_Castle Neroche_, locally known as Castle Ratch, a remarkable earthwork
of problematical origin, 7 m. S. of Taunton. It crowns the edge of a
precipitous hillside, over which runs the main road to Chard. The camp
is of quite exceptional strength, and occupies a position of great
strategic importance. Recent excavations have proved it to have been
occupied and strengthened, if not originally made, by the Normans. On
the accessible side looking towards Chard the station is defended by a
triple row of ramparts and ditches, but the side overlooking the vale
of Taunton is so precipitous that the only protection provided appears
to have been a kind of citadel surmounted probably by a keep. The
centre of this once formidable military position is now incongruously
occupied by a farm-house. The view from the citadel or beacon across
Taunton Dean is far-reaching and exhilarating. The outlook on the other
side is circumscribed by the high ground beyond.
_Castle of Comfort_, a lonely public-house on the top of the Mendips,
standing by the side of the Bristol and Wells road. For the tourist it
forms a very convenient landmark from which to indicate the more
interesting features of the Mendip plateau. (1) The Roman road from
Uphill to Old Sarum may be traced across a field near the house. (2)
The Devil's Punch Bowl, one of the most notable swallets on the
Mendips, is 1/4 m. nearer Bristol (climb a wall on the R. and the
swallet, a funnel-shaped hollow, partly overgrown with brushwood, will
be seen in a field about 100 yards from the roadside). (3) The old
Roman lead mines are 2-1/2 m. away on the road to Charterhouse. (4) The
"Lamb's Lair" cavern (now unexplorable) lies 2 m. to the N. near the
Bristol road. (5) Nine Barrows, to find which take the Wells road; 1/2
m. to the S. is another solitary inn, and opposite are the barrows.
_Catcott_, a village on the Poldens, 3 m. S. of Edington Station. The
church is quaint; note, in particular, the old oak seats, and the odd
means by which they can be lengthened. There is an old octagonal font.
_Chaffcombe_, a secluded village on the slope of Windwhistle Hill,
2-1/2 m. N.E. from Chard. The church is a small Dec. building with a
Perp. W. tower containing a pre-Reformation bell.
_Chantry_, or _Little Elm_, a small village 4-1/2 m. S.W. from Frome.
The church is a beautiful bit of modern Gothic, designed by Sir G.
Scott.
_Chapel Allerton_, a village 4-1/2 m. S.W. from Axbridge. The church is
a 13th-cent. building which has been subsequently altered and enlarged.
In the parish are the remains of an old "hundred stone," marking the
boundaries of the hundred of Bempstone.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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