History of Shepton Mallet

By Kath Richards

Shepton Mallet lays Nestling just south of the beautiful Mendip Hills, in South East Somerset. It is a small Rural, ancient market town. It addition, it lies along valley of the stream known as the River Sheppey.
It is located within easy reach of major tourist attractions such as, Glastonbury Abbey, Cheddar Gorge and caves, Yeovil, Wookey Hole, and Wells Cathedral.
New archaeological discoveries in recent times have revealed even more of the town's early history. Bronze Age homesteads and pottery were found in 1995, during excavations near Cannards Grave, to the south of the town. Remains of Roman potters' kilns were found where the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery was built in he 1860s. Then in 1988, they discovered a lead coffin that led to the excavations in 1990. which revealed signs of a whole Roman industrial town beside the Fosse Way. It is believed that there is much more to unearth.
The discovery of a very rare Christian amulet decorated with the Christian Chi-Rho symbol. This represents the earliest evidence of a Christian burial in Britain. Following the discovery of a lead coffin in 1988 archaeologists uncovered a significant number of Roman artefacts in the early 1990s at a site adjacent to the nearby Fosse Way, including a cemetery, well and several villas. A key find was the Chi-Rho amulet, held to be among the earliest evidence of Christianity in England.
Shepton Mallet was an Anglo-Saxon village. The Parish Church, the Market Cross, and the 'shambles' market stall in the Market Place all date from the Anglo-Saxon Period. It was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 (Sepeton), meaning 'The sheep enclosure' from the Old English ‘scoep’ and ‘tun’. The Town’s name Shepton comes from the Anglo-Saxon for ‘sheep fold’, pointing to the original source of the town's wealth. It was part of lands given to the Malet family by Henry I in 1100, making it one of the first double place names in the country.
HMP Shepton Mallet is England's oldest prison that is still in use. National treasures such as the Domesday Book were kept safe here in World War II.
Shepton Mallet is fast becoming more modern. There is now a Retail Park with a Tesco store near the town centre, this replaces the existing Tesco supermarket that used to be on the edge of the town. There is also a Woolworths, Argos, Boots, etc, in addition, an Aldi Store, that is planned for 2008.