Parties and prisons: Why Shepton Mallet is worth a day trip
Festival capital of the UK? Oh, it’s got to be Shepton Mallet. Definitely. Really! An ancient market town that’s still well known for its cider-making, Shepton Mallet sits in the gentle undulations of the Mendips, nearish to Bath, Wells and Bristol.
It’s not as ornate or well-off as any of those neighbours. Nosing round Town Street, we get chatting to a local, explaining that we’re here for a day trip. “Blimey,” he said, looking at the dark, wet mould besmirching the shops’ upper reaches. “I should have brought my jet wash!”
By the time you read this, the town might have smartened up a bit, for this is the weekend that its annual festival programme kicks off. Enter the Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival, in which thousands of flowers – you’ll never guess what kind – are planted across the town. From May 30 to June 2, a showground down the road will host the rural and agricultural jamboree that is the Royal Bath & West Show, then in August there’s the not-dissimilar Mid-Somerset Show, by which time the townsfolk will also have hosted the Collett Festival, a more internal celebration of Shepton Mallet’s park and people. Oh, and Glastonbury is pretty close too (though 2018 is its “fallow year”).
Why is so much going on in this town of small size (pop. 10,000) and relative quiescence? The Collett Festival has a good backstory: sometime in the 19th century, a lad called John Kyte Collett was thrown out of a private park, and vowed to create a park of his own that all children would be free to use. Given the paucity of good drinking holes here, he’d have been better off being chucked out of a pub.
As for the rest of the goings-on, they wouldn’t be happening here if Shepton Mallet weren’t so fortunately placed in the Somerset countryside, but perhaps there’s an element of the locals finding a way to outshine their neighbours. Those bigger, fancier nearby towns might have more and smarter shopping streets than Shepton Mallet, might have architecture more memorable than the (perfectly nice, blessed with a fine timber roof) Church of St Peter and St Paul, and might pull in more visitors of a summer’s day. But Shepton Mallet knows how to have fun, like a house that is overshadowed by its neighbours but puts on better parties in compensation.
When you visit, come for a particular event, or at least plan your stay. The town isn’t big or pretty enough to lose yourself in, unless wandering around the Tesco car park is your idea of a day-tripping adventure. But we found lots of things to do: visiting Kilver Court Gardens, which are small but lush and girdled by the Charlton Viaduct; Cranmore Railway Station, which is one of the remnants of the Beeching-axed Cheddar Valley line, and is home to a working steam train; and Shepton Mallet Prison.
Closed in 2011, it had been the UK’s oldest operating prison, and for the time being – there are plans to convert it into flats, but for some reason it is Grade II* listed and wealthy buyers ain’t going to like those tiny, tiny windows – the public can take tours. It’s a strange experience, seeing from the inside a prison that until recently still had prisoners. Don’t get locked in: those who work here report cell doors banging in windless wings.
Ghosts? Maybe they didn’t want to leave the Shepton Mallet party.
Five good reasons to visit Shepton Mallet
The pub
There are good countryside walks to be taken nearby. The Thatched Cottage, which is a little way east of the town centre, is rustic and homely enough to fit the bill.
The Market Cross
Restored in 2012, the 50ft-tall monument was built in 1500 to stand as a centrepiece of the town centre. It still marks the heart of Shepton Mallet.
The railway
Book ahead to take your ride on the East Somerset Railway steam train, which takes passengers on a slow 40-minute round trip from Cranmore Station.
The prison
Shepton Mallet Prison is open 10am-5pm during term time and 10am-6pm during school holidays. Adults £15, family £43.50.
The garden
Kilver Court, including its rockery, parterre and 110yd (100m) herbaceous border, is open year round. Adults £7.50, under-14s free.
