Shepton Mallet

Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in Somerset, with the Mendip Hills to the north. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 10,592. The town sits about halfway between the Roman towns of Bath and Ilchester on the Fosse Way, and the A37 follows that line through it. The A361 skirts the eastern edge on its way to Glastonbury and Taunton.

Its past is in the brewing and cider trades. Wool was the medieval trade, brewing followed, and the town remains noted for cider production. The Anglo-Bavarian Brewery, built in 1864, was the first in England to brew lager and closed in 1921. Collett Park opened in 1906, named after the landowner John Kyte Collett, who gave it to the town.

The town also has some well-known structures. The market cross dates from a 20 pound bequest by Walter Buckland in 1520. Two disused railway viaducts are to be found, including Charlton Viaduct with 27 arches. Shepton Mallet Prison closed as a prison in March 2013, and immediately before its closure it had been England’s oldest prison still in use. The buildings are now open to visitors.

Two big shows use the showgrounds around the town. The three-day Royal Bath & West Show at the Bath & West Showground is provisionally set for 3 to 5 June 2027, and the Mid Somerset Show follows on Sunday 15 August 2027, free to enter on foot. In November the town’s carnival costs nothing to watch, with an illuminated procession from 7.30pm on Wednesday 18 November 2026.

Evercreech lies to the south east, and the Glastonbury Festival site is about 3.5 miles to the south west. Wells is the other Mendip town along the southern edge of the hills.