Timeline
c1000-500BC
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Pen pits, bowl-shaped pits at Penselwood, probably for quarrying stone.
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Replica Rotary Quern – http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/
c55BC-400AD
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Romans in Britain, Roman coins and artefacts found in various locations including Holbrook and New Barns Farm.
Roman coinage terms survived in UK until the currency was decimalised in the early 1970s. The Latin words were libra, solidus and denarius – or LSD. Libra meant pound, solidus meant shilling and denarius meant penny.
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Denarius of Marcus Aurelius by Rasiel at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52490341
c600-1000AD
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Saxon village, present day Church Street, Mill Street and Silver Street.
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Map taken from Wincanton Directory
1066AD
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Norman Conquest; Domesday Book includes Wincaleton with recorded population of 49 households.
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Image by Andrews, William: “Historic Byways and Highways of Old England” (1900), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=855126
c1100
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Ballands Castle, Norman motte and bailey fortification at Penselwood.
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Follow this link to read more at ecastles.co.uk
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​Image by ecastles.co.uk
1344
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First reference to a church in Wincanton.
1348-1349
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The Black Death brings plague and death across Somerset.
1566
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Granting of charter for fairs and markets by Queen Mary.
1660s
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Wincanton Quakers, with other Somerset members of the Society of Friends, were persecuted and many were sent to the notorious Ilchester Gaol.
1664
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Wincanton witch trials– witchfinder Robert Hamilton, a magistrate, set out to find witches.
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A 1613 English pamphlet showing “Witches apprehended, examined and executed” by Wellcome Collection gallery (2018-04-06): https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36373302
c1650
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The manor house known as The Dogs built (later remodelled by Ireson).
1685
The Monmouth Rebellion; six Wincanton “martyrs” suffer the so-called traitor’s death after Judge Jeffreys’ Bloody Assizes.
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​George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys. Image attributed to William Wolfgang Claret – Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6373251
1688
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Glorious Revolution – the Wincanton Skirmish, and William of Orange stays at The Dogs en route to London.
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Portrait of William III of England by Godfrey Kneller – https://www.rct.uk/collection/405675/william-iii-1650-1702-0, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=111000201
1707
The first of two major fires (second 1747); town rebuilt by Nathaniel Ireson, architect, potter (1685-1769).
Image: This is believed to be the only building in town that survived the fires of 1707 and 1747. Now a dental surgery.
1805-1806
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Napoleonic wars, 400 French prisoners of war billeted in the town, one of whom was Bioletti.
1825
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The six-year old future Queen Victoria stayed a night at The Greyhound, Market Place, Wincanton.
1838
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National School opens in North Street.
1862
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Opening of Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, including a station at Wincanton (closed 1966).
1890s
Dairy factory opens, later Cow & Gate.
1910
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Isolation hospital for scarlet fever patients. This became Verrington Hospital, now known as Wincanton Community Hospital.
1927
Wincanton Racecourse opens at Kingwell Farm site.
1944
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American bomber (known as Old Faithful), returning from a raid, crashes near the town.
1977
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Wincanton Bypass (A303) opens.
2001
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Tennis star Pat Cash opens new sports centre at King Arthur’s School.
2002
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Wincanton twinned with Ankh Morpork, Terry Pratchett’s fictional location.
2012
Travelodge opens at Lawrence Hill business park (a coaching inn, 21st century style).
2013
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Former MP Robert Boscawen dies, aged 80; MP for Somerton and Frome (including Wincanton), from 1983-1992; he was the last member of the House of Commons to hold a Military Cross for action during the Second World War.
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Robert Boscawn on the left in his Sherman Firefly at Namur during the Battle of the Bulge. Image by U.S. ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY – http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_22.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8496602
2019
King Arthur’s School becomes an Academy, part of Sherborne Area Schools Trust.