Shepton Mallet

The name Shepton derives from the Old English scoep and tun, meaning "sheep farm"; the Domesday Book of 1086 records a settlement known as Sceaptun in the hundred of Whitstone.[https://opendomesday.org/place/ST6143/shepton-mallet/ Open Domesday: Shepton (Mallet)]. Accessed 6 November 2022.{{Cite book |last=Bush |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Bush (historian) |title=Somerset: The Complete Guide |publisher=Dovecote Press |location=Wimborne |year=1994 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/somersetcomplete0000bush/page/179 179–181] |isbn=1-874336-26-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/somersetcomplete0000bush/page/179}} The current spelling is recorded at least as far back as 1496, in a letter from Henry VII. The second part of the name derives from that of the Norman family of Malet. Gilbert Malet, son of William Malet, Honour of Eye, held a lease from Glastonbury Abbey around 1100. The second letter "l" appears to have been added to the spelling in the 16th century.{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |pages=9–10 and 102}}{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Somerset Place Names |year=1992 |publisher=The Dovecote Press Ltd |location=Wimborne, Dorset |isbn=1-874336-03-2}}

File:somerset sm market.jpg]]

Archaeological investigations have found evidence of prehistoric activity in the Shepton Mallet area, with large amounts of Neolithic flint and some pottery fragments of the late Neolithic period. Two barrows on Barren Down, to the north of the town centre, contained cremation burials from the Bronze Age; another Bronze Age burial site contained a skeleton and some pottery. The remains of Iron Age roundhouses and artefacts such as quernstones and beads were found at Cannard's Grave, as was a probable Iron Age farming settlement at Field Farm.{{Cite web |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_Shepton_MalletText.pdf |title=Shepton Mallet |last=Gathercole |first=Clare |work=Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey |publisher=Somerset County Council |year=2003 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717063246/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_Shepton_MalletText.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2011}} Nearby countryside provides evidence of Iron Age cave dwellings in Ham Woods to the north-west, and several burial mounds at Beacon Hill, a short distance to the north.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=194 |title=Shepton Mallet Prehistory |publisher=Shepton Mallet Town Council |access-date=13 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122030345/http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=194 |archive-date=22 January 2010}}

Shepton Mallet is about halfway between the Roman towns of Bath and Ilchester on the Fosse Way. Although there are no visible remains apart from the line of the Roman road, there is archaeological evidence for early military and later civilian settlement lasting into the 5th century. Domed pottery kilns, with pottery still present, were identified on the site of the Anglo-Bavarian Brewery in the mid-19th century, suggesting military activity in the 1st and 2nd centuries. Several hoards of Roman coins ranging from the 1st to 4th centuries have been found and more than 300 fibula brooches, potsherds and other artefacts. A few isolated burials near the Fosse Way were found in the 19th century.

A lead coffin in a rock-cut grave was discovered at a site by the Fosse Way in 1988. This discovery and impending commercial development of the site by the landowner, Showerings, led archaeologists to excavate more extensively in the 1990s. The grave belonged to a cemetery containing 17 burials aligned roughly east and west, indicating probable Christian beliefs. Two smaller cemeteries had graves aligned north–south, possibly signifying pagan religious practices. One burial was in a substantial stone coffin positioned beneath a mausoleum, whose foundations remained.{{Cite book |last=Leach |first=Peter |title=Shepton Mallet: Romano-Britons and Early Christians in Somerset |year=1991 |publisher=University of Birmingham Field Archaeology Unit and Showerings Ltd |location=Birmingham |isbn=0-7044-1129-6|pages=24–25}}

One find in the Fosse Way burials was a Chi-Rho amulet, thought then to be from the 5th century and considered among the earliest clear evidence of Christianity in England. A copy was presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, by the churches of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. The amulet is in the Museum of Somerset, but analysis by Liverpool University in 2008 using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy showed it was a fake: its silver content dates from the 19th century or later.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/sep/19/archaeology.anglicanism |title='Roman' amulet adopted by archbishop is a fake |last=Morris |first=Steven |date=19 September 2008 |work=The Guardian |access-date=19 September 2008 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902223645/http://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/sep/19/archaeology.anglicanism |archive-date= 2 September 2013}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/2982490/Ancient-Christian-amulet-declared-a-fake.html |title='Ancient' Christian amulet declared a fake |last=Savill |first=Richard |date=18 September 2008 |work=Daily Telegraph |access-date=18 September 2008 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919034411/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/2982490/Ancient-Christian-amulet-declared-a-fake.html |archive-date=19 September 2008}}{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7622395.stm |title=New tests challenge age of amulet |date=18 September 2008 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |access-date=18 September 2008}}

Excavations in the 1990s confirmed the presence of a linear settlement along the Fosse Way for perhaps a kilometre, with cobbled streets, wooden and stone workshops and houses (some with two storeys) containing hearths and ovens, workshop areas and a stone-lined well. The many artefacts found included local and imported pottery such as Samian ware, items of jewellery such as brooches, rings and bracelets, toilet items including tweezers, ear scoops and nail cleaners, bronze and iron tools, and a lead ingot which probably originated from the Roman lead mines in the Mendip Hills. Coins minted across the Roman Empire were also found. The finds indicate occupation from the late 1st or early 2nd centuries to the late 4th or early 5th centuries. As no public buildings were found, the settlement was probably not a town.

Evidence of Saxon settlement includes some Saxon stonework in the parish church of St Peter and St Paul. A charter of King Ine of Wessex, from 706, witnessed by nine bishops including the Archbishop of Canterbury, records that the area where Shepton Mallet now stands was passed to Abbot Berwald of Glastonbury Abbey.{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |pages=1–3}} According to some legends Indract of Glastonbury was buried in Shepton.{{Cite book |title=West Country Churches |last=Robinson |first=W.J. |year=1915 |publisher= Bristol Times and Mirror Ltd |location=Bristol |pages=144–149}} The town was in the Whitstone Hundred; the hundred courts were held at Cannard's Grave, just south of the town.{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |pages=31–32|edition=Memorial}}{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2=Blandford |first2= Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd Ed) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |page=16}}

The Exeter Domesday Book records that on the death of Edward the Confessor in 1066, the site was held (probably by lease from the Abbey) by one Uluert, and then by Roger de Corcella at the time of the Domesday survey in 1086. When Corcella died, sometime before or around 1100, the land passed to the Malets, a Norman family whose name was added to that of the settlement (and another of their holdings, Curi – now Curry Mallet).{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |page=10}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=222 |title=Shepton Mallet Norman History |publisher=Shepton Mallet Town Council |access-date=13 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121065818/http://sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=222 |archive-date=21 January 2010}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=223 |title=Shepton Mallet Middle Ages History |publisher=Shepton Mallet Town Council |access-date=13 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121065823/http://sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=223 |archive-date=21 January 2010}}

The Malets retained the estate until the reign of King John, when on the death of William Malet (fl. 1192–1215) and the payment by his sons-in-law of a fine of 2000 marks for participating in a rebellion against the king) it passed through his daughter Mabel to her husband Hugh de Vivonne. Some generations later, the part of the estate containing Shepton Mallet was sold to a relative, Sir Thomas Gournay. His son, also Thomas, took part in the murder of Edward II. His estates were confiscated by Edward III in 1337, but returned some years later. When Mathew de Gournay died childless in 1406, the estate reverted to the Crown and was then granted to Sir John de Tiptoft. It was again confiscated from his son by Henry VI during the Wars of the Roses, when the family sided with Edward IV, but restored to Sir John's grandson, Edward Tiptoft, when Edward IV regained the throne. He died without issue, and there followed a succession of grants and reversions until Glastonbury Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII, and its lands, including Shepton Mallet, were granted to the Duchy of Cornwall in 1536.{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |pages=7–11|edition=Memorial}}{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford|first2= Alan|last3=Beckerleg|first3= Lewis|title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd Ed) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=23–24r}} (but with some probable errors due to confusing William Mallet (died 1071) with William Mallet (fl. 1192–1215))

Charters for markets and fairs were granted in 1235, but revoked in 1260 and 1318 after objections by the Bishop of Wells to the competition it represented to the market in his city. This shows that the town was developing and prospering in the 13th and early 14th centuries.{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |pages=26–29}}{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2= Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |page=32}} The Black Death struck in 1348, reducing the population to about 300.{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2=Blandford |first2=Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=32–33}} In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the population and economy were boosted by craftsmen and merchants arriving from France and the Low Countries, who were escaping wars and religious persecution. They introduced cloth-making, which together with the local wool trade, became a major industry in Shepton and other Somerset and Wiltshire towns.{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |pages=13–14|edition=Memorial }}{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford|first2= Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3= Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=33–34}} Wool became such a source of riches that when Henry VII needed money to fight the Scots in 1496, he called on the wool merchants of Shepton to contribute £10.{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |pages=32–34}}

{{cquote|To our trusty and wellbeloved John Calycote of Shepton Malet...
...because as we here ye be a man of good substaunce—we desire and pray you to makelone vnto us of the som of ten poundes whereof ye shal be vndoubtedly and assuredly repayd in our Receipt at the fest of Seynt Andrewe next coming...

| author = Henry VII

| source = Letter under King's sign manual and Privy Seal, 1 December 1496

}}

In 1675, a House of Correction was set up in Shepton Mallet.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=189 |work=Shepton Mallet Town Council |title=Historic Buildings of Shepton Mallet |access-date=30 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118052345/http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=189 |archive-date=18 January 2012}}{{Cite book |last=Disney|first=Francis |title=Shepton Mallet Prison (2nd ed.) |year=1992 |publisher=Published by the Author|isbn=0-9511470-2-1}} Also updated as a CD-ROM (2001), see [http://www.prison-history.co.uk "Shepton Mallet Prison: 390 years of prison regime"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120142419/http://prison-history.co.uk/ |date=20 November 2008}}

In the English Civil War, the town supported the Parliament side, although Shepton appears largely to have escaped conflict apart from a bloodless confrontation in the market place on 1 August 1642 between Royalists under Sir Ralph Hopton and Parliament led by Colonel William Strode.{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |pages=11–12}}{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2=Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=44–49}} which contains a full account of the events of 1 August 1642. In 1645 Sir Thomas Fairfax led the New Model Army through the town on the way to capturing Bristol, and in 1646 the church organ was apparently destroyed by Cromwellian soldiers.{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |page=14|edition=Memorial }}{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |page=19}}

During the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, the Duke of Monmouth was welcomed when he passed through Shepton Mallet to stay at Longbridge House{{NHLE |num=1296498 |desc=Longbridge House |access-date=15 February 2010 }} in Cowl Street on the night of 23 June, with his men quartered around the town, before setting out for Bristol next day. Many Shepton men joined the cause, but Monmouth failed to take Bath or Bristol and had to return to Shepton on 30 June. After the Battle of Sedgemoor, the Duke fled, spent the night of 6 July at Downside, a mile north of Shepton, and was captured two days later. After the Bloody Assizes, twelve local supporters of Monmouth were hanged and quartered in the market place.{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |pages=16–20|edition=Memorial}}{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |pages=13–14}}{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2= Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=50–60}}{{Cite book |title=The hidden places of Somerset |last=Scott |first=Shane |year=1995 |publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd |location=Aldermaston |isbn=1-902007-01-8 |page=56}}

In 1699 Edward Strode built almshouses, close to the rectory that his family had built, to house the town's grammar school, which lasted until 1900.

In the 17th and 18th centuries thriving wool and cloth industries were powered by the waters of the River Sheppey.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/MinutesAndReports/Meetings%202004/Shepton%20Mallet%20&%20Wells%20Area%20Board/13.07.04/Agenda%20Item%2016%20-%20appendix%201.doc |title=The Inclusion of the Anglo Bavarian Brewery area in the Shepton Mallet Conservation Area |access-date=3 January 2008 |format=Microsoft Word |work=Mendip District Council |date=June 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611185859/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/MinutesAndReports/Meetings%202004/Shepton%20Mallet%20%26%20Wells%20Area%20Board/13.07.04/Agenda%20Item%2016%20-%20appendix%201.doc |archive-date=11 June 2011 }} There were said to be 50 mills in and around the town in the early 18th century,{{Cite web |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_Shepton_MalletText.pdf |title=Shepton Mallet |last=Gathercole |first=Clare |work=Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey |publisher=Somerset County Council |year=2003 |access-date=2 February 2010 |pages=22–23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717063246/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_Shepton_MalletText.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2011}} and a number of fine clothiers' houses survive, particularly in Bowlish, a hamlet on the western edge of Shepton Mallet.{{NHLE |num=1172927 |desc=Old Bowlish House |access-date=15 February 2010}}
{{NHLE |num=1058419 |desc=Bowlish House |access-date=15 February 2010 }}
{{NHLE |num=1058420 |desc=Bowlish House Gate Piers and Mounting Block |access-date=15 February 2010}}
{{NHLE |num=1345223 |desc=Combe House, Bowlish |access-date=24 February 2010}}
{{NHLE |num=1172922 |desc=Park House, Bowlish |access-date=29 July 2019}} Although these industries still employed some 4,000 towards the end of the century,{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |page=30}} they were beginning to decline. Discontent at mechanisation of the mills resulted in the deaths of two men in a riot in the town in 1775. This apparently discouraged mill-owners from modernising further.{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2= Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3= Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |page=78}}{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |page=25|edition=Memorial}} The decision resulted in Shepton's cloth trade losing out to the steam-powered mills in the north of England in the early 19th century. The manufacture of silk and crepe revived the town's fortunes somewhat,{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |pages=26–27|edition=Memorial}} and Shepton's mills made the silk used in Queen Victoria's wedding dress.{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2= Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3= Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |page=83}} However, these industries also died out eventually.

Image:Anglo Trading Estate Shepton Mallet 1.jpg

While wool, cloth and silk declined, other industries grew. In the 19th and 20th centuries brewing became one of the major industries. The Anglo-Bavarian Brewery,{{NHLE |desc=Anglo Trading Estate (former brewery, now warehouses) |num=1296561 |access-date=15 February 2010 }} built in 1864 and still a local landmark, was the first in England to brew lager. At its height, it was exporting 1.8 million bottles a year to Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, South America and the West Indies. It closed in 1921.{{Cite book |title=The Anglo: The History of the Anglo Bavarian Brewery, Shepton Mallet, 1864–1994 |last=Davis |first=Fred |publisher=J H Haskins & Son Ltd |location=Shepton Mallet |year=1994}} However the town, home of Babycham, is still a centre for cider production.

For some of the Second World War, Shepton Mallet Prison was used to store national records from the Public Record Office, including the Magna Carta, the Domesday Book, the logbooks of {{HMS|Victory}}, dispatches from the Battle of Waterloo and the "scrap of paper" signed by Hitler and British prime minister Neville Chamberlain at the Munich Conference of September 1938. The prison also became a US Army detention facility. Between 1943 and 1945, 18 US servicemen were executed within the prison walls, after convictions for murder, rape or both.

In the 1960s and 1970s many historic buildings were demolished to build Hillmead council estate in the north of the town and a retail development and theatre in the market place.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |title=Shepton Mallet Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Proposals |year=2007 |publisher=Mendip District Council |access-date=30 December 2008 |page=15 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110927075028/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |archive-date=27 September 2011}}

The population of Shepton Mallet was fairly stable through the 19th century and the first part of the 20th: 5,104 in 1801 and 5,117 in 1851, then 5,446 by 1901, falling back to 5,260 in 1951.{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |page=45|edition=Memorial }}{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |page=39}} By 2001, it had grown again to 8,981.

File:Shepton Mallet High St08.jpg

Shepton Mallet is in the unitary authority area of Somerset Council. Prior to April 2023, it was the principal town in the Mendip local government district, which governed together with Somerset County Council. In the 80 years up to 1974, it lay in Shepton Mallet Urban District.{{Cite web |title=Shepton Mallet UD |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10086681 |work=A vision of Britain Through Time |publisher=University of Portsmouth |access-date=4 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013152449/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10086681 |archive-date=13 October 2013}}

The civil parish of Shepton Mallet has adopted the style of a town. It has a town council of 16 members, split equally between the two wards: Shepton East and Shepton West. The most recent elections, in May 2015, left the council made up of five Conservatives, five Liberal Democrats, three Labour Party members and three independents.

Shepton Mallet falls within the Wells and Mendip Hills parliamentary constituency. Since the general election on 4 July 2024 the MP has been Tessa Munt of the Liberal Democrats.

Before Brexit, the town was in the South West England European Parliamentary constituency, electing six MEPs.

There are two medical surgeries in Shepton Mallet,{{Cite web |url=http://www.grovehousesurgery.net |title=Grove House Surgery |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304134443/http://www.grovehousesurgery.net/ |archive-date=4 March 2010}} and the {{Cite web |title=Park Medical Partnership |url=https://www.parkmedicalpractice.nhs.uk/ |publisher=Park Medical Partnership |access-date=7 August 2018}} a National Health Service community hospital formerly operated by Somerset Primary Care Trust,{{Cite web |url=http://www.somerset.nhs.uk/community/our-services2/community-hospitals/shepton-mallet-community-hospital/ |title=Shepton Mallet Community Hospital |publisher=NHS Somerset Community Health |access-date=15 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004163904/http://www.somerset.nhs.uk/community/our-services2/community-hospitals/shepton-mallet-community-hospital/ |archive-date=4 October 2011}} and an independent sector treatment centre, which carries out certain surgical procedures.{{Cite web |url=http://www.uk-sh.co.uk/treatment-centres/shepton-mallet-nhs-treatment-centre |title=Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre |publisher=UK Specialist Hospitals Ltd (UKSH) |access-date=15 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607084932/http://www.uk-sh.co.uk/treatment-centres/shepton-mallet-nhs-treatment-centre |archive-date=7 June 2010}} The nearest general hospital is the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has retained its fire station adjacent to the ambulance station of South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dsfire.gov.uk/YourArea/SomersetCommand/Stations/SheptonMalletFireStation.cfm?siteCategoryId=12&T1ID=59&T2ID=69&T3ID=50 |title=Shepton Mallet Fire Station |publisher=Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Service |access-date=18 February 2010}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.swast.nhs.uk/contactus/stations.htm#S |title=Directory of Ambulance Stations |publisher=South West Ambulance Service NHS Trust |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326065658/http://www.swast.nhs.uk/contactus/stations.htm#S |archive-date=26 March 2009 |df=dmy-all}}

Avon and Somerset Constabulary closed the town police station in 2014, but reopened it in 2020, next to the Haskins retail park.{{Cite web |title=Shepton Mallet Police Station |url=https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/contact/police-stations/shepton-mallet-police-station/ |access-date=2020-11-27 |website=Avon and Somerset Police |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2020-03-19 |title=Police move into new Shepton Mallet police station |url=https://www.avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk/news/2020/03/avon-and-somerset-police-delighted-to-move-into-new-home-at-haskins-retail-centre/ |access-date=2020-11-27 |website=OPCC for Avon and Somerset |language=en-GB}} The town belongs to Somerset East policing district.{{Cite web |url=http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/contact/PoliceStationLocator/Details.aspx?sid=30 |title=Shepton Mallet police station |publisher=Avon and Somerset Constabulary |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608183403/http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/contact/PoliceStationLocator/Details.aspx?sid=30 |archive-date=8 June 2009}}

Shepton Mallet lies in the southern foothills of the Mendip Hills. The area rests geologically on Forest Marble, Blue Lias and Oolitic limestone.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |title=Shepton Mallet Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Proposals |year=2007 |publisher=Mendip District Council |access-date=30 December 2008 |page=12 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110927075028/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |archive-date=27 September 2011}}

To the north of the town are several caves of the Mendip Hills, including Thrupe Lane Swallet, a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI),{{Cite web |url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/Special/sssi/sssi_details.cfm?sssi_id=1000152 |title=Thrupe Swallet SSSI |work=Natural England |access-date=3 January 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525100219/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/Special/sssi/sssi_details.cfm?sssi_id=1000152 |archive-date=25 May 2011 }} and the St. Dunstan's Well Catchment, a cave system with a series of spectacularly-decorated caves totalling about {{convert|4|mi|km}} of mapped passage. The caves at Fairy Cave Quarry were formed mainly by the erosive action of water beneath the water-table at considerable pressure ("phreatic" development), but as the water table has fallen, many now lie well above it and the system contains a variety of cave formations (stalagmites, stalactites and calcite curtains) which in extent and preservation are among the best in Britain. Shatter Cave and Withyhill Cave are generally seen to be among the finest decorated caves in Britain in terms of sheer abundance of pure white and translucent calcite deposits.Moseley, Gina (2005), A Study into the Microclimatology of Shatter Cave, southwest England with comparison to Uamh an Tartair, northwest Scotland, presented to the British Cave Research Association.{{Cite web |url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000377.pdf |title=St. Dunstan's Well Catchment |publisher=English Nature |access-date=20 July 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319223422/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000377.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2009}} Small numbers of greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), lesser horseshoe bat (R. hipposideros) and Natterer's bat (Myotis nattereri) hibernate in the cave system. An area of nationally rare species-rich, unimproved calcareous grassland of the Sheep's-fescue-Meadow Oat-grass type lies in a field to the east of Stoke Lane Quarry.{{Cite web |title=St. Dunstan's Well Catchment |work=English Nature |url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000377.pdf |access-date=20 July 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319223422/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000377.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2009}}

The countryside around Shepton is mostly farmed, although there are nearby areas of woodland. About {{convert|1.8|mi|abbr=on}} to the north-east is Beacon Hill Wood, owned by the Woodland Trust),{{Cite web |url=http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/our-woods/Pages/wood-details.aspx?wood=4670 |title=Beacon Hill Wood |publisher=The Woodland Trust |access-date=23 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716093821/http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/our-woods/Pages/wood-details.aspx?wood=4670 |archive-date=16 July 2011}}
Ordnance Survey {{gbmapping|ST638460}} at the junction of the Fosse Way and a Roman road topping the Mendip Hills, which contain a number of tumuli.{{Cite web |url=http://www.beaconhillsocietymendip.org.uk/M04.html |title=Archaeology in Beacon Hill Wood |publisher=Beacon Hill Society |access-date=23 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905052538/http://www.beaconhillsocietymendip.org.uk/M04.html |archive-date=5 September 2011}} To the north-west of the town are Ham Woods,Ordnance Survey {{gbmapping|ST605452}} within which are the Windsor Hill railway tunnels and a viaduct,{{Cite web |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/22878 |title=Viaduct, Ham Woods |work=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |year=2007 |access-date=24 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003093436/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/22878 |archive-date=3 October 2016}} – remnants of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sdjr.net/locations/masbury.html |title=Masbury and Windsor Hill |publisher=Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway |access-date=23 February 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628013934/http://www.sdjr.net/locations/masbury.html |archive-date=28 June 2009}} The East Mendip Way long-distance path passes round the northern edge of Shepton Mallet and through Ham Woods.

South-west of the town is the Friar's Oven SSSI, site of herb-rich calcareous grassland classified as the Upright Brome (Bromus erectus) type,{{Cite web |url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1005579.pdf |title=Friar's Oven SSSI Citation Sheet |publisher=English Nature |access-date=22 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319223345/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1005579.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2009}} and north-east is the Windsor Hill Quarry geological SSSI and the Windsor Hill Marsh biological SSSI, a marshy silted pond with adjacent damp, slightly acidic grassland of interest for its diverse flora, largely due to varied habitats present within a small area. Two species present are rare in Somerset: Flat-sedge (Blysmus compressus) and Slender Spike-rush (Eleocharis uniglumis). Other marshland plants include Purple Loosestrife, Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus), Hard Rush (Juncus inflexus), Soft Rush (J. effusus), Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus), Devil's-bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis), three species of Horsetail Equisetum and seven sedges Carex spp.{{Cite web |url=http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1001243.pdf |title=Windsor Hill Marsh SSSI Citation Sheet |publisher=English Nature |access-date=22 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319223440/http://www.english-nature.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1001243.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2009}}

The centre and older parts of Shepton Mallet are adjacent to the River Sheppey, in a valley about {{convert|115|m|abbr=on}} above sea level. The edges of the town lie about {{convert|45|m|abbr=on}} higher. The river has cut a narrow valley, and between Shepton Mallet and the village of Croscombe, to the west, it is bounded by steeply sloping fields and woodland. However, it flows through much of Shepton Mallet itself in underground culverts. It occasionally floods after heavy rain, as on 20 October 2006,{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/england/somerset/6068790.stm |title=Fifty homes struck by river flood |work=BBC |date=20 October 2006 |access-date=2 January 2009}} and again on 29 May 2008,{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2053640/Floods-in-south-west-England-Clean-up-begins.html |title=Floods in South West England |work=Daily Telegraph |date=30 May 2008 |access-date=2 January 2009 |location=London |first=Richard |last=Savill |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210050609/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2053640/Floods-in-south-west-England-Clean-up-begins.html |archive-date=10 February 2009}} when the rainfall was too heavy for the culverts. Some houses round Leg Square, Lower Lane and Draycott Road were submerged to a depth of {{convert|1|m}}. A study by the Environment Agency identified that the current standard of flood protection in these parts of the town is insufficient, as it was of a 5–10-year event-standard, whereas current guidelines require protection of a 50–200-year standard.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Download.asp?path=%2FDocuments%2FMinutesAndReports%2FMeetings+08%2FCMCP%2F09+Dec+08%2FFlooding+in+Shepton+Mallet%2Eppt |title=Flooding in Shepton Mallet |publisher=Presentation by the Environment Agency to the Central Mendip Community Partnership at Mendip District Council |date=9 December 2008 |access-date=23 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611192717/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/MinutesAndReports/Meetings%2008/CMCP/09%20Dec%2008/Flooding%20in%20Shepton%20Mallet.ppt |archive-date=11 June 2011}} In the summer of 2010, the Agency began constructing a flood alleviation scheme at a cost of about £1.3 million.{{Cite web |url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Leisure/Shepton_Mallet_LL_Factsheet_dec_11.pdf |title=Work to start on Shepton Mallet flood improvements |publisher=Environment Agency |access-date=7 June 2012|date=June 2010 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120307171527/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Leisure/Shepton_Mallet_LL_Factsheet_dec_11.pdf |archive-date=7 March 2012}}

File:Kilver Court Gardens Shepton Mallet.jpg

Shepton Mallet has distinct areas that originated as separate communities around the central point of the church and Market Place.{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Alan |title=Shepton Mallet: A Visible History |year=2005 |publisher=Shepton Mallet Local History Group |isbn=0-9548125-1-4 |page=26}}{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2=Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=36–37}} The town centre consists of two streets: High Street, running south from the Market Place towards the Townsend Retail Park, and the pedestrianised Town Street running north to Waterloo Bridge. To the east, separated from the Market Place by the academy complex, is the parish church of St Peter and St Paul. Lower Lane, under Waterloo Bridge along the bottom of the river valley to the north of the town centre, is one of the few parts where the River Sheppey runs above ground. At the eastern end is Leg Square, surrounded by three large houses originally built by owners of some of the town's mills.{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Alan |title=Shepton Mallet: A Visible History |year=2005 |publisher=Shepton Mallet Local History Group |isbn=0-9548125-1-4 |page=16}} Close by is Cornhill, on which the former prison stands.

Roughly eastwards, Garston Street, also in the valley-bottom, consists of a row of weavers' and other artisans' cottages dating from the 17th century.{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Alan |title=Shepton Mallet: A Visible History| year=2005 |publisher=Shepton Mallet Local History Group |isbn=0-9548125-1-4 |pages=27–28}} The eastern end of the area, adjacent to Kilver Street, is now occupied by cider breweries. Across Kilver Street (the A37) is Kilver Court, which in the 20th century was a factory, headquarters of a brewing business, and then headquarters of a leather-goods manufacturer.{{Cite book |last=Stone |first=Alan |title=Shepton Mallet: A Visible History |year=2005 |publisher=Shepton Mallet Local History Group |isbn=0-9548125-1-4 |pages=23–24}} Behind are Kilver Court Gardens, originally built by Showerings for the recreation of its staff and set against a backdrop of part of the Charlton Viaduct. These are now open to the public.{{Cite web |url=http://www.kilvercourt.com/garden |title=Kilver Court Gardens |access-date=7 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403003403/http://kilvercourt.com/garden |archive-date=3 April 2012}} On the eastern edge of the town is Charlton, which has former breweries and mills, now converted into a trading estate. Right on the edge of the town is Charlton House, a luxury hotel and spa.{{Cite web |url=http://www.charltonhouse.com/ |title=Charlton House Hotel and Spa |access-date=23 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306182531/http://www.charltonhouse.com/ |archive-date= 6 March 2010}}

File:Norah Fry Shepton Mallet.jpg

On the south side of the town is a triangle of land bounded on the east by the A37, on the north by the former East Somerset Railway, and on the west by Cannard's Grave Road: Tadley Acres is a modern housing development built on land partly belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall. The development has been praised for its design quality and use of local, natural building materials.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cabe.org.uk/files/housing-audit-2006.pdf |title=Housing audit: Assessing the design quality of new housing in the East Midlands, West Midlands and the South West |publisher=Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment |pages=28–31, 50–53 and 62 |year=2007 |access-date=19 February 2010}} North of the former railway is Collett Park. Across Cannard's Grave Road from Tadley Acres is the Mid-Somerset Showground. Just to the south-west of the town centre, on a site which at the start of the 20th century had been the grounds of the former Summerleaze House{{Cite web |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/Maps/OS62htm/4112.htm |title=Shepton Mallet: 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Map |publisher=Somerset Record Office |year=1903 |access-date=23 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110101355/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/maps/os62htm/4112.htm |archive-date=10 January 2010 }} and then a shoe factory, is the Townsend Retail Park, built in 2006–2007.

West Shepton, the south-west corner of town, contains the former Shepton Mallet Union Workhouse, a Grade II listed building of 1848.{{NHLE |desc=Norah Fry Hospital |num=1345246 |access-date=22 September 2011}} Later serving as the Norah Fry mental hospital, it is now a housing development.{{Cite web |url=http://www.norahfrysheptonmallet.co.uk/ |title=Norah Fry (Shepton Mallet) Ltd |access-date=22 September 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402193820/http://www.norahfrysheptonmallet.co.uk/ |archive-date=2 April 2012}} On the nearby western edge is a modern community hospital. Down the valley are the hamlets of Darshill, once the site of several mills,{{Cite web |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_Shepton_MalletText.pdf |title=Shepton Mallet |last=Gathercole |first=Clare |work=Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey |publisher=Somerset County Council |year=2003 |access-date=2 February 2010 |page=22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717063246/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_Shepton_MalletText.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2011}} and Bowlish, which contains several grand clothiers' houses. The sloping fields by the river between Bowlish and the rest of Shepton are known as The Meadows. To their east is Hillmead, a council estate of the 1960s.

Like much of South West England, Shepton Mallet has a temperate climate wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is about {{convert|10|°C|°F|abbr=on}} with seasonal and diurnal variation, but due to the modifying effect of the sea, the range is less than in most other parts. January is coldest, with mean minimum between {{convert|1|and|2|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. July and August are warmest, with mean daily maxima around {{convert|21|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. In general December is the dullest month and June the sunniest. South-west England is favoured, particularly in summer, as the Azores High extends its influence north-eastwards to the UK.

Cloud often forms inland, especially near hills, and reduces exposure to sunshine. The average annual sunshine totals around 1600 hours. Rainfall tends to tie in with Atlantic depressions or with convection. In summer, convection caused by solar surface-heating sometimes forms shower clouds and much of the annual precipitation falls as showers and thunderstorms at that time of year. Average rainfall is {{convert|800|–|900|mm|in|abbr=on}}. About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, June to August the lightest. The prevailing wind is from the south-west.{{Cite web |title=South West England: climate |work=Met Office |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/sw/ |access-date=20 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605003222/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/sw/ |archive-date= 5 June 2011}}

In the 2001 census the population was 8,981: 4,482 (49.9%) male and 4,499 (50.1%) female, with 1,976 (22%) aged 16 or below, 5,781 (64.4%) between 16 and 65, and 1,224 (13.6%) 65 or over.{{Cite web |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination |title=Neighbourhood Statistics (Shepton Mallet Civil Parish) |year=2001 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=30 December 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231031422/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/ |archive-date=31 December 2008}}

Of those aged 16–74, 4,200 (66%) were employed and only 224 (3.5%) unemployed, the rest being economically inactive. About 69% of the employed were in service industries, the rest in manufacturing, while 1,459 people had managerial or professional occupations, 522 were self-employed, and 1,888 worked in routine and semi-routine occupations. Some 3,714 dwellings were recorded, of which 2,621 (70.6%) were owner-occupied, 515 (13.9%) rented privately and 578 (15.6%) from social landlords; 3,688 (99.3%) heads of households were white.

It is felt locally that Shepton Mallet has been in economic decline for some time.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/A%20Portrait%20of%20Shepton.pdf|title=A Portrait of Shepton Mallet |publisher=Mendip District Council and Strategic Partnership |date=December 2008 |access-date=17 February 2010 |page=2 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110927072115/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/A%20Portrait%20of%20Shepton.pdf|archive-date=27 September 2011}} Some 350 manufacturing jobs were lost in the late 1990s and early 21st century. However, the District Council asserts that despite the loss in manufacturing, on which Shepton Mallet historically depended, more jobs in distribution, business services and public administration, health, education, quarrying, construction and hi-tech services have been created, so creating a more balanced economy. In 2001, there were slightly more jobs in town than the economically active, giving a small influx.

The town centre has a high proportion of empty premises in Market Place and the adjacent north end of High Street, but the pedestrianised Town Street north of the Market Place to Waterloo Bridge has had marked investment in its heritage, bringing almost full occupancy. Since 2010 a quarter of independent shops is emerging in Town Street and Market Place. Since 2004 town-centre buildings have enjoyed a Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Download.asp?path=%2FDocuments%2FMinutesAndReports%2FMeetings+2010%2FCMCP%2F20%2E04%2E10%2FItem+12+Shepton+Mallet+Heritage+Economic+Regeneration+Scheme%2Edoc |title=Central Mendip Community Partnership report: Shepton Mallet Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme |publisher=Mendip District Council |access-date=10 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312141832/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/MinutesAndReports/Meetings%202010/CMCP/20.04.10/Item%2012%20Shepton%20Mallet%20Heritage%20Economic%20Regeneration%20Scheme.doc |archive-date=12 March 2012}} and a Townscape Heritage Initiative,{{Cite web |url=http://www.sheptonthi.co.uk/site/ |title=Shepton Mallet Townscape Heritage Initiative |publisher=Mendip District Council |access-date=10 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815064102/http://www.sheptonthi.co.uk/site/ |archive-date=15 August 2010}} which makes grants for building repair, reinstatement of architectural features and enhancement of public spaces, and for community involvement, education and training. As the body that bid for the funding, Mendip District Council has run both schemes, but decisions lie with a steering group of the main stakeholders in the town.

For centuries there has been a Friday market in the Market Place, but it has declined for some years. In 2010 there was initial interest in attempts to revitalise it, but the stallholder numbers still fell.{{Cite news |title=Use shops to boost town |url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/shepton/text/Use-shops-boost-town/article-2829161-detail/article.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505135523/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/shepton/text/Use-shops-boost-town/article-2829161-detail/article.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 May 2013 |access-date=10 November 2010 |newspaper=Shepton Mallet Journal |date=4 November 2010}} In recent months a number of suitcase traders have supported the market on a regular basis, which has attracted local interest.

The furniture store Haskins, which originated in the town in 1938, has its main showroom in the High Street Haskins Retail Centre.{{Cite web |url=http://www.haskinsfurniture.co.uk/ |title=Haskins Furniture |access-date=24 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310013659/http://www.haskinsfurniture.co.uk/ |archive-date=10 March 2010}} This includes other shops: a supermarket, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Ponden Home, Pavers Shoes and an outlet clothing store. Retail jobs rose in 2006–2007 with a new shopping development, including a Tesco supermarket, a clothes store and other retailers on a site just south of the town centre, once held by a footwear factory. This attracted national media attention when protesters occupied the site to try to block the felling of an avenue dating back to the 19th century.{{Cite web |url=http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=24695 |title=Tree Protest Camp established at Shepton Mallet, Somerset |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070617080855/http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=24695 |archive-date=17 June 2007}} It also split opinion in the town between those awaiting revitalisation and those who feared that local traders would fail to compete, bringing further High Street decline.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/backstage/2009/05/what-did-you-think-of-the-one-34.html |title=The One Show |date=18 May 2009 |publisher=BBC One |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924161448/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/backstage/2009/05/what-did-you-think-of-the-one-34.html |archive-date=24 September 2015}}; {{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/consumer/2009/05/18/is_your_high_street_healthy.html |title=Is you high street healthy? |date=18 May 2009 |publisher=BBC One |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105172408/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theoneshow/consumer/2009/05/18/is_your_high_street_healthy.html |archive-date= 5 January 2010 }} Kilver Street has a Mulberry Factory Shop near the old Mulberry headquarters.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mulberryfactoryshop.com/#/contactus/storesandstockists/ |title=Mulberry Factory Shop Locator |access-date=24 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401025118/http://www.mulberryfactoryshop.com/ |archive-date= 1 April 2011}}

File:Babycham fawn SheptonMallet.jpg fawn outside the brewery]]

Shepton Mallet housed three major alcoholic drinks producers. Gaymer Cider Company closed in 2016.{{Cite web |url=http://www.candcgroupplc.com/brands/ciders/gaymers |title=Gaymers Cider |publisher=C&C Group plc |access-date=14 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021083045/http://www.candcgroupplc.com/brands/ciders/gaymers |archive-date=21 October 2010 }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.candcgroupplc.com/brands/ciders/blackthorn |title=Blackthorn Cider |publisher=C&C Group plc |access-date=14 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101211204544/http://www.candcgroupplc.com/brands/ciders/blackthorn |archive-date=11 December 2010 }} Constellation Brands, former owners of Gaymers, still produces Babycham.{{Cite web |url=http://www.babycham.com |title=Babycham |access-date=25 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704173654/http://www.babycham.com/ |archive-date= 4 July 2008 }} – see History section Family-run Brothers Drinks produces Brothers Cider{{Cite web |url=http://www.brotherscider.co.uk/about/contact-us-send-us-your-thoughts/ |title=Brothers Cider Contact Us |access-date=25 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100220025708/http://www.brotherscider.co.uk/about/contact-us-send-us-your-thoughts/ |archive-date=20 February 2010}} and runs a contract bottling operation for other drinks firms. In October 2016 it was announced that the cider factory and bottling plant would be taken over by Brothers Drinks.{{Cite web |title=Shepton Mallet cider mill saved by local firm Brothers but some jobs still cut, according to Unite |date=19 October 2016 |url=http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/shepton-mallet-cider-mill-saved-by-local-firm-brothers-but-some-jobs-still-cut-according-to-unite/story-29823220-detail/story.html |publisher=Somerset Live |access-date=20 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020172936/http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/shepton-mallet-cider-mill-saved-by-local-firm-brothers-but-some-jobs-still-cut-according-to-unite/story-29823220-detail/story.html |archive-date=20 October 2016}}{{Cite web |title=Shepton Mallet cider production secured as former owners step in to save historic mill |date=20 October 2016 |url=http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2016-10-20/shepton-mallet-cider-production-secured-as-former-owners-step-in-to-save-historic-mill/ |publisher=ITV News |access-date=20 October 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021001611/http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2016-10-20/shepton-mallet-cider-production-secured-as-former-owners-step-in-to-save-historic-mill/ |archive-date=21 October 2016}}

As well as an annual Royal Bath and West Show and other agricultural shows, the Royal Bath & West Showground near Evercreech, {{convert|2.5|mi|abbr=on}} south-east of the town, hosts events such as New Wine Christian festival and the National Adventure Sports Show, fairs and markets including Shepton Mallet International Antiques & Collectors' Fair, and exhibitions and trade shows such as the National Amateur Gardening Show.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bathandwest.com |title=Royal Bath & West Society |access-date=3 April 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408180132/http://www.bathandwest.com/ |archive-date= 8 April 2014}} Until recently, Royal Bath and West Show hosted the Soul Survivor Christian festivals.

Image:charlton viaduct from kilver gardens.jpg

The A37 runs north–south through Shepton Mallet along the line of the Fosse Way between the south of the town and Ilchester. The A361 from Frome and Trowbridge skirts the eastern edge of Shepton on its way to Glastonbury and Taunton. The A371 from Castle Cary passes through on its way west to Wells; for some distance, both routes follow the line of the A37. The nearest motorway connections are at junction 23 of the M5 motorway via the A361 and A39 and at junction 1 of the M32 via the A37.{{cite web | url=https://shop.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/?msclkid=575aa0f6afca1d3cc7fcc3a63e8208cc | title=Official Ordnance Survey Shop | GB Maps & Outdoor Gear }}

Shepton Mallet had railway stations on two lines, both now closed. The first, called Shepton Mallet (High Street) in British railways days, was on the East Somerset Railway branch line from Witham and opened in 1859.{{Cite book |last=Oakley |first=Mike |title=Somerset Railway Stations |publisher=Dovecote Press |location=Wimborne |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-904349-09-9}} It was extended to Wells in 1862 and later connected to the Cheddar Valley line branch of the Bristol & Exeter Railway from Yatton to Wells via Cheddar. Through services between Yatton and Witham started in 1870. The line was absorbed into the Great Western Railway in the 1870s.

A second, Shepton Mallet (Charlton Road) railway station, opened in 1874 with the building of a Bath extension to the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway.{{Cite book |last=Butt |first=RJV |title=The Directory of Railway Stations |publisher=Patrick Stevens Ltd |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-85260-508-7}} This station was some distance east of the town centre and approached over Charlton Viaduct.

File:Shepton Mallet 2 geograph-2189582.jpg Bath – Bournemouth line near Shepton Mallet in 1959]]

Both stations closed in the 1960s under the Beeching cuts. Shepton Mallet (High Street) lost its passenger services on the Yatton to Witham line in 1963, though part of the old East Somerset line remains open for freight and as a heritage railway. Shepton Mallet (Charlton Road) was lost in 1966 with the closure of the Somerset & Dorset line. Today the nearest Network Rail station is at Castle Cary, {{convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} south of Shepton Mallet. The nearest station on the East Somerset Railway is Mendip Vale, a mile and a half away. Proposals endorsed by Mendip District Council{{Cite web |url=http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/shepton-mallet-railway-station-and-services-could-be-restored-under-new-vision |title=Shepton Mallet railway station and services could be restored under new vision |website=Rail Technology Magazine |date=20 February 2019 |access-date=28 May 2020}} exist to restore passenger services in Shepton Mallet, endorsed by Mendip District Council{{Cite web |url= http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-News/shepton-mallet-railway-station-and-services-could-be-restored-under-new-vision |title=Shepton Mallet railway station and services could be restored under new vision |website=Rail Technology Magazine |date=20 February 2019 |access-date=28 May 2020}} and Wells MP James Heappey.{{Cite web |url=https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/general-election-2019-james-heappey-3640059 |title=General Election 2019: James Heappey hints at new Somerset train station as he wins in Wells |website=Somerset Live |date=13 December 2019 |access-date=28 May 2020}}

A bus service to the town is provided by First West of England. It is served by Berrys Coaches' daily Superfast service to and from London.{{Cite web |title=London Superfast Timetable |url=https://book.berryscoaches.co.uk/superfast-timetables.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=book.berryscoaches.co.uk}}

There are 218 listed buildings in Shepton Mallet, which receives funding to restore chosen town-centre buildings from English Heritage Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme and the National Lottery Townscape Heritage Initiative.{{Cite web |url=http://www.shepton21.org.uk/show_news.php?id=6 |title=More Money for Town Centre Improvements |publisher=Shepton21 |date=5 February 2008 |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303140116/http://www.shepton21.org.uk/show_news.php?id=6 |archive-date=3 March 2012}} The town centre and Bowlish, Darshill and Charlton form a conservation area.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |title=Shepton Mallet Conservation Area Character Appraisal and Management Proposals |year=2007 |publisher=Mendip District Council |access-date=30 December 2008 |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110927075028/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |archive-date=27 September 2011}}

The hexagonal town-centre market cross, {{convert|50|ft|abbr=on}} high, dates from a £20 bequest by Walter Buckland in 1520 and was re-erected in 1841.{{NHLE |desc=Market Cross, Shepton Mallet |num=1058383 |access-date=15 February 2010}} Also in the market place is the Shambles, a medieval market stall, though much restored.{{NHLE |num=1173341 |desc=The Shambles, Shepton Mallet |access-date=15 February 2010}} Former HM Prison Shepton Mallet, sometimes known as Cornhill, was built in 1610.{{NHLE |desc=HM Prison and perimeter wall |num=1058425 |access-date=15 February 2010 }} It lies close to the town centre, next to the parish church. On 10 January 2013, the government announced it was one of seven English prisons to close.{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20969898 |title=Seven prison closures in England announced |work=BBC News |date=10 January 2013 |access-date=10 January 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130110200228/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20969898 |archive-date=10 January 2013}} On 24 December 2014 it was announced that it had been sold to a housing development company and public consultations were taking place on its future use.{{Cite web |title=1610 The Old Shepton Mallet Gaol Public Consultation |url=http://www.cityandcountry.co.uk/public-consultation/1610-the-old-shepton-mallet-gaol/public-consultation.aspx |publisher=City & Country |access-date=1 February 2017 |archive-date=24 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180324041509/http://www.cityandcountry.co.uk/public-consultation/1610-the-old-shepton-mallet-gaol/public-consultation.aspx |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news |title=The sale of former prisons in west and south England is agreed |work=BBC News |date=24 December 2014 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30596574 |access-date=1 February 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928171642/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30596574 |archive-date=28 September 2016}}

Image:Old Bowlish House.JPG

There are several fine houses in older parts of the town around Lower Lane and Leg Square,{{NHLE |num=1058416 |desc=1 Leg Square, Shepton Mallet |access-date=15 February 2010}}{{NHLE |num=1058381 |desc=The Manor House, Leg Square, Shepton Mallet |access-date=3 February 2011}}{{NHLE |num=1345242 |desc=2–7 Longbridge, Shepton Mallet |access-date=15 February 2010}} and in outlying suburbs such as Charlton and Bowlish. Old Bowlish House, which now offers pre-arranged tours, dates from the earlier 17th century and was remodelled in about 1720 in Palladian style.{{NHLE |num=1172927 |desc=Old Bowlish House |access-date=9 November 2010}} Bowlish House, also in Palladian style, is now a hotel and restaurant.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bowlishhouse.com/house.htm |title=Bowlish House |publisher=Bowlish House website |access-date=9 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710064454/http://www.bowlishhouse.com/house.htm |archive-date=10 July 2010 }} It was built in 1732 by a prosperous clothier.{{NHLE |num=1058419 |desc=Bowlish House |access-date=9 November 2010}}{{NHLE|num=1058420 |desc=Bowlish House Gate Piers and Mounting Block |access-date=9 November 2010}} A spring is reported to rise in the cellar. Park House in Forum Lane dates from about 1700 and was altered about 1750.{{NHLE |num=1172922 |desc=Park House, Forum Lane, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}} Others of the 19 Grade II listed buildings in Bowlish include Coombe House, built about 1820,{{NHLE |num=1345223 |desc=Combe House, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}} 14, 15 and 16 Combe Lane, from about 1700 with 18th-century alterations,{{NHLE |num=1058423 |desc=14, 15 and 16 Combe Lane, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}} 26–29 Combe Lane, a former mill from about 1700, enlarged in 1850,{{NHLE |num=1345224 |desc=26–29 Combe Lane, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}} and 30–31 Combe Lane, two weaver's cottages from about 1850.{{NHLE |num=1058424 |desc=30 and 31 Combe Lane, Bowlish, Shepton Mallet |access-date=9 November 2010}} What is now a stained glass studio in Ham Lane was once a coal store for a stable belonging to a pub next door, the Butcher's Arms, which ceased trading in 1860. The studio has provided stained glass, among others for the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Ghost, Midsomer Norton.{{Cite web |url=http://www.jysg.co.uk |title=John Yeo Stained Glass studio |publisher=John Yeo Stained Glass studio |access-date=9 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210085823/http://www.jysg.co.uk/ |archive-date=10 December 2010}} Due to its historic nature, Bowlish is included in Shepton Mallet's conservation area,{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |title=Shepton Mallet Conservation Area Appraisal |publisher=Mendip District Council |access-date=9 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611122544/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Publication.asp?id=SX9452-A7821E79 |archive-date=11 June 2011}} as well as being a site of archaeological interest.

Image:Darshillsilkmill.jpg

The hamlet of Darshill on the road from Shepton Mallet to Wells has a silk-drying shed,{{NHLE |num=1345237 |desc=Silk Drying Shed, Darshill House |access-date=24 February 2010 }} known locally as a handle house, three walls of which are full of holes to allow the passage of air to aid in the process of drying teasle heads, which were used to raise the nap on cloth in the textile process.

The Anglo-Bavarian Brewery built in the 1860s still dominates the western parts of Shepton Mallet; nearby is a workhouse that became the Norah Fry Hospital,{{NHLE |num=1345246 |desc=Norah Fry Hospital |access-date=18 February 2010}} built in 1848{{Cite web |url=http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/england/som/Shepton_Mallet_workhouse.htm |title=Shepton Mallet Poor Law Union and Workhouse |publisher=Rossbret Institutions Website |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204055520/http://www.institutions.org.uk/workhouses/england/som/Shepton_Mallet_workhouse.htm |archive-date=4 December 2009}} and has now converted into housing.{{Cite web |url=http://www.pcassoc.co.uk/projects/Residential_Old/NorahFry.htm |title=Norah Fry Hospital, Shepton Mallet |publisher=Paul Carpenter Associates |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120180947/http://pcassoc.co.uk/projects/Residential_Old/NorahFry.htm |archive-date=20 November 2008}} Two disused railway viaducts are to be found: Charlton Viaduct with 27 arches,{{NHLE |num=1058414 |desc=Charlton Viaduct |access-date=15 February 2010}} each spanning {{convert|28|ft|m}} is on a curve of 30 chains radius falling at 1 in 55 from each end to the midpoint.{{Cite book |last=Otter |first=R. A. |title=Civil Engineering Heritage: Southern England |publisher=Thomas Telford Ltd |location=London |year=1994 |page=110 |isbn=978-0-7277-1971-3}}

The market cross, the prison and prison wall, The Merchants House (8 Market Place),{{NHLE |num=1058457 |desc=8 Market Place, Shepton Mallet |access-date=15 February 2010}} Anglo-Bavarian Brewery, Charlton Viaduct, the former St Michael's Roman Catholic Church at Townsend, and Bowlish House, Old Bowlish House and Park House are the town's nine Grade II* listed buildings.

The town centre was remodelled in the 1970s with moneys from the cider-making Showering family. Included was a new library (a copy of a demolished inn, The Bunch of Grapes), and a concrete entertainment complex, The Centre, on the east side of the market square.{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2=Blandford |first2=Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=101–105}} A probably Roman Chi Rho amulet was found in Fosse Lane in the 1990s – the complex was renamed The Amulet after it, but is now The Academy.{{Cite web |url=http://somerset.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/shepton-mallet-in-somerset--gateway-to-the-mendips-16722/ |title=Shepton Mallet |publisher=Somerset Life |access-date=7 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827145226/http://somerset.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/shepton-mallet-in-somerset--gateway-to-the-mendips-16722/ |archive-date=27 August 2011}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/A%20Portrait%20of%20Shepton.pdf |title=A Portrait of Shepton Mallet |publisher=Mendip District Council and Strategic Partnership |date=December 2008 |access-date=17 February 2010 |page=13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611121731/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/Documents/A%20Portrait%20of%20Shepton.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2011}}

Shepton has a sizeable park on a gift of land from the local John Kyte Collett. As a boy he was thrown out of the grounds of local estates for trespass. In later life he purchased and gave land to the town to provide a public space; Collett Park, named in his honour, opened in 1906.{{Cite web |url=http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=398 |title=Opening of Collett Park 1906 |publisher=Shepton Mallet Town Council |access-date=16 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121070015/http://sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=398 |archive-date=21 January 2010}}

Image:St Peter and Paul shepton mallet 11-07-03.jpg

The Grade I listed parish church of St Peter and St Paul dates from the 12th century, but the current building is largely from the 15th century, with further rebuilding in 1836. The oak wagon roof, made up of 350 panels of different designs separated by 396 carved foliage bosses (supposedly every one different) and with 36 carved angels along the sides, was described by British historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "the finest 15th-century carved oak wagon-roof in England". It was restored at a cost of £5,000, in 1953–1954.{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |page=19 and appendix 3}}{{Cite book |title=Curiosities of Somerset |last=Leete-Hodge |first=Lornie |year=1985 |publisher=Bossiney Books |location=Bodmin |isbn=0-906456-98-3 |page=20}}{{NHLE |num=1345202 |desc=Church of St Peter & St Paul |access-date=15 February 2010}}

St Michael's Roman Catholic Church of 1804 is now a warehouse.{{NHLE |num=1345271 |desc=former St Michael's Roman Catholic Church |access-date=15 February 2010}} A Catholic church of 1966 in Park Road,{{Cite web |url=http://www.saint-michaels.org.uk/St_Michaels.htm |title=St Michael's Catholic Church, Shepton Mallet |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303140107/http://www.saint-michaels.org.uk/St_Michaels.htm |archive-date=3 March 2012}} is served by the Community of Our Lady of Glastonbury.{{Cite web |title=HOME {{!}} Glastonbury Monastery {{!}} Somerset |url=https://www.glastonburymonastery.co.uk/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=Mysite |language=en}} There was also in 1810–1831 a convent of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary (Salesian Sisters){{Cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15481a.htm |title=Visitation Order |work=newadvent.org |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107213523/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15481a.htm |archive-date=7 January 2010}} in Draycott Road.{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2=Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd Ed) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=85–88}}{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/a622063600gasquoft/a622063600gasquoft_djvu.txt |title=The Order of the Visitation: its spirit and its growth in England |author=Right Rev. Abbot Gasquet OSB |publisher=Internet Archive |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605034542/http://www.archive.org/stream/a622063600gasquoft/a622063600gasquoft_djvu.txt |archive-date=5 June 2011}} The building, now Sales House,{{NHLE |num=1345227 |desc=Sales House |access-date=18 February 2010}} became a Freemasons' lodge,{{Cite web |url=http://www.pglsomerset.org.uk/loveandhonour.htm |title=Love and Honour Lodge No. 285 |publisher=Somerset Provincial Grand Lodge |access-date=22 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704145057/http://www.pglsomerset.org.uk/loveandhonour.htm |archive-date=4 July 2011}} and now holds social housing.

The Salvation Army has meeting rooms,{{Cite web |url=http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-sublinks/875F59E8DDB8D05D80256FBF005E2B8E?openDocument |title=Shepton Mallet |publisher=The Salvation Army |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320090345/http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-sublinks/875F59E8DDB8D05D80256FBF005E2B8E?openDocument |archive-date=20 March 2011}} while the Methodists, who previously worshipped in a chapel in Paul Street (built in 1810, now a community centre),{{NHLE |num=1058389 |desc=Methodist Chapel, 26 Paul Street |access-date=18 February 2010}} have agreed to share the parish church with the Anglican congregation.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mediaconcepts.co.uk/peterpaul/methodists.shtml |title=The Methodists |publisher=St Peter and St Paul's Parish Church, Shepton Mallet |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327073523/http://www.mediaconcepts.co.uk/peterpaul/methodists.shtml |archive-date=27 March 2010}} The Baptist Chapel in Commercial Road was built in 1801 as a Congregational Church.{{NHLE |num=1172722 |desc=Baptist Chapel |access-date=23 February 2010}} There were previously other non-conformist chapels in Shepton, the most notable being the Unitarian Chapel on Cowl Street, built in 1692 and enlarged in 1758, but now a dwelling.{{NHLE |num=1058426 |desc=Former Unitarian Chapel |access-date=23 February 2010}}
{{Cite web |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/20033 |title=Former Unitarian Chapel, Cowl Street (West side), Shepton Mallet |work=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |date=21 May 2003 |access-date=17 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003095602/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/20033 |archive-date=3 October 2016}}{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2=Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd Ed) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |page=67}}

There is one primary school in the town and two infant schools. St Paul's Junior School, the primary school, in Paul Street was assessed as good in 2014.{{Cite web |title=St Paul's Church of England VC Junior School |url=https://reports.beta.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/123783 |publisher=Ofsted |access-date=7 August 2018}} Shepton Mallet Infants School in Waterloo Road was rated good by Ofsted in 2018,{{Cite web |title=Shepton Mallet Community Infants' School & Nursery |url=https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/2760437 |publisher=Ofsted |access-date=6 February 2018}} as was Bowlish Primary School in 2012.{{Cite web |title=Bowlish Infant School |url=https://reports.beta.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/21/123672 |publisher=Ofsted |access-date=7 August 2018}}

Education for 11–16 year olds is provided by Whitstone School, a Technology College.{{Cite web |url=http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/excel/TechnologyJuly2006.xls?version=1 |title=List of Technology Colleges |access-date=3 January 2010 |date=2007–2008 |work=The Standards Site |publisher=Department for Children, Schools and Families |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213024625/http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/specialistschools/excel/TechnologyJuly2006.xls?version=1 |archive-date=13 February 2007 }} In 2013, it was assessed by Ofsted as good.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/137192 |title=Inspection Report: Whitstone School |publisher=Ofsted |date=14 March 2013 |access-date=12 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107011009/http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/137192 |archive-date=7 January 2014}}

For post-16 education, students travel to colleges such as Frome Community College, Strode College in Street, and Norton Radstock College in Midsomer Norton.

File:Shepton Mallet Collett Day08.jpg

A town fete called Collett Day is held in June in Collett Park. A free one-day agricultural Mid-Somerset Show is held in fields on the edge of Shepton Mallet in August.

Image:the academy shepton mallet.jpg

The Glastonbury Festival, Europe's largest music festival, is held slightly west of the village of Pilton, some {{convert|3.5|mi}} south-west of Shepton. The Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music 1970 was held at Shepton Mallet. The town hosts an annual Shepton Mallet Digital Arts Festival founded in 2009.{{Cite news |title=Get Animated Over Digital Arts Festival |url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/animated-digital-arts-festival/story-13428678-detail/story.html |access-date=13 October 2011 |newspaper=Wells Journal |date=29 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926022329/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/animated-digital-arts-festival/story-13428678-detail/story.html |archive-date=26 September 2013}}

The town is holds a carnival featuring illuminated carts and masqueraders in November. It is the 5th Carnival in the West Country Carnival Circuit

In 2007, The Amulet complex in the town centre became a base for the Bristol Academy of Performing Arts (BAPA) and was renamed The Academy. In 2009, BAPA went into administration{{Cite news |url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/shepton/news/localbusiness/Curtain-falls-Academy/article-1289474-detail/article.html |title=Curtain falls on the Academy |newspaper=Shepton Mallet Journal |date=27 August 2009 |access-date=16 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314040402/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Curtain-falls-Academy/story-11817003-detail/story.html |archive-date=14 March 2012}}
{{Cite web |url=http://www.musicaltheatreschool.com/ |title=Musical Theatre School |publisher=Musical Theatre School |access-date=15 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207100828/http://musicaltheatreschool.com/ |archive-date=7 February 2011}} and was briefly replaced by the Musical Theatre School, before that also failed.{{Cite news |url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Theatre-students-left-pocket/story-12314616-detail/story.html |title=Theatre students are left out of pocket |newspaper=Wells Journal |date=21 October 2010 |access-date=22 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606144118/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Theatre-students-left-pocket/story-12314616-detail/story.html |archive-date=6 June 2012}} The complex's auditorium has the only suspended seating system in the United Kingdom.

The town's weekly newspaper, part of the Mid Somerset Series, is the Shepton Mallet Journal.{{Cite web |url=http://www.thisisshepton.co.uk |title=Shepton Mallet Journal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524041044/http://www.thisisshepton.co.uk/ |archive-date=24 May 2007}} Events are also covered by the Shepton Gazette, Fosse Way Magazine and Mendip Times.

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West and ITV West Country. Television signals are received from the Mendip TV transmitter.{{cite web|url=https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Mendip|title= Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter|date=1 May 2004|website=UK Free TV|accessdate=29 October 2023}}

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Somerset, Heart West, Greatest Hits Radio South West and Radio Shepton, a community-based station that broadcasts online.{{Cite web |url=https://www.radio-shepton.com/|title=Radio Shepton |access-date=29 October 2023}}

In 2007, Shepton Mallet came to international attention when Westcountry Farmhouse Cheesemakers broadcast the maturation of a round of Cheddar cheese called Wedginald. The event attracted over 1.5 million viewers.{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/6997520.stm |title=Famous cheese faces website probe |publisher=BBC |date=16 September 2007 |access-date=16 November 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801132930/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/6997520.stm |archive-date=1 August 2009}}

In the summer of 2010, the television production company Wall to Wall filmed a series for BBC One in the town centre, broadcast from 2 November 2010. Called Turn Back Time – The High Street, it features several families running traditional bakers, butchers, grocers, dressmakers and a tea room, as they would have been in Victorian and Edwardian times, in World War II, and in the 1960s and 1970s.{{Cite web |url=http://www.mendip.gov.uk/NewsArticleM.asp?id=SX9452-A7833262 |title=BBC filming 'best thing since sliced bred' |publisher=Mendip District Council |date=20 July 2010 |access-date=17 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807160107/http://www.mendip.gov.uk/NewsArticleM.asp?id=SX9452-A7833262 |archive-date=7 August 2010}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2010/10/turn-back-time-the-high-street.shtml |title=Turn Back Time: Researching your High Street through the ages |last=St John Gray |first=Tom |publisher=BBC |date=29 October 2010 |access-date=10 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104232152/http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2010/10/turn-back-time-the-high-street.shtml |archive-date=4 November 2010}}

There was a museum in the town, started around 1903.{{cite news |title=MUSEUM TO BE ILLUSTRATIVE OF DISTRICT'S HISTORY |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000308/19330414/069/0004 |access-date=14 April 2023 |work=Wells Journal |date=14 April 1933 |quote=Shepton Mallet Museum, which is being re-arranged with the assistance of experts from Bristol, for the annual meeting of the Somerset Archaeological Society in July. The room at the council offices which houses the museum has been re-decorated. It is the ambition of the honorary curator, the Rev. H. E. Haycock, to make the museum really representative of the town and concentrate on those exhibits illustrative of the history and mineralogy of Shepton Mallet. The museum was formed by Mr. Phyllis about 30 years ago}} In 1933 it was based at the town council offices.

Shepton Mallet has a Non-League football club, Shepton Mallet F.C., which plays at the Playing Fields.{{Cite web |title=Shepton Mallet FC |url=http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/shepton_mallet.html |publisher=Shepton Mallet FC |access-date=16 May 2017}} It also has a hockey club, which play at the Leisure Centre.{{Cite web |title=Shepton Mallet Hockey Club |url=http://www.smhc.gb.com/ |publisher=Shepton Mallet Hockey Club |access-date=16 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709014824/http://www.smhc.gb.com/ |archive-date=9 July 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}

The bowling green of the lawn bowls club is found in Frithfield Walk.{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.sheptonmalletbowlsclub.co.uk/community/shepton-mallet-bowls-and-tennis-club-12840/about-us|publisher=Shepton Mallet Bowls And Tennis Club |access-date=16 May 2017}} The club plays in the Wessex Mixed Friendly League, the Mid Somerset Men's League and the Mid Somerset Mixed League. The ladies play in the Wild League. Shepton Mallet is also the home of a park-run, a free 5km event held weekly at 9:00 am on Saturdays in the towns Collett Park.{{Cite web |title=Shepton Mallet parkrun – Weekly Free 5km Timed Run |url=http://www.parkrun.org.uk/sheptonmallet/ |publisher=Parkrun |access-date=16 May 2017}}

• Edmund Adams (1915–2005), cricketer, was born in Shepton Mallet.{{Cite web |title=Edmund Joe Adams |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3399/3399.html |publisher=Cricket Archive |access-date=13 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017045448/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3399/3399.html |archive-date=17 October 2011}}
• Simon Browne (1680–1732), a dissenting preacher and theologian born in Shepton Mallet, preached at Old Jewry in London and in Portsmouth.{{Cite web |url=http://chestofbooks.com/reference/American-Cyclopaedia-14/Simeon-Simon-Browne.html |title=Simeon – Simon Browne |publisher=The American Cyclopaedia |access-date=23 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012134958/http://chestofbooks.com/reference/American-Cyclopaedia-14/Simeon-Simon-Browne.html |archive-date=12 October 2011}}{{Cite book |last1=Bogue |first1=David |author-link=David Bogue |author-link2=James Bennett (minister) |last2=Bennett |first2=James |title=The History of Dissenters: from the Revolution to the year 1808 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofdissent21benn |year=1833 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofdissent21benn/page/369 369]–370}} available at [https://books.google.com/books?id=WeM8AAAAcAAJ&dq=simon%20browne%20shepton%20mallet&pg=PA369 Google Books]{{ODNBweb |id=3698 |title=Browne, Simon |last=Trapnell |first=William H.}}
• Christopher Cazenove (1945–2010), cinema, television and stage actor, lived at Ham Manor in Bowlish as a child.{{Cite web |url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/shepton/news/Somerset-bred-star-small-big-screen-dies-aged-66/article-2012888-detail/article.html |title=Somerset-bred star of small and big screen dies, aged 66 |publisher=Shepton Mallet Journal |date=15 April 2010 |access-date=16 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429130333/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/shepton/news/Somerset-bred-star-small-big-screen-dies-aged-66/article-2012888-detail/article.html |archive-date=29 April 2010}}
• William Henry Coombes (1767–1850), Catholic theologian, was a priest in Shepton Mallet in 1810–1849, then retired to nearby Downside Abbey.{{ODNBweb |id=6204 |title=Coombes, William Henry |last=Mitchell |first=Rosemary}}
• Herbert Foxwell (1849–1936), economist, was born in Shepton Mallet on 17 June 1849.{{ODNBweb |id=33239 |title=Foxwell, Herbert Somerton |last=Bowley |first=A. L.}}
• Sir Ronald Gould (1904–1986), general secretary of the National Union of Teachers in 1947–1970, was educated at Shepton Mallet Grammar School.Chalk up the Memory – The autobiography of Sir Ronald Gould (George Philip Alexander Ltd, 1976).{{ODNBweb |id=39988 |title=Gould, Sir Ronald |last=McAvoy |first=Doug}}
• Madeleine Harris (born 2001), actress who starred in Paddington and its sequel.{{Cite news |url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/542692/Schoolgirl-talks-of-her-lead-role-in-Paddington-film |title=Schoolgirl talks of her lead role in Paddington film. |last=Henn |first=Peter |date=2 December 2014 |work=Daily Express |access-date=12 April 2016}}
• Racey Helps (1913–1970), children's writer and illustrator, lived in the town in the 1940s.Bear Alley. [http://bearalley.blogspot.hu/2006/12/racey-helps.html Retrieved 25 January 2013.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004234957/http://bearalley.blogspot.hu/2006/12/racey-helps.html |date=4 October 2013}}
• Hugh Inge or Ynge (died 1528), Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was a native of Shepton Mallet.O'Flanagan, J. Roderick: Lives of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland (London 1870).
• John Lewis (1836–1928), founder of the British John Lewis group, was born in Town Street, Shepton Mallet, on 24 February 1836.{{ODNBweb |id=49323 |title=Lewis, John |last=Tweedale |first=Geoffrey}}
• Francis Showering (1912–1995), drinks manufacturer and inventor of Babycham, was born in the town.
• Frank Tuohy (1925–1999), novelist and short-story writer, lived in Shepton Mallet after retirement and died there on 11 April 1999.{{ODNBweb |id=72223 |title=Tuohy, John Francis |last=Maclean |first=Alan}}
• Wallace Wyndham Waite (1881–1971), one founder of Waitrose, attended Shepton Mallet Grammar School.{{Cite web |title=Mr W W Waite |url=http://www.waitrosememorystore.org.uk/page_id__52.aspx |publisher=Waitrose |access-date=11 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113132349/http://www.waitrosememorystore.org.uk/page_id__52.aspx |archive-date=13 January 2017}}

Shepton Mallet is twinned with Misburg in Germany,{{Cite web |url=http://www.hannover.de/nananet/misburg-anderten/Stadtbezirk/Staedtepartnerschaften/Your_Twin_Town_-_Misburg-Anderten.html |title=Misburg-Anderten |publisher=nananet |access-date=15 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615010650/http://www.hannover.de/nananet/misburg-anderten/Stadtbezirk/Staedtepartnerschaften/Your_Twin_Town_-_Misburg-Anderten.html |archive-date=15 June 2011}} Bollnäs in Gävleborg County, Sweden, and Oissel sur Seine in Haute-Normandie, France.{{Cite web |url=http://teigntwin.co.uk/atoz/twins-s.htm |title=Twin Towns in the UK: S |publisher=Teignmouth Twinning Association |access-date=28 January 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220055339/http://teigntwin.co.uk/atoz/twins-s.htm |archive-date=20 February 2012}}

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• [http://www.sheptonmallettowncouncil.gov.uk/ Shepton Mallet Town Council website]

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Category:Roman villas in Somerset

Category:Civil parishes in Somerset

Category:Market towns in Somerset

Category:Towns in Mendip District