Ilminster
Ilminster is a town and civil parish in the countryside of south west Somerset, England, with a population of 5,808. Bypassed in 1988, the community now exists simply east of the joint of the A303 (London to Exeter) and also the A358 (Taunton to Chard and also Axminster). The church includes the hamlet of Sea. Ilminster is mentioned in documents dating from 725 as well as in a Charter given to the Abbey of Muchelney (10 miles (16 kilometres) to the north) by King Ethelred in 995. Ilminster is also mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) as Ileminstre meaning 'The church on the River Isle' from the Old English ysle as well as mynster. By this duration Ilminster was a growing area as well as was given the right to hold an once a week market, which it still does. Ilminster was part of the numerous Abdick and Bulstone. In 1645 throughout the English Civil War Ilminster was the scene of a skirmish in between legislative troops under Edward Massie and Royalist pressures under Lord Goring who fought for control of the bridges prior to the Battle of Langport. The community consists of the structures of a sixteenth-century grammar school, the Ilminster Meeting House, which acts as the community's art gallery and concert hall. There is also a Gospel Hall.
