SOMEESETSHIRE. 121 



the church of St. Mary Magdalen. Sedgemoor, where Monmouth was defeated 

 in 1685, lies to the east of the town. Ascending the Parret, we reach Langport, 

 just below its confluence with the Isle and Yeo, or Ivel. The latter runs throuo-h 

 a fertile valley, the chief towns of which are Ilchester, the Ischalis of the Romans, 

 and the birthplace of Roger Bacon, and Yeovil, a picturesque old place, with a 

 noble church, where gloves are largely made. The towns on the Upper Parret are 

 South Petherton, near which are the famous Hamden or Hamhill quarries, and 

 Crewkerne, with a handsome church and grammar school. Ilminster and Chard 

 both on the Isle, engage in lace-making. The latter is a handsome town, at the 

 foot of the Blackdowns. 



Taunton, the county town, on the Tone, is a place of considerable antiquity, 

 with one of the finest perpendicular churches in the country, and a grammar 

 school, founded in 1522 by Bishop Fox. There are two silk factories, the manu- 

 facture of silk having superseded that of wool since 1778, and a glove factory. 

 The castle forms an object of considerable interest. Its hall, where Judge Jeffreys 

 held his " Bloody Assize," now affords accommodation to the museum of the 

 Somersetshire Archœological and Xatural History Society. WelUngton, on the 

 Upper Tone, and at the northern foot of the Blackdowns, still engages in the 

 woollen trade. It has given a title to the Great Duke, in whose honour a stone 

 obelisk has been raised on a neighbouring height. 



There remain to be noticed a few small towns on the coast of the Bristol 

 Channel and to the west of the Parret. They are small in population, but 

 interesting on account of their antiquity. Watchct exports the iron ore raised in 

 the Brendon Hills. Near it are the ruins of Cleeve Abbey, founded in 1188 for 

 Cistercian monks. Diinster has a famous old castle ; Minehead is a quiet watering- 

 place ; and Porlock is a picturesque village at the foot of Dunkerry Beacon. 



