ILCHESTER, a borough and parish, and formerly a market
town, locally in the hundred of Tintinhull, county of
SOMERSET, 4 miles (S.S.E.)
from Somerton, and 122 (W.
S.W.) from London, containing
994 inhabitants.
This place, called by the Britons
Pont Ivel Coit, signifying
the bridge over the Ivel
in the wood, was the Ischalis
Seal and Arms. of Ptolemy, and, from having
been a Roman station on the river Ivel, obtained the
Saxon appellation of Ivelceastre, of which its present
name is an obvious contraction. It was anciently a
town of much greater extent and importance than it
is at present, and was encompassed by walls, and defended
by a deep moat: of the former, the foundations
are plainly discernible in various places, and
of the latter there are still vestiges at Belles-Pool and
also in Yard-lane, to the north of the town. The ancient
gates are supposed to have occupied the site of the
present entrances from Ilminster and Yeovil, and near
the bridge may be traced the stones of a ford across the
river. The Roman Fosse-way from London to Exeter,
which passed through the town, still forms the principal
turnpike-road, and there are some remains of a fortification,
which is supposed to have been built by the Romans.
At the time of the Norman Conquest it appears
to have been a place of importance, as it had then one
hundred and seven burgesses; and in 1088, during a
rebellion against William Rufus, Ilchester was successfully
defended against Robert Mowbray, a leader of the
insurgents, who had laid siege to it.
The townis pleasantly situated on the south bank of
the river Ivel, in a rich vale almost embosomed in mountains,
and is connected with the parish of Northover by
a stone bridge of seven arches, on which formerly were
two ancient buildings; the houses, with few exceptions
are indifferently built, and there are extensive piles of
building, consisting of. several stories, and comprising,
on each, different small tenements inhabited by burgage
tenants at a nominal rent, and erected for their accommodation
by the parliamentary patrons of the borough.
The market-place is a commodious area, at the lower end
of which is the town-hall, and at the upper a handsome
pillar of the Doric order, supporting a vertical sun-dial
with four faces directed to the four cardinal points. An
ancient building, now used as a workhouse, was formerly
the residence of a family of the name of Masters,
and the then owner, having entertained Richard Coaur
de Lion as his guest, was honoured with that surname
by the monarch, and it remained with the family
until within the last few years, when it became
extinct by the marriage of the last female descendant.
Assemblies occasionally take place in the townhall;
the races, which were formerly held on Kingsmoor,
have been discontinued. There are no particular
branches of manufacture; some of the female inhabitants
are employed in making gloves for the Yeovil manufacturers
j but the town derives its chief trade from
its situation as a thoroughfare. The market, formerly
on Wednesday, is now disused: the fairs are on the
Monday before Palm-Sunday, July 2nd, and August 2nd,
for cattle and pigs; but the two last fairs are rapidly
falling into neglect. Ilchester, a borough by prescription,
was incorporated by charter of King John, by
which the government is vested in a bailiff and twelve,
capital burgesses: the corporation have power to hold
courts of assize, which privilege they have not exercised
for a very considerable length of time; and the assizes
for the county, formerly held in this town, are now held
at Taunton, Wells, and Bridg-water. A county court,
called the Sheriffs court, for the recovery of debts under
40s., is held here monthly, besides the court leet of
the lord of the manor, at which constables and other
officers are appointed. The town-hall is a neat modem
structure, commodiously adapted to the discharge of the
public business of the town, and containing a large assembly-
room. The county gaol is a spacious building, on
the northern bank of the Ivel, comprising twelve wards,
or divisions, with a day-room and airing-yard to each,
including two for debtors; it is well adapted to the classification
of prisoners, of whom it is calculated to receive
from one hundred and seventy to one hundred and
eighty. The borough first exercised the elective franchise
in the 26th of Edward I., and made regular returns till
the 34th of Edward III., from which time it omitted
until the 12th of Edward IV., when it resumed its privileges;
it again discontinued until the 19th of James I.,
since which time it has regularly returned two members
to parliament: the right of election is in the bailiff and
burgesses, and the inhabitants of the burgage tenements
not receiving alms, the number of whom is about one
hundred and twenty; for whose accommodation, Lord
Huntingtower, the patron, has erected cow-sheds in a
large field, in which they have the privilege of depasturing
cows, for a small nominal payment. The election
of the members for the county takes place in the town.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Wells,
and diocese of Bath and Wells, rated in the king's
books at £?. 16. 10., endowed with £200 private benefaction,
and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage
of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The church, dedicated
to St. Mary, is an ancient building with a small
octagonal tower; in the chancel is a monument to the
memory of the daughter of William Evers, Esq., servant
to Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Queen Mary, and
Serjeant at arms to Queen Elizabeth. There is a place
of worship for Independents. Here are almshouses
which appear to have been founded in the reign of
Henry VI., by Mr. Robert Veal, who endowed them with
lands producing upwards of £ 100 per annum, for the residence
and maintenance of aged men and women; they
were, in 1810, commodiously rebuilt of stone, on the site
of the ancient tenements, by the bailiff and burgesses,
who are the trustees of this charity, and there are thirteen
men who receive four shillings, and one woman, officiating
as nurse, who receives three shillings and sixpence,
per week, with an allowance" of coal and other necessaries.
A school, in which the children of the parish are instruct
ed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, is held in a room
in the town-hall, under the patronage of the corporation.
A few years since, in removing part of the old wainscoting
in the house anciently occupied by the family of
Masters, a beautiful specimen of carved ivory was found,
enclosed in a wooden frame in two compartments, representing
the Annunciation of-the Virgin; the figures,
about six inches in height, are exquisitely carved in alto
relievo, probably a present from Richard Cceur de Lion
to his host; and in digging a garden nearly opposite the
house, an ancient ring of massy gold was discovered, in
which was set a coin of the Emperor Severus, in excellent
preservation. Among the monastic institutions anciently
existing here, was a nunnery, originally founded, about
1220, by William Dacres, as an hospital for poor travellers,
and dedicated to the Blessed Trinity, which, prior to
the Reformation, had dwindled into a free chapel. Here
was also a convent of preaching friars, in which the celebrated
Roger Bacon (who is usually stated to have
been a native of Ilchester, but his birthplace is uncertain)
was educated. The eminent Mrs. Rowe, author
of " Devout Exercises of the Heart," and other works,
was a native of this parish. Ilchester gives the title of
earl to the family of Fox.