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Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman town, and later a market town, Ilchester has a rich medieval history and was a notable settlement in the county; around the 12th and 13th centuries it was effectively the county town. It had, however, declined in size and importance by the beginning of the 18th century, and the last markets were held in 1833. In 1889 the historic corporation that had governed the town (the Bailiff and Burgesses) was dissolved. Ilchester is alternatively called Ivelchester (after the River Ivel) and the electoral ward of South Somerset District Council is named Ivelchester. The parish, which includes the hamlet of Ilchester Mead, the former village of Sock Dennis or Stock-Dennis, and the old parish of Northover, has a population of 2,153. Sock Dennis lies on the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath. The A303 road once passed through the village but now runs via a dual carriageway bypass just to the west. The village of Yeovilton lies to the east of Ilchester. RNAS Yeovilton continues to be a notable Royal Naval Air Station. In the Roman period, the place was named Lindinis and was the site of a fort and then a town on the Fosse Way. Finds from a large 4th-century cemetery at Northover House suggest Christian worship. It eventually served as one of two regional capitals for the Durotriges tribe. The place-name 'Ilchester' is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Givelcestre. The name means 'Roman fort on the River Yeo'. There is evidence of continuous occupation of Ilchester despite the Roman withdrawal from Britain around 410. Ilchester has been associated with the Cair Pensa vel Coyt listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons, on the basis that it should be read as an Old Welsh form of 'Penselwood' (coit being Welsh for "forest"), although others view it as three separate words: Pensa or Coyt.

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Exeter

Exeter (ˈɛksɪtər) is a cathedral city and the county town of Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal command of Vespasian. Exeter became a religious centre in the Middle Ages. Exeter Cathedral, founded in the mid 11th century, became Anglican in the 16th-century English Reformation. Exeter became an affluent centre for the wool trade, although by the First World War the city was in decline.

Yeovil

Yeovil (ˈjoʊvəl ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2021) was 49,698. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The aircraft and defence industries which developed in the 20th century made it a target for bombing in the Second World War; they are still major employers. Yeovil Country Park, which includes Ninesprings, is one of several open spaces with educational, cultural and sporting facilities.

Ilchester