SOMERTON, (Somerset) on a branch of the Parret, bet. Glastonbury and Martock, or Wells and Crewkern, 105 cm. 129 mm. from
London. 'Tis a port T. and was once the most celebrated in the Co. which from hence took its name. The West-Saxon Ks. had
a castle here, which Ethelbald K. of the Mercians took by storm. The constableship of it was reckoned a very considerable
trust; for K. John of France, and state prisoners of the highest rank, were committed to it; but time has quite demolished
it. The T. is governed by a bailiff, chosen by the inh. and has a hall for the petty sessions. Here is an almsh. for eight
poor people, and a fr. sc. is just opened by the fish-Mt. for Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. 'Tis a very healthy place, though
so near the moors, for it lyea on a hard soil; but in wet winters, people come from the Parret in boats, to the very
doors. It gives title of Baron to the Ld. Stawel, whose family were Lds. of the manor, (which was valued in the R. of
Hen.VII. at 72 l. a year) till the executors of the last Ld. sold it to Col. Strangeways for 9500 l. Its chief support is
the Mts. and Fairs for cattle, fed on a neighbouring moor, where are 20000 acres of good ground for grazing them gratis,
to such as have a right of common, though this has been disputed by the most noble family of Ancaster, who had a grant of
those moors from Charles I. To this beast Mt. the butchers resort from Bristol, Bath, Wells, Frome, Salisbury, Dorchester,
and even from Winchester. The Mts. are on Tu. for corn and cattle, and every other M. for lean cattle. It has a Fair also
for cattle from Palm-Sunday to the middle of June, frequented by most of the landholders who make grazing their
employment. Its other Fairs are Sept. 14, Oct. 28, Nov. 29, and 8 days after, the last of which was granted in the R. of
Edw. II.