Editing Shepton Mallet (section)

==Landmarks==
There are 218 [[listed building]]s in Shepton Mallet, which receives funding to restore chosen town-centre buildings from [[English Heritage]] ''Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme'' and the [[National Lottery (United Kingdom)|National Lottery]] ''Townscape Heritage Initiative''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.shepton21.org.uk/show_news.php?id=6 |title=More Money for Town Centre Improvements |publisher=Shepton21 |date=5 February 2008 |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303140116/http://www.shepton21.org.uk/show_news.php?id=6 |archive-date=3 March 2012}}</ref> The town centre and Bowlish, Darshill and Charlton form a [[conservation area]].<ref name="caa">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |title=Shepton Mallet Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Proposals |year=2007 |publisher=Mendip District Council |access-date=30 December 2008 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110927075028/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref>

The hexagonal town-centre [[Market Cross, Shepton Mallet|market cross]], {{convert|50|ft|abbr=on}} high, dates from a £20 bequest by Walter Buckland in 1520<ref name="bush"/> and was re-erected in 1841.<ref>{{NHLE |desc=Market Cross, Shepton Mallet |num=1058383 |access-date=15 February 2010}}</ref> Also in the market place is the [[Shambles, Shepton Mallet|Shambles]], a medieval market stall, though much restored.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1173341 |desc=The Shambles, Shepton Mallet |access-date=15 February 2010}}</ref> Former [[HM Prison Shepton Mallet]], sometimes known as Cornhill, was built in 1610.<ref>{{NHLE |desc=HM Prison and perimeter wall |num=1058425 |access-date=15 February 2010 }}</ref> It lies close to the town centre, next to the parish church. On 10 January 2013, the government announced it was one of seven English prisons to close.<ref name=BBC20969898>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20969898 |title=Seven prison closures in England announced |work=[[BBC News]] |date=10 January 2013 |access-date=10 January 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130110200228/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20969898 |archive-date=10 January 2013}}</ref> On 24 December 2014 it was announced that it had been sold to a housing development company and public consultations were taking place on its future use.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1610 The Old Shepton Mallet Gaol Public Consultation |url=http://www.cityandcountry.co.uk/public-consultation/1610-the-old-shepton-mallet-gaol/public-consultation.aspx |publisher=City & Country |access-date=1 February 2017 |archive-date=24 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324041509/http://www.cityandcountry.co.uk/public-consultation/1610-the-old-shepton-mallet-gaol/public-consultation.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=The sale of former prisons in west and south England is agreed |work=BBC News |date=24 December 2014 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30596574 |access-date=1 February 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928171642/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30596574 |archive-date=28 September 2016}}</ref>

[[Image:Old Bowlish House.JPG|alt=Three-storey yellow-coloured house in the Palladian style|thumb|left|Old Bowlish House (grade II*listed)]]
There are several fine houses in older parts of the town around Lower Lane and Leg Square,<ref name="edengrove">{{NHLE |num=1058416 |desc=1 Leg Square, Shepton Mallet |access-date=15 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="TheManorHouse">{{NHLE |num=1058381 |desc=The Manor House, Leg Square, Shepton Mallet |access-date=3 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE |num=1345242 |desc=2–7 Longbridge, Shepton Mallet |access-date=15 February 2010}}</ref> and in outlying suburbs such as Charlton and Bowlish.<ref name="Bowlish houses"/> Old Bowlish House, which now offers pre-arranged tours, dates from the earlier 17th century and was remodelled in about 1720 in [[Palladian style]].<ref>{{NHLE |num=1172927 |desc=Old Bowlish House |access-date=9 November 2010}}</ref> Bowlish House, also in Palladian style, is now a hotel and restaurant.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.bowlishhouse.com/house.htm |title=Bowlish House |publisher=Bowlish House website |access-date=9 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710064454/http://www.bowlishhouse.com/house.htm |archive-date=10 July 2010 }}</ref> It was built in 1732 by a prosperous clothier.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058419 |desc=Bowlish House |access-date=9 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{NHLE|num=1058420 |desc=Bowlish House Gate Piers and Mounting Block |access-date=9 November 2010}}</ref> A spring is reported to rise in the cellar. Park House in Forum Lane dates from about 1700 and was altered about 1750.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1172922 |desc=Park House, Forum Lane, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}}</ref> Others of the 19 Grade II listed buildings in Bowlish include Coombe House, built about 1820,<ref>{{NHLE |num=1345223 |desc=Combe House, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}}</ref> 14, 15 and 16 Combe Lane, from about 1700 with 18th-century alterations,<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058423 |desc=14, 15 and 16 Combe Lane, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}}</ref> 26–29 Combe Lane, a former mill from about 1700, enlarged in 1850,<ref>{{NHLE |num=1345224 |desc=26–29 Combe Lane, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}}</ref> and 30–31 Combe Lane, two weaver's cottages from about 1850.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058424 |desc=30 and 31 Combe Lane, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}}</ref> What is now a [[stained glass]] studio in Ham Lane was once a coal store for a stable belonging to a pub next door, the ''Butcher's Arms'', which ceased trading in 1860. The studio has provided stained glass, among others for the Roman Catholic [[Church of the Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jysg.co.uk |title=John Yeo Stained Glass studio |publisher=John Yeo Stained Glass studio |access-date=9 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210085823/http://www.jysg.co.uk/ |archive-date=10 December 2010}}</ref> Due to its historic nature, Bowlish is included in Shepton Mallet's [[conservation area]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |title=Shepton Mallet Conservation Area Appraisal |publisher=Mendip District Council |access-date=9 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611122544/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |archive-date=11 June 2011}}</ref> as well as being a site of [[archaeological]] interest.

[[Image:Darshillsilkmill.jpg|thumb|right|Darshill Silk Mill]]
The hamlet of Darshill on the road from Shepton Mallet to [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]] has a silk-drying shed,<ref>{{NHLE |num=1345237 |desc=Silk Drying Shed, Darshill House |access-date=24 February 2010 }}</ref> known locally as a handle house, three walls of which are full of holes to allow the passage of air to aid in the process of drying [[Dipsacus|teasle]] heads, which were used to raise the nap on cloth in the textile process.

The [[Anglo-Bavarian Brewery]] built in the 1860s still dominates the western parts of Shepton Mallet;<ref name="Anglo"/> nearby is a [[workhouse]] that became the [[Norah Fry]] Hospital,<ref>{{NHLE |num=1345246 |desc=Norah Fry Hospital |access-date=18 February 2010}}</ref> built in 1848<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/england/som/Shepton_Mallet_workhouse.htm |title=Shepton Mallet Poor Law Union and Workhouse |publisher=Rossbret Institutions Website |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204055520/http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/england/som/Shepton_Mallet_workhouse.htm |archive-date=4 December 2009}}</ref> and has now converted into housing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pcassoc.co.uk/projects/Residential_Old/NorahFry.htm |title=Norah Fry Hospital, Shepton Mallet |publisher=Paul Carpenter Associates |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120180947/http://pcassoc.co.uk/projects/Residential_Old/NorahFry.htm |archive-date=20 November 2008}}</ref> Two disused railway viaducts are to be found: Charlton Viaduct with 27 arches,<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058414 |desc=Charlton Viaduct |access-date=15 February 2010}}</ref> each spanning {{convert|28|ft|m}} is on a curve of 30 [[chain (unit)|chain]]s radius falling at 1 in 55 from each end to the midpoint.<ref name="otter">{{Cite book |last=Otter |first=R. A. |title=Civil Engineering Heritage: Southern England |publisher=Thomas Telford Ltd |location=London |year=1994 |page=110 |isbn=978-0-7277-1971-3}}</ref>

The market cross, the prison and prison wall, [[Merchant's House, Shepton Mallet|The Merchants House (8 Market Place)]],<ref>{{NHLE |num=1058457 |desc=8 Market Place, Shepton Mallet |access-date=15 February 2010}}</ref> Anglo-Bavarian Brewery, Charlton Viaduct, the former St Michael's Roman Catholic Church at Townsend, and Bowlish House, Old Bowlish House and Park House<ref name="Bowlish houses"/> are the town's nine Grade II* listed buildings.

The town centre was remodelled in the 1970s with moneys from the cider-making [[Francis Showering|Showering]] family. Included was a new library (a copy of a demolished inn, ''The Bunch of Grapes''), and a concrete entertainment complex, ''The Centre'', on the east side of the market square.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2=Blandford |first2=Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=101–105}}</ref> A probably Roman [[Chi Rho]] amulet was found in Fosse Lane in the 1990s – the complex was renamed The Amulet after it, but is now The Academy.<ref name="Academy">{{Cite web |url=http://somerset.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/shepton-mallet-in-somerset--gateway-to-the-mendips-16722/ |title=Shepton Mallet |publisher=Somerset Life |access-date=7 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827145226/http://somerset.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/shepton-mallet-in-somerset--gateway-to-the-mendips-16722/ |archive-date=27 August 2011}}</ref><ref name="Portrait13">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/A%20Portrait%20of%20Shepton.pdf |title=A Portrait of Shepton Mallet |publisher=Mendip District Council and Strategic Partnership |date=December 2008 |access-date=17 February 2010 |page=13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611121731/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/A%20Portrait%20of%20Shepton.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2011}}</ref>

Shepton has a sizeable park on a gift of land from the local [[John Kyte Collett]]. As a boy he was thrown out of the grounds of local estates for trespass. In later life he purchased and gave land to the town to provide a public space; Collett Park, named in his honour, opened in 1906.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=398 |title=Opening of Collett Park 1906 |publisher=Shepton Mallet Town Council |access-date=16 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121070015/http://sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=398 |archive-date=21 January 2010}}</ref>