Shepton Mallet - Feb 2025
| Shepton Mallet | |
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The purpose of our visit to Shepton Mallet was mainly to walk around town during their annual Snowdrop Festival,
and we also ended up visiting Kilver Court Gardens. Read more about that here: Kilver Court
There were indeed many snowdrops growing around town - in addition to many other spring flowers too. |
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| They even had snowdrops growing in old phone boxes! | |
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| We enjoyed walking around town including the Market Cross in what appeared to be the main square. It is an impressive hexagonal stone structure. It also informed us that we were 20 miles from Bristol and 115 miles from London. Good to know. It was built in the 1500s and rebuilt in 1841. In 1685 following the Monmouth Rebellion, several followers of James Scott (1st Duke of Monmouth) were hanged, drawn and quartered at the Market Cross. Today it is a different scene with several trendy coffee shops. | |
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| We found Shepton Mallet prison and were concerned to find a collapsed wall. Luckily, it was not a prison break we were witnessing. Shepton Mallet prison opened in 1625 and was the oldest in the UK when it closed in 2013. At one point, the Public Record Office used the prison to store important historical documents including the Domesday Book of 1086. Nowadays this is just for tourists and there are guided tours. Maybe next time. | |
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| The town is known for its cider production including Showerings who own and run Kilver Court Gardens. Yet again we found snowdrops and daffodils all over. | |
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| We made our way through town to Collett Park. | |
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| Many people were enjoying a walk on this beautiful day. One family was also running laps in the park and there was permanent signs to help runners keep track of how far you had run. We, however, just enjoyed the creek, lake, and many flowers - this time crocuses. | |
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We leave you with a couple of funny signs seen around down:
Junk & Disorderly - for an antique store. Coffee shop joke: What do you get if you cross a cocker spaniel, a poodle & a rooster? A cocker-poodle-doo! |
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Postscript: We wore our wellies, but it would have been better with hiking boots. |
February 2025