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 now exists simply east of the junction of the A303 (London to Exeter) as well as the A358 (Taunton to Chard and also Axminster). The church consists of the hamlet of Sea. Ilminster is mentioned in papers dating from 725 and in a Charter approved to the Abbey of Muchelney (10 miles (16 km) to the north) by King Ethelred in 995. Ilminster is additionally pointed out in the Domesday Book (1086) as Ileminstre indicating 'The church on the River Isle' from the Old English ysle as well as mynster. By this period Ilminster was a prospering community as well as was given the right to hold an once a week market, which it still does. Ilminster was part of the thousand of Abdick and also Bulstone. In 1645 throughout the English Civil War Ilminster was the scene of an altercation in between legislative troops under Edward Massie and Royalist pressures under Lord Goring that fought for control of the bridges prior to the Battle of Langport. The community has the buildings of a sixteenth-century grammar school, the Ilminster Meeting House, which acts as the town's art gallery as well as concert hall. There is additionally a Gospel Hall.
