The _Wellington Monument_, a conspicuous landmark on the summit of one
of the Blackdowns, is nearly 3 m. S. of the town. It is a triangular
column, erected by public subscription to commemorate the Iron Duke,
and was originally intended to be surmounted by his statue. The site
commands an extensive prospect in the direction of the Quantocks,
Brendons, and Exmoor.
_Wellow_, a largish but somewhat declining village, lying in a valley 6
m. S. from Bath, with a station on the S. & D. line. St Julian's Church
is a fine specimen of early Perp. architecture (1372). It is
interesting within and imposing without. The tower is severe but
dignified, and a good effect is obtained by a small octagonal turret
over the rood-loft staircase. The chancel is new (1890). Within note
(1) the good bossed and panelled roof, (2) dark oak screen, (3) old
benches, (4) the E.E. font attached to one of the pillars and furnished
with a book rest, (5) effigy of a priest with an incised chalice on
breast (cp. Minehead), (6) piscina on splay of S. sanctuary window. The
Hungerford chapel--now filled by an organ--is an interesting little
chamber, with a gaily coloured roof and an effigy of some Lady
Hungerford under an Elizabethan canopy. At the bottom of a ditch in a
cottage garden to the E. of the church is the site of St Julian's well,
said to have been the trysting-place of the Hungerford family ghost. A
flat stone is now the only indication of this once uncanny fountain.
Opposite the school is a grim-looking gabled farmhouse, once a manorial
residence of the Hungerfords. It is said to contain an oak room and
some fine carving, but the occupants do not encourage visitors. Half a
mile to the W. of the village, in a field nearly opposite the cemetery,
the foundations of a Roman villa were unearthed in 1685. Four upright
stones at the top of the field mark the site, and portions of the
tessellated pavement are still said to lie beneath the sod. Another
antiquity of great interest will be found in the centre of a sloping
field nearly a mile S.S.W. of the village. This is _Stoney Littleton_,
a large Celtic tumulus composed of masonry, but now entirely overgrown
with brushwood. The mound is easily observable (call for key at
neighbouring farm-house). An inscription at the entrance claims that at
a restoration in 1858 everything was replaced as found. A low passage
gives access to a number of small chambers constructed of flagstones.
Skeletons are said to have been found within when these were first
opened.
[Illustration: WELLS CATHEDRAL]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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