120 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



bathers, and now Bath has become a phice of residence for retired men of 

 business in the enjoyment of a moderate competency. The cloth trade, for- 

 merly of very considerable importance, exists no longer, and though " Bath " 

 paper still enjoys a high reputation, most of that consumed even in the town of 

 its reputed manufacture is forwarded from London. Parry, the arctic navigator, 

 is the most famous amongst the children of Bath, and down to the present day 

 his achievements can hardly be said to have been eclipsed. Ilerschel, the famous 

 astronomer, resided for a considerable time at Bath, earning his living as a 

 musician, and it was there he began his career as a man of science. 



Tiverton, near Bath, carries on cloth and carpet weaving, whilst Keynsham, lower 

 down on the xVvon, has brass works and lias clay diggings. The principal coal mines 

 of the county are near Raihfock and Midsomor Norton, to the south of Bath, and 

 Long As/if on and Naikea, to the south-west of Bi'istol. Nailsea, in addition, 

 carries on the manufacture of glass, and Ashton that of iron. But the principal 

 manufacturing town of the northern part of Somersetshire is Fronie, on a tributary 

 of the Avon, and not far from the "Wiltshire border. Its neighbourhood abounds 

 in cloth-mills, and there are also a card factory and several breweries. Portinheady 

 Clecedon, and Weston-super-Mare are watering-places, and the latter, since the 

 beginning of the century, has grown from a small fishing village into a town of 

 considerable importance. Seated upon a capacious bay, with an outlook upon the 

 fortified islands at the mouth of the estuary of the Severn, facing the coast of 

 "Wales, sheltered by the wooded scarps of "Worle Hill (540 feet), and backed by a 

 fruitful country abounding in picturesque scenery, it enjoys peculiar advantages. 

 The sprat fishery is still carried on here from October to Christmas, as in days 

 of yore. 



Several interesting old towns are seated at the southern foot of the Mendip 

 Hills. Axhridge is a \evy ancient little borough, with the population of a village. 

 Cheddar is no less famous for its cheeses than for its cliffs and stalactite caverns. 

 A lead mine is near it. Wells is a town almost purely ecclesiastical, its principal 

 edifices being the cathedral, the bishop's palace, and dependent buildings. Brush 

 and paper making are carried on. Near it, close to the source of the Axe, which 

 bursts forth here a considerable stream, is a famous cavern, the legendary haunt of 

 the " Witch of "Wookey." Shepton-Mallet carries on trade with timber, and brews 

 an excellent ale. 



Glastonbury, the principal town on the river Brue, which enters the Bristol 

 Channel below the small port of Highbridge, is best known for the ruins of its old 

 abbey, the most remarkable portion of which is the " Abbot's Kitchen," a building 

 reproduced at Oxford and in other towns. 



Bridgnater is the principal town on the Parret. It is situated 12 miles above 

 the mouth of that river, on the borders of a marshy plain, carries on a brisk coast- 

 ing trade, and is the only place in the world where the cla}' and sand deposited at 

 some localities on the river-side are made into " Bath bricks." The most highly 

 prized Art treasure of this town appears to be a painting of the " Descent from the 

 Cross," found on board a French privateer, and now suspended over the altar of 



