Shepton Mallet

Directory Information

Our Shepton Mallet/Wells dentons directory (6th edition) is currently distributed to over 20,000 business and residential addresses in the Shepton Mallet/Wells area. For more information on our directories, please click here. 

About Shepton Mallet

Market Cross, Shepton Mallet

Market Cross, Shepton Mallet

Shepton Mallet is a small rural town in the Mendip district of Somerset. It contains the administrative headquarters of Mendip District Council and has the River Sheppey running through it. The town is approximately 18 miles south of Bristol and 5 miles east of Wells and it is twinned with the towns of Misburg in Germany, Oissel sur Seine in France and Bollnäs in Sweden.

 

 

 

History

The Brewery, Shepton Mallet

The Brewery, Shepton Mallet

  • The name Shepton derives from the Old English scoep and tun, meaning ‘the sheep enclosure’; the Domesday Book records a settlement known as Sceaptun. The current spelling is recorded at least as far back as 1496, in a letter from Henry VII. The second part of the name derives from that of the Norman Malet family who took a lease from Glastonbury Abbey around 1100. The second ‘L’ appears to have been added in the 16th century.
  • Shepton Mallet lies on the route of the Fosse Way, the principal Roman road into the south-west of England, and there is evidence of Roman settlement in the town.
  • In medieval times, the wool industry was important to the town’s economy, although this declined in the 18th century to be replaced by other industries.
  • In the 17th and early 18th centuries, the wool industry continued to thrive, and was joined by silk manufacture both powered by the waters of the River Sheppey.
  • In 1625, a House of Correction was established in Shepton Mallet and today, HMP Shepton Mallet is England’s oldest prison still in use.
  • John Lewis, founder of the British department store John Lewis, was born in Town Street in Shepton Mallet on 24 February 1836.

Facts

  • Population – 8,981 (2001)
  • Governing Authority – Mendip District Council
  • Major Industries – Drinks Manufacture and Production
  • Post Town – SHEPTON MALLET
  • Postcode District – BA4
  • Dialling Code – 01749
  • Police – Avon and Somerset Police
  • Fire – Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue
  • Ambulance – South Western Ambulance Service

Discover Shepton Mallet – links to town guides, what’s on and places to see

St Peter and St Paul Church, Shepton Mallet

St Peter and St Paul Church, Shepton Mallet

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