{"id":38925,"date":"2021-09-15T11:39:47","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T10:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/travel\/?p=38925"},"modified":"2021-09-18T16:21:59","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T15:21:59","slug":"yeovil-the-five-minute-spare-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/travel\/yeovil-the-five-minute-spare-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Yeovil: The Five Minute Spare Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Yeovil The Home Of The Glovers<\/h2>\n

Yeovil is one of Somerset’s biggest towns and although not renowned as a visitor attraction but it does have an interesting past. It is conveniently located towards the south of the county with good transport links which makes it a good base to explore the surrounding countryside. Historically it was famous for glove-making but today it is more industrially based with helicopters. being a mainstay.<\/p>\n

Still, it is quite pretty in parts, has some nice shopping locations and of course, a football team nicknamed the Glovers! So if a trip to the South West interests you then read on and see wha6y Yeovil has to offer.\u00a0 Lets begin with a bit of history…<\/p>\n

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Yeovil Way Back Then!<\/h2>\n

Yeovil has likely been inhabited in one way or another since the Paleolithic Period (the early Stone Age). This is evidenced by archaeological excavations which have uncovered burial sites dating from this period. Settlements would have dotted the area, given there is plenty of flint that they could have carved tools from.\u00a0There has also been Bronze age relics found, most famously a gold torc discovered in 1909 in the Hendford<\/a> region of the town.<\/p>\n

The Yeovil History website<\/a> records that the Durotriges were the tribe that lived in this land before the Romans came. They lived at Ham Hill \u2013 a nearby flint quarry \u2013 from 1 BC onwards. The Romans formally invaded in 43 AD and built the main road in the region, the Fosse Way, which runs through the town and a settlement sprung up near what is now known as Westland Road<\/a>. They would have left before the end of the 2nd<\/sup> century because Rome was in turmoil.<\/p>\n

Not much is known about the immediate aftermath but we do know that in 880 Yeovil was mentioned in a Saxon text, by the name Gifle and it formed part of the estate of Alfred The Great. The now imposing St Johns Church<\/a> in the town centre originates from this era and was mentioned in King Alfreds will in 899AD. It has of course had a few alterations over the years. It is now a Grade I listed building.<\/p>\n

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Image rb3legs\/Shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The Doomsday Book<\/h3>\n

The next time it would be mentioned was in the Domesday Book<\/a>. King William the Conqueror granted the land to the Count of Eu, who later passed it to his descendants. They held it until the 16th<\/sup> century. The land contained 36 households and was one of the largest 40% of all recorded. The area is recorded as having two owners: the Count Robert of Mortain and William of Eu.<\/p>\n

William of Eu owned 6 ploughlands and 7 teams to plough them with. He had 30 acres of pastureland and 33 of meadowland. He had cattle, pigs, and sheep. Count Robert had 4 smallholders, 3 ploughlands and two teams, 1 mill, and kept pigs, cattle, and sheep. In 1086, the area of Yeovil was a busy market town with plenty of nobility lurking in the countryside.<\/p>\n

Medieval Yeovil<\/h2>\n

During the next few hundred years, Yeovil would resort to being a sleepy, slow-growing town. In 1205 King Richard granted them a charter to hold their own market. It would have allowed them a yearly fair, too. The above mentioned St John’s Church was extended during the 1300s and in 1343 there were riots in Yeovil against the officers of the church. The Diocese lived well while the people were poor.<\/p>\n

The Black Death struck between the November of 1348 and the May of 1349. It came in three distinct waves and generally wiped out about 20% of the population of most towns. However, Yeovil suffered badly losing around half of its population. It was the area of Somerset was where the plague first struck and, the church lost a full third of its clergy<\/a>. The bishop recorded it was an emergency probably as the collection plate was looking a bit light.<\/p>\n

The people looked to the church for answers and saw that they were as mortal as everyone else. This led to more riot, and in 1349 the Bishop of Wells was stranded in the church while his priests were violently attacked in the market. Still, things recovered soon enough and in the 1400s the town had reached such a high status that they were given the right to elect their own Portreeve \u2013 a high ranking official that reported to the crown.<\/p>\n

Things were looking good until…<\/p>\n

The Great Fire of Yeovil<\/h3>\n

In 1499 a major fire took out most of the town. Fires would strike again in 1620 and 1643 before they got the message and started tiling the roofs instead of thatching them. The population in 1499 was likely around 1000 people. From those times the making of gloves became an economic player in Yeovil. The 10th<\/sup> century Church of St. Johns was rebuilt in 1400 and in 1477 almshouses were built by John Woburn, who paid for them in his will.<\/p>\n

There was a priory in town which Henry VIII would later tear down. Another outbreak of plague did serious damage in the years 1646 and 1647. People in Yeovil made paper and gloves. The market sold cheese, hemp, and linen threads. Later in the same century, the Duke of Monmouth held a rebellion against the king, but he was defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. His supporters were later executed in Yeovil using that favoured English execution technique of being hung, drawn, and quartered.<\/p>\n

That seems like a pleasant enough place to stop for the moment. Let\u2019s look at some Yeovil trivia in the hopes that it is a little more light-hearted.<\/p>\n

A Bit Of Yeovil Trivia<\/h2>\n

Every one of our travel guides to local places contains fun and or interesting facts you really ought to know about the area. Here are some of the fun facts and not-so-fun trivia that we dug up about Yeovil.<\/p>\n