It ran from Yatton railway station through to Wells ( Tucker Street ) railway station and joined the East Somerset Railway to make a through route via Shepton Mallet ( High Street ) railway station to Witham.

At the age of 63, and in poor health, he was forced to take a job as a brewery manager and move his family to Shepton Mallet, Somerset.

Shepton Mallet is a small rural town and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset in South West England.

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.

Shepton Mallet Prison is England's oldest prison still in use.

Archaeological investigations have found evidence for prehistoric activity in the Shepton Mallet area, with substantial amounts of Neolithic flint being found, as well as some pottery fragments from the late Neolithic period.

Shepton Mallet is situated approximately half-way between the Roman towns of Bath and Ilchester on the Fosse Way, and, although there are no visible remains ( apart from the line of the Roman road itself ), there is archaeological evidence for both early military, and later civilian, settlement lasting into the 5th century.

In addition, a charter of King Ine of Wessex, dating from 706 and witnessed by nine Bishops including the Archbishop of Canterbury, records the granting of the area in which Shepton Mallet is now situated to Abbot Berwald of Glastonbury Abbey.

Some generations later, the part of the estate containing Shepton Mallet was sold to a relative, Sir Thomas Gournay.

However, he died without issue, and there followed a succession of grants and reversions until Glastonbury Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII, and the Abbey's lands, including Shepton Mallet, were granted to the Duchy of Cornwall in 1536.

In 1625, a House of Correction was established in Shepton Mallet and, today, HMP Shepton Mallet is England's oldest prison still in use.

During the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, the Duke of Monmouth was welcomed when he passed through Shepton Mallet, staying in Longbridge House in Cowl Street on the night of 23 June, with his men quartered throughout the town, before setting out for Bristol the following day.

There were reputed to be 50 mills in the town and surrounding area in the early 18th century, and a number of fine clothiers ' houses survive, particularly in Bowlish, a hamlet on the western edge of Shepton Mallet.

For a period during World War II, Shepton Mallet Prison was used to store important national records from the Public Record Office, including Magna Carta, the Domesday Book, the logbooks of HMS Victory, dispatches from the Battle of Waterloo, and the " scrap of paper " signed by Hitler and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain at the Munich Conference of September 1938.

The population of Shepton Mallet was fairly stable throughout the 19th century and first part of the 20th century: in 1801, the population was 5, 104 and in 1851 it was only slightly more at 5, 117, though in 1901 it had swelled to 5, 446, before falling back to 5, 260 in 1951.

Shepton Mallet is in the Mendip local government district which is part of the county of Somerset.

In the 80 years prior to 1974, the town had fallen within Shepton Mallet Urban District.

Shepton Mallet has four councillors on Mendip District Council, two elected by each of the two Town Council wards.

The civil parish of Shepton Mallet has adopted the style of a town, and there is a Town Council of 16 members.

Councillors are split equally between the two wards: Shepton Mallet East and Shepton Mallet West.

The river has cut a narrow valley, and between Shepton Mallet and the village of Croscombe, to the west, it is bounded by steeply-sloping fields and woodland.

West Shepton, which forms the south-west corner of the town, is dominated by the former Shepton Mallet Union Workhouse, a grade II listed building originally constructed in 1848, which later became the Norah Fry Hospital ( a mental health hospital ), and is now a housing development.

The steeply-sloping fields adjoining the river between Bowlish and the rest of the Shepton Mallet are known locally as The Meadows, to the east of which is Hillmead, a council housing estate built in the 1960s.

Along with the rest of South West England, Shepton Mallet has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England.

There is a local perception that Shepton Mallet has been in economic decline for some time.

Shepton Mallet is home to three international alcoholic drinks producers.

Nowadays, the nearest Network Rail station is Castle Cary, some eight miles south of Shepton Mallet.

There are 218 listed buildings in Shepton Mallet and the town is in receipt of funding for the restoration of chosen town centre historic buildings from the English Heritage Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme and the National Lottery Townscape Heritage Initiative.

HM Prison Shepton Mallet, which was built in 1610, is located close to the town centre, adjacent to the parish church.

As a consequence of its historic nature, Bowlish is included within Shepton Mallet's conservation area and is a site of special archaeological interest.

Indeed, it appears that wool became such a source of riches for the town that when, in 1496, Henry VII needed to raise money to fight the Scots, he called upon the wool-merchants of Shepton to contribute £ 10 to the cause:

In the English Civil War the town supported the parliamentary side, although Shepton appears to have mostly escaped conflict apart from a bloodless confrontation between supporters of the King, led by Sir Ralph Hopton, and Parliament, led by Colonel William Strode, in the market place on 1 August 1642.

Since 2004, Shepton Mallet ’ s town centre buildings have benefitted from two conservation schemes, the Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme and the Townscape Heritage Initiative Scheme, which provided grants for the repair of buildings, reinstatement of architectural features and enhancement of public spaces, as well as community involvement, education and training.

It has also divided opinion in the town, between those who hoped it would help to revitalise the town, and others who feared that local traders would be unable to compete, leading to a further decline of Shepton Mallet's high street.

The A37 road passes through Shepton Mallet from north to south ; it follows the line of the Fosse Way between the south of the town and Ilchester.

The A361 from Frome skirts the eastern edge of Shepton Mallet on its way to Glastonbury, and the A371 from Castle Cary passes through the town on its way west to Wells ; for some distance, both routes follow the line of the A37.

Two annual agricultural shows are held close to the town: the four-day Royal Bath and West Show, which is held at the showground of the Royal Bath and West of England Society near Evercreech, south-east of the town, while the one-day Mid-Somerset Show is held on fields on Shepton Mallet's southern edge.

The town also hosts the annual Shepton Mallet Digital Arts Festival which was founded in 2009.

* Simon Browne, a dissenting preacher and theologian, was born in Shepton Mallet in 1680 and, after preaching at Old Jewry in London, and also in Portsmouth, died in the town in 1732.

The nearest town to the festival site is Shepton Mallet, three miles ( 5 km ) north east, but there continues to be interaction between the people espousing alternative lifestyles living in Glastonbury and the festival.

The administrative centre of the district is Shepton Mallet but the largest town ( three times larger than Shepton Mallet ) is Frome, pronounced " Froome " and spelt that way until about 1890.