Somerset | Page 8

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 purposes, the most conspicuous are Wells Cathedral and Bath Abbey. But the parish churches, in their way, are almost as remarkable. Their excellence is largely due to the splendid building-stone which abounds in different parts of the county, especially near Bath, Dundry, Doulting, and Ham Hill. Of Saxon architecture Somerset has no example such as Wilts possesses in Bradford, though some of the ancient fonts may possibly be of pre-Norman origin. The majority of early fonts, however, are Norman, and the number of them shows how thickly Norman churches once covered the country. But surviving instances of churches wholly or mainly Norman are