AXMINSTER, (Devon) on the b. of Somer. and Dorsetshire 119 cm. and 146 mm. from London, from which it lies in the road to Exeter, which is 22 m. off. 'Tis a healthy, clean, considerable T. It has one part of its name from the r. Axe, on which it stands, and the other from a minster, erected here by K. Athelstan for seven priests to pray for the departed souls of some persons buried here, who were killed in his army, when he defeated the Danes at the bloody battle in a neighbouring field, which, to this day, is called King's-field. This T. drives a small trade in kerseys, druggets, and other articles of the woollen Mf. and 'tis well supplied with fish from Lyme, Axmouth, and other coast Ts. in its neighbourhood. Its Fairs are on April 25, June 24, and the M. after Mich. Mt. on S. K. John gave this manor to the Ld. William Brewer, who got the grant for its Mt. and its Midsummer Fair. From him it descended by an heiress to the Ld. Mohun of Dunster, who gave it to the abbey he had built at Newenham, in Glocest. Co.