This week we heard of the sad news of the passing of our great Queen, Queen Elizabeth II. Sadness spread across Somerset. Here Steve Roberts looks at the history of the royals in Somerset.
Somerset’s royal history goes back to the Anglo-Saxons. It has been posited that the elusive King Arthur may have held court at Cadbury Castle whilst Glastonbury’s monks cannily claimed he was buried at their abbey, a good PR stunt at least. We’re on firmer ground with Alfred the Great and the Isle of Athelney where he licked his wounds and reputedly burned cookies before defeating his nemesis, the Danes, and forcing peace on them at Wedmore.
Axbridge was a draw for Anglo-Saxon and Norman kings. From this handy base they hunted stag in the Mendips. ‘King John’s Hunting Lodge’ may be Elizabethan, however, John almost certainly came here to hunt.
During the 12th century ‘Anarchy’ fought between royal rivals and cousins King Stephen and Matilda. Richmont Castle was personally besieged and taken by Stephen in 1138 reputedly ‘through subterfuge’. John was also here in 1205.
Farleigh Hungerford Castle was the birthplace of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, in 1473, a niece of Edward IV and Richard III, who was executed on Henry VIII’s orders, aged 67. In 1497 Taunton nailed its colours by proclaiming Perkin Warbeck king. Warbeck was a ‘pretender’ to the throne of Henry Tudor (Henry VII), the first Tudor monarch, claiming he was the younger of the ‘Princes in the Tower’ and therefore the rightful king. He’d be executed in 1499. The story circulated that Taunton was not forgiven in royal circles for backing an imposter and wouldn’t receive a reigning monarch for nearly 500 years. Taunton exacerbated things by backing Parliament during the English Civil War.
The Catholic-leaning James II was almost toppled in 1685 courtesy of the Monmouth Rebellion, headed by James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, Charles II’s illegitimate son. Defeated at Sedgemoor, Monmouth shared the same fate as Warbeck, whilst many Taunton folk suffered for following him.
Five years earlier, in happier times, the Duke was entertained at Barrington Court. James II didn’t last, ousted in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Crewkerne hosted the reliably Protestant William of Orange who’d come over from the Netherlands to take the throne and was progressing from his landfall (Brixham) to London. In Ilminster there’s a plaque on the George Hotel saying it was the first hotel Victoria stayed in. She was seven months old.
Coming up to date, it is the Lord-Lieutenant who is responsible for making all the arrangements for any visit to Somerset by a member of the royal family. That urban myth about Taunton being off-limits was ended by the visit of HM Queen Elizabeth II in May 1987 when the royal train delivered her to Taunton station.
With the Queen fulfilling 300 official engagements in a typical year, she’d return to the county, of course, an example being her 2019 visit to Castle Cary, Bruton and Ditcheat. The royal train delivered again as the Queen arrived at Castle Cary station before visiting stables (always popular), a school’s new music centre, and arts centre.
Other members of the royal family have also graced Somerset with their presence. The late Princess Diana was first in Somerset in April 1984, visiting FACE (Facility for Arts and Crafts Enterprise) just a few months before Prince Harry’s birth, returning in 1991 to open the new Bridgwater swimming centre, Sedgemoor Splash.
More recently, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a close friend’s wedding at St Mary’s, Bishop’s Lydeard in 2012, confirmation that royals have private lives. Five years later, the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s cousin, was in Wells, visiting Vicars’ Close, Cathedral School, and attending evensong in the cathedral.
In 2018, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Bath, just weeks before their wedding, where they met athletes hoping to compete in the Invictus Games.
Finally, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visited Dulverton and the National Parks Big Picnic in 2019 to mark seventy years since National Parks and the Access to the Countryside Act was set up. Prince Charles is a keen countryside advocate and has always been quick to visit the county at times of flooding.
Share