Introduction

Somerton is an ancient Saxon town and was the possession of the Saxon kings. This was true until well after the Middle Ages. During the Saxon inhabitation, the town was sparsely populated. It was only during the Roman period that the town grew bigger and bigger and eventually became the capital of Wessex. The first signs of Roman inhabitation in the area are dated to around A.D. 48. The district was scattered with Roman villas, remains of which have been found in nearby Pitney and Low Ham.

The West Saxons colonised the town during the 100 years after the demise of the Roman Empire in Britain. They soon pillaged and destroyed the Roman villas in the area.

During the decades that followed, Somerton has constantly been populated, but it has never really seen the ‘glory days’ of these periods of wealth and prosperity.

It is no wonder that Somerton has been a populated town for over 2000 years. Somerton is an ideal area to build a town; the steep slopes of the valley of the river Cary, the borders of Sedgemoor to the north and the narrower cutting of the Mill Stream to the south. These all make ideal physical features for securing a town, as well as providing a flood free source of water.

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