ILMINSTER takes its name from the river Ile and its wonderful church, The Minster (St Mary's Church). It is mentioned in documents dating from 725 and in a Charter granted to the Abbey of Muchelney (10 miles 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 and mynster. By this period Ilminster was a flourishing community and was granted the right to hold a weekly market, which it still does, and an annual fair.
Further details about the history of Ilminster can be found below and on the Timeline page.
Historical photographs of Ilminster can be found on the Images page.
Buildings
St Mary's Church or The Minster as it is also known, was built around 1450 on the site of a Saxon building and has played a significant role in the life of the town.
Ilminster Grammar School was founded In 1549, moving to specially built premises just north of St Mary's Church in 1586. This school served the town for 422 years until closed in 1971 to make way for comprehensive education. The buildings are still there in Court Barton, converted to private accommodation.
The George Hotel, now converted to private housing, was Ilminster's principal coaching inn and Queen Victoria, then a baby, spent a night there in 1819.
Following the Glorious revolution of 1688, protestantism in its many guises flourished and in 1719 the Unitarian Meeting House was built. It is now called The Meeting House and serves as an art gallery, concert hall and café and hosts the Ilminster Tourism Information Centre.
Several of the buildings in the centre of the town date from around 1670. They are built on the site of older buildings (destoyed by fires) and contain fascinating architectural features. Unfortunately, these features are mostly in private homes.
Fires of 1491 and 1661
In 1491 and again in 1661 Ilminster was devastated by fire but despite this, by 1670, according to Hearth Tax records, Ilminster was the fourth largest town in Somerset.
Duke of Monmouth
In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth and his followers camped here. They were defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor just a few weeks later as they attempted to overthrow the regime of the Catholic James II.
Canal
The canal that once passed through Ilminster was once a link between Chard and the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal. Work on it was started in 1835 and on 15 July 1842, the canal was opened. One year later the link was completed to Chard.
Due to an incline of 82 feet (Brittens Field), the 26 foot long tub boats that used the canal were loaded on to six-wheeled trolleys (caissons) and by an ingenious counterbalance system were hauled upwards by a twin-track rail system, one up and one down. Once on top the tub boats were unloaded and continued their journey through a tunnel (the top of which is still visible). It is believed that the counterbalance system was replaced by a continuous chain driven by an overshot waterwheel.
Not a financial success, the canal was purchased in 1866 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, closed and refilled.
Railway
The Chard to Taunton railway brought about the demise of the canal, it brought more trade and improved people's ability to travel. The town's clock maker, John Hansford, made a special clock so that the townspeople would know when the trains were due. In those days people still used local time but the trains ran on London time so his clock was set to Railway Time and marked as such. It can be seen over the door of his old shop, now the town's launderette, Rub a Dub Dub.
The town station was about a mile to the west of the centre and so Ilminster developed in that direction. The Methodist Church, the imposing Shrubbery Hotel, a few fine houses and some sturdy cottages date from this period.
The railway was closed in 1962 by the 'Beeching Axe'.
Bypass
The town was bypassed in 1988 leaving a centre which contains some lovely 16th Century cottages and a lot of fine Georgian architecture. The only traffic now belongs to the local community for whom Ilminster provides all the basic requirements and to the small band of visitors who have discovered the town and made it their chosen stopping-off point for their West Country journeys.
