Wedmore History

Wedmore is the principal village on The Isle of Wedmore, a ridge of higher land rising out of the Somerset Levels, four miles south of the Mendip Hills. The parish consists of three main villages, Wedmore, Blackford and Theale, with fourteen hamlets including Bagley, Cocklake, Mudgley and Panborough. The population of the parish is reach 5000 with about 1000 living in Wedmore village itself.

People have been living here since at least the Bronze Age and archaeological research has shown that during Roman times it was thriving. Later Wedmore belonged to the Saxon Kings of Wessex. Its name in Old English means the hunting moor'. In 878 AD Saxon King Alfred won a decisive battle against the Danes at Edington, Wiltshire. The defeated Danish leader Guthrum was christened at Aller, Somerset and then brought with 30 of his followers to Wedmore to Alfred's royal estate for 12 days of feasting and ceremonies. During this time the second half of the christening ceremony took place and The Peace of Wedmore was made. This treaty defined the Saxon and Danish territories and gave a period of peace in which King Alfred united his kingdom. The ceremonies probably took place in a Saxon curch on the site where the parish church stands today. The adjoining manor house may well be on the site of Alfred's royal house, a Saxon Hall. In medieval time Wedmore parish was divided up between the Abbot of Glastonbury, the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Dean of Wells Cathedral.

The beautiful church of St Marys dominates the village of Wedmore. The present church is mostly of the 1400s with traces of the 12-1300s. In Church Street there are several fine houses including the Old Vicarage first mentioned in 1492, and the Post Office with its Georgian façade.

The George Hotel next to the Church is an 18th Century coaching inn, however its origins must be much earlier. An imposing Italianate (c1830s) building dominates lower Church Street. It is now the chemist but in Victorian times was an 'emporium' or department store. On its three floors were linen and silk departments, grocery and hardware, fashion and millinery, toys and haberdashery. Ladies came in their carriages from all over Somerset to shop.

Wedmore Church

The Borough was created in the 1200s as a new market area. About 40 house plots were laid out around the area still called The Borough today. Here the weekly market, granted in 1255, and the annual three-day fair took place. The fine 14th century market cross still stands although the market and cattle fair have ceased. The Borough is still a busy shopping centre with a great variety of shops from high fashion to the butcher's and village bakery.

Wedmore parish once renowned for its cattle and Cheddar cheese making now has only a few farms, but it has often been in the forefront of progress. The Gasworks built in 1870 provided street lighting and gas for cooking. In 1908 the Wedmore Electric Light & Power Co., provided competition to gas and soon the whole parish was connected to electricity, before many towns.

Today Wedmore is leading the way in the Age of Technology with its vision of Wired Wedmore, bringing the world to everyone's home and showing Wedmore to the world.

Hazel Hudson, Local Historian