Merchant's House | |
---|---|
Location | Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England |
Coordinates | 51°11′26″N2°32′45″W / 51.19056°N 2.54583°W |
Built | Circa 1675-1680 |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | 8, Market Place |
Designated | 20 May 1952 [1] |
Reference no. | 1058457 |
The Merchant's House at Number 8, Market Place, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England was built around 1675 and has been designated as a Grade II* listed building. [1] [2] The date of construction was confirmed by dendrochronology. [3]
The Merchant's House was built by Edward Strode (c. 1629–1703), [4] a wealthy landowner, to be tenanted. [5] (Edward was a son of Colonel William Strode, a Parliamentarian officer and Member of Parliament.) Shepton Mallet was then a wealthy town on the back of the wool trade so the south range of the house was almost certainly built for a wool merchant. The north was two tenements with two shop units.
When Strode died the house was bequeathed to his daughters with the condition that £8 per year (about £1,700 today) be used to finance a charitable donation of bread to feed the local poor. It passed out of the Strode family in 1756.
In the 20th century the house suffered serious neglect and vandalism.
Since 2004 the building has been renovated with around 5% funding from English Heritage and Mendip Council, [6] receiving the William Stansell/SBPT Building Award from the Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust in 2008. [7] In 2009 the renovation was recognised with a special award from Mendip Council. [8]
The restoration and conservation included 80 new leaded lights and 27 new metal casements. [9] The work undertaken was shown in a programme of the BBC2 series Restore to Glory. The building was in a parlous state prior to work and was included on both national and regional buildings at risk registers.
Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, England, some 16 miles southwest of Bath, 18 miles south of Bristol and five miles east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council was based there. The Mendip Hills lie to the north and the River Sheppey runs through the town, as does the route of the Fosse Way, the main Roman road between north-east and south-west England. There is evidence of Roman settlement. Its listed buildings include a medieval parish church. Shepton Mallet Prison was England's oldest, but closed in March 2013. The medieval wool trade gave way to trades such as brewing in the 18th century. It remains noted for cider production. It is the closest town to the Glastonbury Festival and nearby the Royal Bath and West of England Society showground.
Castle Cary is a market town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, 5 miles (8 km) north west of Wincanton and 8 miles (12.9 km) south of Shepton Mallet, at the foot of Lodge Hill and on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett.
Pilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the A361 road in the Mendip district, 3 miles (5 km) south-west of Shepton Mallet and 6 miles (10 km) east of Glastonbury. The village has a population of 998. The parish includes the hamlets of West Compton, East Compton, Westholme, Beardly Batch and Cannards Grave.
The East Somerset Railway is a 1 mi 63 ch (2.9 km) heritage railway in Somerset, running between Cranmore and Mendip Vale. The railway was once part of the former Cheddar Valley line that ran from Witham to Yatton, meeting the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway at Wells but was considered for closure even before the publication of 'The Reshaping of British Railways' by Dr Richard Beeching in March 1963.
Batcombe is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in the steep valley of the River Alham 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Shepton Mallet and 26 miles (42 km) south of Bristol. The parish has a population of 439. Batcombe village is at the heart of the parish, which also includes the hamlets of Westcombe, Spargrove and Eastcombe.
Binegar is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is located on the A37, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wells, between Shepton Mallet and Chilcompton. Its population in 2011 was 313. Binegar and Gurney Slade on the opposite side of the A37 are effectively a single village and share a sign on the main road. In Gurney Slade, the quarry and houses on the north side of Tape Lane are in Binegar parish whilst the south side is in Ashwick parish. In Binegar, some houses on the south side of Station Road are in Ashwick parish and some on the north side of the village are in Emborough parish.
Ashwick is a village in Somerset, England, about three miles north of Shepton Mallet and seven miles east from Wells. It has also been a civil parish since 1826. The parish had a population of 1,352 according to the 2011 census, and apart from Ashwick village also includes Gurney Slade and Oakhill.
Cranmore is a village and civil parish east of Shepton Mallet, in Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Waterlip, East Cranmore and Dean. In 2011 the parish had a population of 667.
Croscombe is a village and civil parish 2 miles (3 km) west of Shepton Mallet and 4 miles (6 km) from Wells, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It is situated on the A371 road in the valley of the River Sheppey.
Downhead is a village and civil parish just south of Leigh-on-Mendip and 5 miles (8 km) north east of Shepton Mallet, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Tadhill.
Emborough is a village and civil parish 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Shepton Mallet, and 5 miles (8.0 km) north east of Wells, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It adjoins the parish of Ston Easton. It is situated on the B3139 between Radstock and Wells, just off the A37 road.
Lamyatt is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It lies 5 miles (8 km) south east of Shepton Mallet, 2 miles (3 km) north east of Castle Cary, and 3 miles (5 km) south of Evercreech. The parish has a population of 183.
Lydford-on-Fosse is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of West Lydford and hamlet of East Lydford.
Milton Clevedon is a village and civil parish 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Evercreech in the Mendip district of Somerset, England.
Stoke St Michael is a village and civil parish on the Mendip Hills 4 miles (6.4 km) north east of Shepton Mallet, and 8 miles (12.9 km) west of Frome, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England.
West Bradley is a village and civil parish 4 miles south-east of Glastonbury in Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Hornblotton and Lottisham.
The Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in Cranmore, Somerset, England, dates from the 15th century and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
Colonel William Strode, Jr — called William Strode of Barrington to distinguish him from contemporaries of the same name, principally the Strodes of Newnham in Devon — was an English Parliamentarian officer and Member of Parliament. A wealthy cloth merchant, he acquired several estates in his native county of Somerset. He was noted for his local philanthropy as well as his political and military opposition to King Charles I and Charles II.
William Strode II was a wealthy English landowner, Member of Parliament, and aider of the Duke of Monmouth in the Monmouth Rebellion (1685).
The Shambles is a Grade II listed monument located in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England. It is a twentieth-century reconstruction of butcher's market stalls that once lined the market place at Shepton Mallet. These stalls came to be known as "shambles", a term derived from the Middle English: fleshammels, lit. 'flesh shelves'. These shambles used curved roof timbers that have suggested a construction date of c. 1450. The same timbers were used in other roofs for that period, for example, the Tithe Barn at Doulting, Somerset.