Smoke Alarm in Ilminster

Ilminster

Ilminster is a community and civil parish in the countryside of south west Somerset, England, with a population of 5,808. Bypassed in 1988, the community currently exists just eastern of the joint of the A303 (London to Exeter) and the A358 (Taunton to Chard and also Axminster). The parish includes the hamlet of Sea. Ilminster is mentioned in papers dating from 725 as well as in a Charter provided to the Abbey of Muchelney (10 miles (16 kilometres) to the north) by King Ethelred in 995. Ilminster is additionally stated in the Domesday Book (1086) as Ileminstre implying 'The church on the River Isle' from the Old English ysle and mynster. By this period Ilminster was a growing area and also was given the right to hold a weekly market, which it still does. Ilminster was part of the thousand of Abdick as well as Bulstone. In 1645 throughout the English Civil War Ilminster was the scene of an altercation between parliamentary soldiers under Edward Massie as well as Royalist forces under Lord Goring that defended control of the bridges prior to the Battle of Langport. The community includes the buildings of a sixteenth-century grammar school, the Ilminster Meeting House, which works as the town's art gallery and music hall. There is also a Gospel Hall.