Exploring Axbridge : Page 3

There were once ten taverns in Axbridge, now there are three: the Crown pub, you will have passed in St. Mary's Street, the Lamb Inn which takes up one corner of the Square, and the Oak House Hotel, which faces out on to the Square. In addition, the Almshouse Restaurant is on the south side, with its entrance to be found in Moorland Street. The Old Angel, now a private house, used to be not one but three licensed premises, one on each floor. The ground floor being the alehouse, the first floor the gambling den while the top floor was reserved for entertaining the menfolk of the town, as it were.

Once in the Square, you cannot miss King John's Hunting Lodge a half-timbered building now owned by the National Trust. The museum is run by a small charitable trust, with enthusiastic volunteers acting as custodians who carry a wealth of local knowledge. The eclectic collection reflects the varied history of the town and surrounding hills, from the Roman soldier dug up from beneath a resident's garage, to the remnants of the Victorian workhouse, through to the geology of the Mendips. There is also an ongoing, and very detailed building survey of some of the hidden secrets of the houses in West Street.

Entry is free, and the Museum is open Easter to 30th September 1pm to 4pm, and every Farmers' Market day, which takes place on the first Saturday of each month, when it opens at 10am.

Looking from the Hunting Lodge your eye will be taken by St. John the Baptist's Church which dominates the north-east corner at the top of its flight of steps. Just beneath the steps are the Church Wells which are fed by a spring and never seem to dry up.

Started in the 13th Century the church was restored in the 19th Century (many pieces of masonry which were perhaps mistakes rejected by the stonemasons have turned up in the ancient fish pond nearby!)

The ceiling inside is an ornate and brilliant blue, a piece of decoration that would have been frowned on at the time it was put in. However the date 1636 carved on it gives an indication as to why it slipped through the Protestant net. It was the time of Archbishop Laud, who then had the King's ear, and allowed such "popish" fripperies. He didn't last, but the ceiling has stayed with us.