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COUNTY OF SOMERSET
Steeped in history and legend,
Somerset provides many opportunities for
half or full day tours from Bath.
The legend is King Arthur.
Dunster Castle is where Arthur is said to
have spent his childhood, while the hill at South Cadbury could be
identified as Camelot. Avalon could be Glastonbury, linking with the
claim that Arthur’s grave was to be found at
Glastonbury Abbey.
At Glastonbury the Abbey, now in ruins, was an early Christian
foundation. Outside the town is the Chalice Well, legendary hiding place
of the Holy Grail, near the ancient sacred site of the Tor topped with
St Michael’s Tower.
Wells is the smallest city in England. The gothic Cathedral has fine
medieval statuary, stained glass, chapter house and astronomical clock.
Adjacent is the 13th century Bishop’s Palace and the Vicar’s Close, a
complete medieval street.
Wells is set in the Mendip Hills and nearby the dramatic gorge and caves
at
Cheddar and
Wookey Hole cut through the landscape.
South of the Mendip Hills is low lying land called the Levels or Moors
and further south again are the steep escarpments and wooded coombes of
the Quantock Hills.
Many Somerset villages and towns are fascinating: Dunster, Farleigh
Hungerford and Nunney with their castles; Priddy on top of the Mendip
Hills; Norton St Philip with the George Coaching Inn;
Muchelney with its
Priest’s House and ruined abbey; Radstock and Camerton for the coal
mining history;
Montacute with its Elizabethan manor house; the ‘stone’
villages of Martock, Somerton, Stoke-sub-Hamdon and Doulton.
Gardens to visit include those at
Barrington Court,
Cothay Manor,
Lytes
Cary and
Hestercombe. The famous Somerset cider can sampled at the
Somerset Distillery.
Let Bath Parade Guides help you make the most of your visit to Somerset
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