Editing Axminster (section)

==History==
{{further|History of Devon}}
The town dates back to the Celtic times of around 300 BC. It lies on two major [[Roman roads in Britain|Roman roads]]: the [[Fosse Way]] from [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]] to [[Seaton, Devon|Seaton]], and the [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] to [[Exeter]] road. There was a [[Castra|Roman fort]] on the crossroads at [[Woodbury Farm Roman Fort|Woodbury Farm]], just south of the present town. Axminster appears on the [[Peutinger Map]], one of only 15 [[Great Britain|British]] towns on that [[Roman Empire|Roman era]] map.

Axminster was recorded in the late 9th century as {{lang|ang|Ascanmynster}} and in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as {{lang|ang|Aixeministra}}. The name means "monastery or large church by the River Axe" and is a mixture of languages; the river name ''[[River Axe (Lyme Bay)|Axe]]'' has Celtic origins and {{lang|ang|mynster}} is an [[Old English]] word.

There was allegedly a castle in the town, as reported in the 1600s by Sir William Pole, and believed to have been close to the current Market Square.<ref>{{cite news |title=Axminster's lost castle |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=f3ff2e7d-4658-4905-9621-76768b3afd94&resourceID=19191}}</ref>

The later history of the town is very much linked to the carpet industry, started by [[Thomas Whitty]] at Court House near the church in 1755. The completion of the early hand-tufted carpets was marked by a peal of bells from the parish church as it took a great amount of time and labour to complete them. [[Axminster Carpets|Axminster carpets]] continue to this day providing carpets for Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and other royal buildings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/design/axminsters-wetherspoon-carpets-royal-warrant-queen-business-uk-famous-a8921861.html|title=Meet the company making carpets for Wetherspoon and the Queen|date=2019-06-01|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-11-04|archive-date=4 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104040555/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/design/axminsters-wetherspoon-carpets-royal-warrant-queen-business-uk-famous-a8921861.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1210, a charter was granted to the town that included the right to hold a weekly cattle market; this was held in the market square until it was moved to Trinity Square in 1834. It then moved in October 1912 to a site off South Street, where it was held for 94 years. It finally closed in 2006 in the aftermath of the [[2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak]].<ref name="blueplaques">Historical Axminster [[Rotary Club]] [[Blue Plaque]]s</ref> A building on the site then continued to be used for a general auction until all the buildings were demolished and replaced by a housing development.
[[File:Axminster Church.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Axminster Parish Church (St Mary’s)]]

The town was on the coaching route from London to Exeter. In 1760 a [[coaching inn]] named The George Hotel was opened on the corner of Lyme Street and Chard Street on the site of an old inn called the Cross Keys that was destroyed by fire in 1759. Over 16 [[coach (carriage)|coaches]] a day would stop at the hotel in its heyday for refreshments and to change horses. The building was refurbished in 2020.<ref name="blueplaques"/> Axminster was on the route of [[The Trafalgar Way]] which is the name given to the historic route used to carry [[mentioned in dispatches|dispatches]] with the news of the [[Battle of Trafalgar]] overland from [[Falmouth, Cornwall]], to the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] in London in 1805, There is a plaque commemorating this fact in the town centre.

Part of the parish of Axminster had historically been an [[exclave]] of [[Dorset]] until the [[Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844]], when it was fully incorporated into Devon.

[[Axminster railway station]] was opened on 19 July 1860, with the [[London and South Western Railway]] (LSWR) offering direct services between [[Exeter Central railway station|Queen Street station]] in Exeter and [[Yeovil]]. The station building was designed by the LSWR's architect [[William Tite|Sir William Tite]] in mock gothic style. In 1903, the branch line from Axminster to [[Lyme Regis]] was opened. This branch line was closed with the [[Beeching Axe|Beeching]] cuts, in the 1960s. One engine has been preserved on the [[Bluebell Railway|Bluebell Line]], in [[Sussex]], while the station was dismantled and reconstructed at [[New Alresford]], on the [[Mid Hants Watercress Railway|Watercress Line]], in [[Hampshire]].

Axminster is the southern starting point of the [[Taunton Stop Line]], a [[World War II]] defensive line consisting of [[bunker#Pillbox|pillbox]]es and anti-tank obstacles, which runs north to the [[Somerset]] coast near [[Highbridge, Somerset|Highbridge]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/oasis_reports/contexto1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/contexto1-73825_1.pdf |title=Land off Morton Way, Axminster, Devon – A Limited Archaeological Excavation and Recording Programme |publisher=Context One Archaeological Services |year=2010 |work=Archaeology Data Service |access-date=14 May 2011 |archive-date=4 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004231545/http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/oasis_reports/contexto1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/contexto1-73825_1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Nearby [[Kilmington, Devon|Kilmington]] was used as a location for the 1998 [[LWT]] adaptation of ''[[Tess of the d'Urbervilles]]''. The celebrity chef and TV presenter [[Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall]] has his [[River Cottage HQ]] at a {{convert|60|acre|ha|adj=on}} farm in the Axe valley. His "River Cottage Canteen" was until 2021 located in the premises of the New Commercial Inn, owned by Palmer's Brewery of Bridport, and which housed the ballroom of the town.<ref>{{cite news |title=River Cottage Canteen relocates |url=https://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/20353753.axminsters-river-cottage-kitchen-relocates-town-centre-farm/}}</ref>