914 which suggests that temporary defences were constructed along the southern side of the Severn estuary.
In correspondence (7) he has reservations about the inclusion of Daw's Castle as a burh, partly from its
position away from the present town and partly from the lack of
documentation of a move from Daw's Castle to the present site of Watchet.
Brooks notes however that Halwell, Devon, is a presumptive emergency fort detached from the present settlement.
Only excavation can resolve the problem but it seems quite
possible that Daw's Castle was of a temporary nature, like
Halwell, and part of Edward the Elder's Severn estuary
defences. See ST 04 SE 28 for Saxon Mint.
Surveyed at 1/2500. (4-8)
Numbers of E-W oriented but findless graves were found in or near Daw's Castle in the 19th century, and are thought to be
5th century and possibly of Irish origin.
The remains were first found when excavating for the lime-kilns at Daw's Castle (presumably those published on OS 1:10 000 at ST 06284331), and more bones were discovered later. These (? both lots) were re-interred 'higher up the field' by the Charcoal-burner. (9-11)
"Daw's Castle near Watchet has various features which suggest it would repay further studies in this context (Post-Roman Irish settlement in Somerset). Sited on the cliff, the defences
at present consist of a scarp about 2m high, forming a half
circle, with the ends of the rampart ending at the cliff top,
and enclosing about two hectares.
This device is not common on pre-Roman sites generally, and is very rare in Somerset.
In
addition, there are accounts of a number of east-west findless graves being discovered there in the nineteenth century (Page 1890 241-2) which might point to a use in the period under
discussion". (12-13)
Lime kilns are situated to the east of Daws Castle (see ST 04 SE 112) (14)
Excavation in 1982 revealed two phases of defence, both with mortared stone walls and banks. The first phase, much slighter in nature, is possibly the Alfredian Burh of Watchet recorded in the Burghal Hidage. The second phase, a large stone wall with a bank and ditch, may have been commisioned by Edward the Elder or Aethelred II. A radiocarbon date of 730 +- 140 (HAR 5279) was obtained from a layer sealed by the defences. There is no evidence apart from residual sherds to suggest a Roman date for the site, while the pottery and and constructional details of the defences preclude an Iron Age date. When the details of the later defences are considered, this form of defence work is directly comparable to other Saxon burhs.
Phase I. The earlier wall was 0.85m wide at its base, 0.6m high with a bank behind it ca 7.0m wide (similar to Lydford burh).
Phase II. The later wall was 1.42m wide, probably at least 3.5m high with a bank 7.9m wide behind it. In front of the wall was a small ditch 1.52m wide separated from the wall face by a berm 10.7m wide.
It is suggested that since the Watchet mint did not strike any coins between 1056-80 a break unique among Wessex mints, and also since no reference to a fort at Watchet is recorded in Domesday, the site had been abandoned after the Conquest and the mint re-established within the present town. (See also ST 04 SE 28 for details of the burh).
(15)
The bank defining the southern part of the enclosure is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. It measures 255m long and curves sharply at its north west end by the cliff. It is centred at ST 0617 4314.
(16)
ST 06194320. Remains of fortified site of Saxon date, known as Daw's Castle. Scheduling amended.
The remains of Daw's Castle were archaeologically surveyed and investigated by English Heritage in 2004. The report on this work complete with a large-scale survey are lodged in the NMRC. This guardianship site, now mostly under close -cropped permanent pasture - with a fringe of dense vegetation around the southern and western sides- lies on high ground which on its northern side is delinated by a high crumbling and slumping cliff edge. Traces of footings that indicated the extent of walling on the southern and western sides, as well as some ploughed-down earthworks survive. The north-east corner of the site is overlaid by the earthworks of a tramway and its associated buildings. This tramway was used haul materials up and down the precipitous cliff-face to supply the adjacent limekilns. Daw's Castle was extensively damaged during agricultural improvements in 1982 and the threat of further damage prompted the purchase of this important monument by English Heritage (18).
When, after a long and obstinate conflict the Saxons finally conquered the Waelas and it is more than probable that the forts and strongholds of the Dumnonian chiefs and princes would, like the
ports, harbours and forests of Dumnonia, pass direct into the keeping of the Wessex kings and so, in time, become ancient demesne of the Crown
Vetus dominicum Coronae.
Such, indeed, seems to have been the fate of the domain of East and West Camel which, for centuries, figures as part and parcel of the “ Eorinsecus ” or outer Hundred of Somerton, the erstwhile capital of the “ Sea moor settlers.”
At Domesday, Queen’s Camel, as East Camel appears to have been named , was in the hands of Queen Gytha, Harold’s wife, like Puriton (Peritona), the port on the Parret, leading to the Poldens and Glaston.
This territorial nexus, linking the reputed stronghold of King Arthur with the Saxon Royal demesne and so with Domesday may have a real historical value.
If King Arthur was really slain in this part of Somerset, the story of his conveyance to Glaston across the flooded moors and meres, and perhaps by the Brue or Parret river would be obvious and simple.
The coast voyage from Camlan in Cornwall was both long and arduous for a wounded man.
In Somerset near Glaston the boat used might have been one of the boats (called “ bargiae ”) of the great Abbey itself— constructed for river navigation.
In Cornwall and in the neighbourhood of the famous Castle of Tintagel and its primitive harbour of Bude, (useful for Severn trows or light-draught ships of ancient pattern), the continuity of, first, British and then Saxon Royal or princely possession, may be even more striking.
The “ Hundred of Stratton ” in Triconshire, i.e. Cornwall, appears in King Alfred’s will as a Royal Saxon holding bequeathed by Ethel-wolf to his sons.
This would take us back to a.d. 800, nearly three hundred years before Domesday.
That portion of Cornwall which included Tintagel the reputed birthplace of “ Rex Arturus ” descended to “ Rex Aelfredus ” and constitutes now what is probably the oldest “ membrum ” of the history in Somerset is unbroken and impressive.
Wookey Hole and Cheddar and the rock shelters in ebbor and the other gorges and cliff-faces, are among the earliest homes of prehistoric man in these islands. Paleolithic flint implements have been found alongside bones of mammoth, sabre-toothed tiger and hyena.
these relics were left in places like the Bridged-Pot Shelter in the Ebbor gorge, countless ages ago when the carboniferous forests had not yet become the Mendip coalfields.
Then, about seven hundred b.c. the Bronze Age gave us a civilisation which flourished in the Lake Villages near present-day Glastonbury. These people knew how to work metals and produce weapons superior to those manufactured from raw flints.
They became a trading centre for northern Europe, safe in the fastness of their sea-lakes. As their houses on stilts tank into the fen, yet another layer became embalmed in the peat, preserved for excavation in our own day. I have held in my hand a bone wraving-comb, ornamented with a free curvilinear design, which had lain In (lie peat since its owner dropped it long before the coming of Christianity In these islands.
Other Bronze and Iron Age Celts have left their signatures on the landscape itself, in the great tumuli of Priddy Nine Barrows and the ramparts of earthworks like Dolebury, Cadbury (near Tickenham) and Cadbury, the reputed Camelot (near Sparkford), Maesbury, Worlebury and Castle Neroche.
On remote Exmoor they left us Cow Castle, near Simonsbath, and Mounsey and Brewer’s Castles beside the Barle at dulverton.
They left us “castles” and storage pits at Penselwood and the Caractacus Stone above Winsford. They left the well-known stone circle at Stanton Drew above the Chew Valley not many miles from Bristol and a remote and much smaller one on the heathery moor above withypool. There is a chambered Long Barrow at Stoney Littleton, near Bath and Standing Stones at Orchardleigh near Frome.
These ancient cultures were abandoned or destroyed by pressure from other tribes, possibly the Belgae themselves fleeing before the power of Rome. When Somerset itself became part of the Roman Empire, the lake villages were abandoned and forgotten until our own time. Country vilSTRUCTURE AND SCENERY
The varied stones, which are the “bones” of a county, have given Somerset its contrasts in both scenery and architecture. Exmoor and Brendon gives us hard Devonian sandstone and slate, and the heavy, solid, low buildings to withstand exposure to westerly winds and sometimes heavy rainfall.
Around Taunton and in the Quantock area, the soil is a rich Devonian red, and many of the cottages and churches (Wiveliscombe, Milverton, Bishop’s Lydeard, for instance) are of a warm pink sandstone.
The Somerton area near the fossil-rich quarries of Keinton Mandeville abound in dignified blue-grey buildings with farms and barns on a generous scale.The gentle Poldens which undulate out into Sedgemoor country south of Street, reveal cream and pink strata above Compton Dundon, where alabaster is quarried. Doulting stone, from the south-eastern edge of Mendip, was used in the building of Wells Cathedral, and has given us mellow towns like Bruton and pretty villages like Compton Pauncefote.
The carboniferous limestone of Mendip besides the caves and gorges, well known to the tourist, gives rise to the collieries of Pensford, Mid-somer Norton and Radstock, but the occasional pitheads and slag-heaps are well absorbed by this hilly, well-watered area.
Mendipis also rich in lead, copper, manganese, mica, quartz and many other minerals.
The golden Ham stone of the Yeovil area, which weathers so beautifully and lends itself to every refinement of the stonemason’s art, gives us Montacute House, Barrington Court and villages like East Coker, Stoke-under-Ham, Norton under Ham, and the Chinnocks, with a wealth of gabled farmhouses and smaller manors.
Even modest cottages, barns and stables may be ornamented with drip stones, mullioned windows or sculptured porches, often two storeys high.
COUNTY OF SOMERSET
a hole be bored into such a place as this, an artesian well is made.
This is not the village well with chain and bucket, but an artificial spring from which the water flows up with great force.
When the water of itself can find a
Neolithic, Beaker and “ Food Vessel : sherds from Rowberrow Cavern
With the pottery was a service of Hint implements wrought by shallow scaling, including part of a polished tool and barbed stone arrowheads. But undoubtedly the important feature of the industry here found was the presence of , pygmy flints ;
though not quite the same as the earlier pygmies from King Arthur’s Cave they are probably derived from the Arthursian industry.
They suggest that the indwellers in Rowberrow Cavern were the descendants of men who dwelt in Britain in y. lardenoisian times.
They in turn perhaps were derived from the
cave men of Old Stone Age.
Cheddar, has also produced an association of round
bottomed Neolithic pottery, sherds of Beaker-ware, finely scaled flint implements and small fragments of a polished axe.
Soldier’s Hole in Cheddar Gorge has so far given us a set of stone implements including a polished axe and a chipped stone spear-head.
The most significant Neolithic site m this district was found by the Somerset Archaeological Society under an overhanging rock in. Chelm’s Combe, Cheddar, where round bottomed bowls and the bones of the men who used them had survived.
One of the bowls is of a Spanish type. The Neolithic men who dwelt in these seven caves had domestic beasts, but they hunted freely to augment their food stocks.
Neolithic Man.
The description of the Palaeolithic man of Aveline’s Hole and Gough’s Cave could be used for the men from the Gloucestershire and Somersetshire long barrows and from Chelm’s Combe without much amending.
Perhaps the main difference is that the long-barrow men had narrower faces than the cave men.
Judging by the skeletons we have there is no reason to suppose that the long-barrow men were other than the descendants of the cave men. But this is a theory that needs testing by research in transitional stations.
A skull was taken from Bisley long-barrow upon which the dangerous and delicate surgical operation of trepanning had been successfully performed. >
It has been asserted that the Megalithic culture was carried across Europe by traders from the Near East who were in quest of gold, amber and pearls.
They were dark broad-heads, and are known as Prospectors.
Professor Fleure has discovered in Pembroke and South Cardigan, where Megaliths are numerous, numbers of men who may be their descendants. Never the less, no oriental Neolithic objects have appeared in the West of England and, moreover, the skeletons from the long-barrows all appear to belong to the distinctive native type.
At this period it is probable that work began on the gold bearing gravel of Wicklow.
For centuries this was the most important gold-field in Europe and this may account for the enormous number of flint axes and early bronze implements found in Ireland. But there are few signs of the gold trade in these parts.
Trade there was: no one can walk across a ploughed field on Mendip without discovering a flint implement or flake.
No flint is found naturally in the district, therefore, the presence of such enormous quantities on the land is testimony of settled conditions and an interchange of commodities in the New Stone and Bronze Ages.
Die Megalithie stage certainly lasted into the early Bronze Age; the occurrence of Beaker-ware with Neolithic pottery is good evidence of that. Stonehenge itself was raised after the close of the New Stone Age.
It is now well-known that the inner circle of blue stones was brought thence from Pembrokeshire.
Merlin s Cave , Symond's Vat.
There must be an intense heat to cause these outbursts; and when water rises from a depth so great that the rock around it is hot, we find a hot spring such as there is at Bath.
Very ancient peoples made baths, and some of the oldest books mention warm bathing ;
but the Romans before they came to Britain built handsome public baths in their great cities, and used them not only for cleanliness but for luxury.
Therefore, although the site upon which the city of Bath now stands may have been a solitary forest when they came, the hot springs soon led them to think of making a settlement there. They built a fine city such as they possessed in their own country, with a temple and a forum (which was an open space where the markets and courts of justice were held) and many villas. The baths you may see to-day, with the ancient masonry containing the water, and tall pillars carrying a portico around it.
But the Romans, as you know, were called away and the city remained in the hands of the Britons, who had learned the Roman ways and customs. In the period of war and waste that followed most likely it was much injured ; but when the Saxons at last came into the north of this county they took it, and the name afterwards appears in their chronicles. At first they called it Akermanscaster, but afterwards Haet Bathun, because of its hot springs. Where the Roman temple had stood they founded a monastery, in which Dunstan afterwards placed his favourite Benedictine monks, and made it of such great importance
with a mitre on his head and a book of the Gospels in his hand.
And he raised his hand and gave his blessing.
And in the dream they asked, “ Who art thou ? ”
And unto each the stranger had given the same reply.
“ I am called Cuthbert, the soldier of Christ; and to me, this morning out of thy scanty store thou didst give both bread and wine.
Now am I come to bid thee be of good courage, for the day of victory is at hand.
For the king shall blow his horn, and all the folk shall gather together, and drive the heathen out of the land. And this shall be a sign. When the fishers presently return, their boat shall be laden with fish, as none of them have ever before known.
” Then the king and queen were very glad, for they felt sure that the troubles of their kingdom were drawing to an end. And towards evening the fishermen came home, shouting that they had caught more fish on that one day than during all the time of their stay upon the island.
So there was plenty again, and they all made merry.
And when King Alfred told them of his vision they were all eager to go out against the Danes. Now the miraculous part of this legend was most likely added by the monks to a true story.
The giving of the bread and wine which did not waste reminds us of Elijah the Tisbite and the widow’s handful of meal and cruse of oil. The unexpected catch of fish is very like the marvellous draft of fishes on Galilee.
Yet it is likely that King Alfred may have dreamt that St. Cuthbert came to him, and believed that he received divine help to drive the pagans out of his land. At any rate he afterwards built an abbey 011 Athelney out of gratitude to God for his deliverance.
No trace of it remains until the present day, although some relics have been found before now upon the spot. A little stone monument now stands near the place where King Alfred remained hidden.
is supposed to have derived its name from Ced, signifying a brow or conspicuous height, and Dwr W ater; it is situate at the foot of the Mendip Hills, on the southern side, about two miles from the borough-town of
Axbridge, eight from the city of Wells, eighteen miles from the city
of Bristol, and near twenty miles from the town of Bridgwater, in the eastern division of the county of Somerset.
Its circuit is about twelve miles, and comprises 6633a. 3r. 12p. of land, of various soils (but chiefly limestone), distributed into meadow, pasture, and arable, interspersed with many orchards, whose appearance in the blooming season, when seen from the heights, adds much to the beauty of the prospect; the soil is particularly adapted to the
growth of peas and potatoes, the early sorts of which are sent in
large quantities to the Bristol market, where, from their excellent
among the Abbey ruins.
The slightly raised ridgeway from South Cadbury north-west towards Glastonbury is known as King Arthur’s hunting causeway and the great earthwork of Cadbury Camp carries legends of silver horseshoes and knights who ride at midnight.
In fact excavation has uncovered Dark-Age pottery and wine-amphorae within the ramparts, while weapons and other remains point to warfare there.
After Arthur’s death in 539 the Saxons over-ran Somerset
and built a palace for their
at South Petherton, while for a time Somerton became the country’s capital.
With the coming of Alfred and his long, heroic struggle against the Danes, the history of Somerset becomes the history of England, and the names of humble Somerset villages leap into the pages of our school In story books.
There is Athelney and the cakes,
then to Penselwood to raise the men of Wessex beyond the Danish lines, so to the decisive battle of Ethandune (Edington?),
the Treaty of Wedmore, and the bap-tising of the Danish leader, Guthrum, at Aller.
Today, these Somerset places, once so important, exist quietly among the withies and peat and the green ash.
In 1693, at North Newton, a few miles from Athelney, the Alfred Jewel,
enamelled and engraved with the great king’s name, was found and is now in the Ashmolean Museum.
In 1214 Roger Bacon, the brilliant scientific monk, was born at Ilchester;
He has been called “the greatest man that Somerset has produced”.
He died at Oxford in 1294.
After this the history of England was the history of Somerset.
The great abbeys suffered under Henry VIII the Merchant Venturers sailed from Bristol, and then civil war llaioil up and down the county.
There was a battle at Babylon Hill on lb. A30 just outside Yeovil and great houses were invested and held out oi surrendered. But after the Restoration, Somerset came to the forefront flared with the Monmouth Rebellion.
In 1685 was fought the last battle on English soil,
when the Duke of Monmouth was defeated and Somerset became “occupied” territory as his Protestant adherents were rounded up by a Papist King and his minions,
notably Colonel Kirke and his "Lambs” and Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys and his “Bloody Assize”.
After this, Somerset took the lead in happier events, Beau Nash, Ralph Allen and the Prince Regent put Bath in the forefront of fashion and
Remains of a fortified site of Saxon date, known as Daw's Castle.
The fortification survives as a curvilinear earthen bank, which encloses an area of approximately 2 hectares.
The northern side of the site has been lost to coastal erosion and landslips.
The surviving section of bank measures roughly 180 metres in length and has been shown by excavation to have been constructed in two phases.
The first phase is thought to date from the reign of King Alfred, between 871 and 899.
A mortared stone wall at its base fronted a bank.
The second phase involved the construction of a more substantial wall, with a wider bank behind and a berm and ditch in front.
This phase is believed to date from the 10th century.
This is probably the site of the burh of Weced (Watchet), first mentioned in the Burghal Hideage .
Watchet was a mint .
Inhumations possibly dating to the 5th century have been found near by.
The site was discovered during the construction of three lime kilns in the mid to late 19th century (see ST 04 SE 112).
The site is scheduled and in guardianship, the limekilns are also listed.
The bank defining the southern part of the enclosure is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs.
It measure 255m long and curves sharply at its north west end by the cliff.
Daw's Castle, St. Decuman's: remains of an enclosure which may once have been very extensive
, but much has been lost through landslips.
The principal remaining feature is a scarp about 200 yards long running in a curved line from E. to W., with its
convexity pointing S. At both E. and W. ends, there is a bank
running along the crest of the scarp for a short distance. Two
further portions of bank are visible just above the cliff.
Listed under unclassified earthworks
The enclosure apparently extended for 300 yards east, as there is a small piece of bank remaining by the road at this distance
further towards Watchet.
The name "Daw's Castle" seems a recent corruption of "Dart's Castle" which appears on the O.S. 1" Edn. It is a cliff top
enclosure in a commanding situation half a mile from Watchet. The northern half has been eroded by cliff falls and the
southern half consists principally of a rather weak scarp with
some evidence of a stone bank or wall along the top. There are unsurveyable traces of a berm at the foot of the scarp but no
indications of a ditch. In the east the work has been
obliterated by limestone digging and the construction of a
former golf course and the small piece of bank mentioned by Burrows has disappeared with land-slip.
The enclosure does not appear to be of I.A. origin, and Wedlake (4) suggested that it might be the remains of a Burghal Hidage fort.
Ralegh-Radford (5) examined the site and expressed the opinion that it was almost certainly Saxon,
confirming
Wedlake's suggestion.
Brooks in his article on unidentified
forts (6) of the Burghal Hidage does not go into the problem of
Watchet but quotes the Chronicle of 914 which suggests that temporary defences were constructed along the southern side of the Severn estuary.
In correspondence (7) he has reservations about the inclusion of Daw's Castle as a burh, partly from its
position away from the present town and partly from the lack of
documentation of a move from Daw's Castle to the present site of Watchet.
Brooks notes however that Halwell, Devon, is a presumptive emergency fort detached from the present settlement.
Only excavation can resolve the problem but it seems quite
possible that Daw's Castle was of a temporary nature, like
Halwell, and part of Edward the Elder's Severn estuary
defences. See ST 04 SE 28 for Saxon Mint.
Surveyed at 1/2500. (4-8)
Numbers of E-W oriented but findless graves were found in or near Daw's Castle in the 19th century, and are thought to be
5th century and possibly of Irish origin.
The remains were first found when excavating for the lime-kilns at Daw's Castle (presumably those published on OS 1:10 000 at ST 06284331), and more bones were discovered later. These (? both lots) were re-interred 'higher up the field' by the Charcoal-burner. (9-11)
"Daw's Castle near Watchet has various features which suggest it would repay further studies in this context (Post-Roman Irish settlement in Somerset). Sited on the cliff, the defences
at present consist of a scarp about 2m high, forming a half
circle, with the ends of the rampart ending at the cliff top,
and enclosing about two hectares.
This device is not common on pre-Roman sites generally, and is very rare in Somerset.
In
addition, there are accounts of a number of east-west findless graves being discovered there in the nineteenth century (Page 1890 241-2) which might point to a use in the period under
discussion". (12-13)
Lime kilns are situated to the east of Daws Castle (see ST 04 SE 112) (14)
Excavation in 1982 revealed two phases of defence, both with mortared stone walls and banks. The first phase, much slighter in nature, is possibly the Alfredian Burh of Watchet recorded in the Burghal Hidage. The second phase, a large stone wall with a bank and ditch, may have been commisioned by Edward the Elder or Aethelred II. A radiocarbon date of 730 +- 140 (HAR 5279) was obtained from a layer sealed by the defences. There is no evidence apart from residual sherds to suggest a Roman date for the site, while the pottery and and constructional details of the defences preclude an Iron Age date. When the details of the later defences are considered, this form of defence work is directly comparable to other Saxon burhs.
Phase I. The earlier wall was 0.85m wide at its base, 0.6m high with a bank behind it ca 7.0m wide (similar to Lydford burh).
Phase II. The later wall was 1.42m wide, probably at least 3.5m high with a bank 7.9m wide behind it. In front of the wall was a small ditch 1.52m wide separated from the wall face by a berm 10.7m wide.
It is suggested that since the Watchet mint did not strike any coins between 1056-80 a break unique among Wessex mints, and also since no reference to a fort at Watchet is recorded in Domesday, the site had been abandoned after the Conquest and the mint re-established within the present town. (See also ST 04 SE 28 for details of the burh).
(15)
The bank defining the southern part of the enclosure is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. It measures 255m long and curves sharply at its north west end by the cliff. It is centred at ST 0617 4314.
(16)
ST 06194320. Remains of fortified site of Saxon date, known as Daw's Castle. Scheduling amended. (17)
The remains of Daw's Castle were archaeologically surveyed and investigated by English Heritage in 2004. The report on this work complete with a large-scale survey are lodged in the NMRC. This guardianship site, now mostly under close -cropped permanent pasture - with a fringe of dense vegetation around the southern and western sides- lies on high ground which on its northern side is delinated by a high crumbling and slumping cliff edge. Traces of footings that indicated the extent of walling on the southern and western sides, as well as some ploughed-down earthworks survive. The north-east corner of the site is overlaid by the earthworks of a tramway and its associated buildings. This tramway was used haul materials up and down the precipitous cliff-face to supply the adjacent limekilns. Daw's Castle was extensively damaged during agricultural improvements in 1982 and the threat of further damage prompted the purchase of this important monument by English Heritage (18).
In the famous Wookey Hole,
near Wells, have been found the grizzly bear, the fox, the woolly rhinoceros, the great urus, the reindeer, the cave-lion, the brown bear, the badger, the rhinoceros, the bison, the red deer, the cave-bear, the wolf, the mammoth, the horse, the Irish elk, the lemming, and, last but not least, man. In Kent’s Hole, near Torquay, the Rev. J. MacEnery found thousands of teeth and myriads of bones. The bones were so closely packed that they seemed more than sufficient to stock all the menageries in the world. The bone caves of Belgium are particularly rich in bones. The cave at Lunal-Viel, for instance, contains nearly one half of all the hundred-odd species that have been dis
covered in caves. In the Gailenreuth Caves, in Franconia, bones of no less than 800 bears were found. In the Neanderthal Cave was found the famous so-called “ Neanderthal ” skull—a human skull with ape-like characters. Dr. Boyd Dawkins is of the opinion that many of the caves, such as Wookey Hole, were really hyaena dens, and that the bones found in them are the bones of the hyaenas’ prey. “ The hyaenas,” he says, “ were the normal occupants of the cave, and thither they brought their prey. We can realise those animals pursuing elephants and 3906
rhinoceroses along the slopes of the Mendips,
till they scared them into the precipitous ravine, or watching until the strength of a disabled bear or lion ebbed away sufficiently to allow of its being overcome by their cowardly strength. Man appeared from time to time on the scene, a miserable savage armed with bow and spear, unacquainted with the metals, but defended from the cold by coats of skin. Sometimes he took possession of the den, and drove out the hysenas, for it is impossible for both to have lived in the same cave at the same time. He kindled his fires at the entrance, to cook his food and to keep away the wild animals, then he went away, and the hysenas came to their old abode.”
How do caves originate ? How come these holes to be in the crust of the world ? Caves originate in various ways—they may be volcanic in their origin ; they may be excavated by the sea or by subterranean streams and rivers. Volcanic caves may be made in the crust of the earth simply by ejection of lava. In a single eruption a volcano may pour out millions of tons of lava, and, naturally, the ejection of this large amount of material must leave holes in the crust. Or they may be made in the lava itself by the shrinkage of its interior. Such “ lava caves ” are often of considerable
nine barrows stand above-
Wells ,wookey hole ,
the source of the river aXe ,
the somerset levels have a watery past as part of the severn sea .
Dumnonia
When, after a long and obstinate conflict the Saxons finally conquered the Waelas and Dumnonians it is more than probable that the forts and strongholds of the Dumnonian chiefs and princes would, like the ports, harbours and forests of Dumnonia,
pass direct into the keeping of the Wessex kings and so, in time, become ancient demesne of the Crown (Vetus dominicum Coronae).
Such, indeed, seems to have been the fate of the domain of East and West Camel which, for centuries, figures as part and parcel of the “ Eorinsecus ” or outer Hundred of Somerton, the erstwhile capital of the “ Sea moor settlers.”
At Domesday, Queen’s Camel, (as East Camel appears to have been named), was in the hands of Queen Gytha, Harold’s wife,
like Puriton (Peritona), the port on the Parret ,
leading to the Poldens and Glaston.
This territorial nexus, linking the reputed stronghold of King Arthur with the Saxon Royal demesne and so with Domesday may have a real historical value.
If King Arthur was really slain in this part of Somerset, the story of his conveyance to Glaston across the flooded moors and meres,
THE BRIDGE CHAPEL . It tells us that the bridge was built at the expense of some member or members of the Trevet family, who lived in this neighbourhood . Remember that, in this age, this is an act of piety.To build a bridge or repair a road, and thus help Gods pilgrims is a holy deed clame to us is a small Chapel built actually on the bridge,which places the structure under the protection of one of the saints, and where offerings lot its maintenance are collected.It is served, not by our friends of the Hospital, but by the Grey Friars, whose acquaintance we have yet to make. There are dwelling houses on the bridge beside the Chapel, and at one of them the tollman will rolled our bridge-pennies as we pass his door. I said that the bridge is the hub of the town.Truly, we are in the midst of a busy scene, and from out point of vantage can see much oi what is going on around us. On the stone Slip, which has but lately been built, and which is destined long to outlive the bridge itself, lies a crowd, almost as large as that which we have seen in Eastover, is collected on the quay and is looking down on the work of a group of labourers, who are directed by a master mason in charge of the operation.They have brought from a ship, which has come up the river on the last tide, two stone effigies swathed in strawThe faces and hands, however, are visible, and we see that the Bristol carvers have fashioned here a Knight and his Lady, with faces and hands turned towards heaven The labourers are now lifting them into the flat-bottomed bargeOn the next tide they will be carried up to Taunton, and thence will make their final journey in a waggon to the church for which they are destined. Below the bridge, moored against the quay-side lie ships, not a few.That fine vessel Le Gabriel de Bridgwater belongs to Master Dennis Dwin, the Irish merchant.She is unloading her cargo of woad ,a blue dye-stuff for the use of the Bridgwater cloth makers.The town crane is busy hoisting it ashore. La Marie de Tanton got rid of and perhaps by the Brue or Parret river would be obvious and simple.
The coast voyage from Camlan in Cornwall was both long and arduous for a wounded man.
In Somerset near Glaston the boat used might have been one of the boats called “ bargiae ” of the great Abbey itself — constructed for river navigation.
In Cornwall and in the neighbourhood of the famous Castle of Tintagel and its primitive harbour of Bude, (useful for Severn trows or light-draught ships of ancient pattern, the continuity of, first , British and then Saxon Royal or princely possession, may be even more striking.
The “ Hundred of Stratton ” in Triconshire, i.e. Cornwall, appears in King Alfred’s will as a Royal Saxon holding bequeathed by Ethel- wolf to his sons.
This would take us back to a .d . 800, nearly three hundred years before Domesday.
That portion of Cornwall which included Tintagel the reputed birthplace of “ Rex Arturus ” descended to “ Rex Aelfredus ” and constitutes now what is probably the oldest “ membrum ” of