This is the first in a series of short articles about the town of Axbridge in Somerset and how it is (and always has) changed. We think of ribbon development from Cheddar or fill in housing plans in empty plots in the town, but tin reality the town has always had new comers forever expanding its limits.
When the first Saxons built the fortified settlement (a bugh) around the stream that flows under the Square they weren’t the first. Neolithic peoples had been in residence for around 5,000 years beforehand while the Romano-British were the first to actually put stone upon stone and create a farmstead around the Old Church Road area where they also buried their dead.
The Axbridge Pageant picks up on this first fragment of history and creates the first public spectacle – a funeral for a fallen retired Roman soldier who had come to farm the area. And became the first man to officially put down roots in Axbridge. Perhaps not the ones he had originally planned.
The pageant takes place on August 28-30, 2021.
For more details of the pageant visit http://axbridgepageant.com/index.html and
http://www.harrymottram.co.uk/axbridge-pageant-2020/news/
Follow the Pageant on Twitter and Facebook
For more from the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk
You must be logged in to post a comment.