Castle Cary, Somerset

Description
Castle-Cary, a small town and a parish in Somerset. The town stands on slopes, amid charming environs, and has a station on the G.W.R., 121 miles from London. A castle was built here by the Lovells, and made a figure in the civil wars of the time of Stephen, but was then destroyed. The foundations of the keep were uncovered in 1890. A manor-house adjacent, or a smaller house, gave shelter to Charles II. after the Battle of Worcester, but has been entirely rebuilt. A beautifully-broken hillside, called Castle-Cary Park, commands an extensive view. The principal street of the town runs up a steep hill. The market-house is an elegant edifice, built in 1855 at a cost of £2300, and contains an assembly-room upwards of 50 feet long. The parish church stands on a rising ground, has a tower and spire erected in 1855, is itself partly Perpendicular English of the time of Henry VII., partly recent reconstruction, and contains an old font and a richly carved 15th century pulpit with modern figures. There are Congregational and Wesleyan chapels. The town is paved and well drained, and is supplied with water from springs at the source of the little river Carey. It has been much improved in recent years, and several new houses erected. The Boyd Liberal Institute was opened in 1885. The town has a bank and a head post office. Every alternate Tuesday there is a cattle market, and fairs are held on the Tuesday before Palm Sunday, 1 May, Whit Tuesday, and the Tuesday after 19 Sept. Some trade is carried on in flax spinning and hair-cloth weaving. The parish includes also the hamlets of Clanville, Dimmer, and Cockhill, and the manor of Fox-combe. Acreage, 2629 ; population, 2096. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £260 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells.