Blackmore Vale & Camelot Country

Blackmore Vale and Camelot Country

Abbas and Templecombe 

Templecombe takes its name from the Knights Templar who founded a preceptory and chapel here in the 12th century. The church of St Mary at Abbas has a medieval portrait of Christ, found in a local cottage, which closely resembles the face on the Turin Shroud. The narrow gauge Gartell Light Railway on the trackbed of the old Somerset and Dorset line is at nearby Yenston.

Brewham

A large parish comprising North and South Brewham, Border and Hardway, in what was formerly the Royal Forest of Selwood and is still a well-wooded river valley. At the eastern edge on Kingsettle Hill stands the 164-foot Alfred's Tower (NT) - starting point of the Leland Trail - with panoramic views from the top.

Milborne Port

Once one of the most important towns in Somerset, with its own mint.  Until 1832 it returned two Members of Parliament. Attractive old buildings include the market hall, Guildhall, church and fives wall. The nearby villages of Stowell and Charlton Horethorne nestle in the undulating countryside.

Sir Walter Raleigh reputedly first smoked tobacco at nearby Henstridge at the Virginia Ash Inn by the crossroads of the A30 and A357.

North Cadbury

Set amidst orchards, this attractive village contains many stone-built cottages, the handsome Elizabethan Cadbury Court and fine collegiate church built in 1470 with splendid bench-end carvings dating from 1538.

Pen Selwood

Pen Selwood is a village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It is located 4 miles north east of Wincanton, 4 miles south east of Bruton, 4 miles west of Mere, and 5 miles north west of Gillingham. The south-east of the parish borders Zeals and Stourhead in Wiltshire, and Bourton in Dorset.

Queen and West Camel

A pleasing, wide street lined village with Blue Lias and thatch cottages.  The church has a lofty tower containing the heaviest peal of six bells in the world. At nearby West Camel the cruciform church dates mostly from the 15th century but contains a Norman font. Haynes International Motor Museum is a short drive north at Sparkford.

South Cadbury

Small village at the foot of Cadbury Castle, the iron age hillfort which is reputedly King Arthur's Camelot where, it is said, 'on midsummer's eve the hill turns clear as glass and inside can be seen Arthur and his knights of the round table'. Close to Cadbury are the delightful little villages of Sutton Montis, Compton Pauncefoot and Blackford, all with historic churches.

Main Photo: Corton Hill, South Cadbury, Credit: Don Bishop