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There are no less than two hundred old crosses in Somerset, many of them fifteenth-century work. Saxon crosses exist at Rowberrow and Kelston; a twelfth-century cross at Harptree; Early English crosses at Chilton Trinity, Dunster, and Broomfield; Decorated crosses at Williton, Wiveliscombe, Bishops-Lydeard, Chewton Mendip, and those at Sutton Bingham and Wraghall are fifteenth century.
Of the former the Cheddar Caves and Wookey Hole are the most remarkable; and a good example of the latter is the Devil's Punch Bowl near E. Harptree. The chief antiquities consist of the old Roman lead-mines and an amphitheatre near Priddy, the old Roman road linking Uphill with Old Sarum, and a few camps, such as those at Masbury and Burrington.
The main ridge is an extended tableland, some 25 m. long, and in places 3 m. broad. Near Downhead there is an isolated outburst of igneous rock. The Mendips are honeycombed with caverns, the most notable being at Banwell, Harptree, and Burrington; and a large one has been recently discovered some 4 m. from Wells.
Besides its stately churches, Somerset possesses some interesting specimens of mediaeval and Tudor domestic architecture. Ancient hostelries survive at Norton St Philip, Glastonbury, and Dunster. Castles are infrequent in the county, the chief remains being at Taunton, Dunster, and Nunney, and a few fragments at Stoke-Courcey, Harptree, Farleigh Hungerford, and Nether Stowey.
He took Castle Gary and Harptree, and, after somewhat more prolonged resistance, Shrewsbury, which was held by William Fitz Alan, whose wife was Earl Robert's niece. In this last case Stephen departed from his usual practice and hanged the garrison and its commander. The effect of this severity was seen at once.
The powerful baron-bishop, Geoffrey of Coutances, with his nephew Robert of Mowbray, after seizing Bristol, burnt Bath, but was unsuccessful in the siege of Ilchester . On the death of Henry I. Somerset favoured the claims of Matilda, and the castles at Cary, E. Harptree, and Dunster were held by their owners for her against Stephen, to the no small discomfort of their respective neighbourhoods.
The church is a small building with a W. tower. In the neighbourhood is Hardington Park. Hardington-Mandeville, a village 4-1/2 m. S.W. of Yeovil. The church was rebuilt in 1864, but retains some ancient features, including a good Norm. arch and font, and a Jacobean pulpit. Harptree, East, a village on a spur of the Mendips, 6 m. N. from Wells.
In 1138 it was strongly garrisoned by its owner, William de Harptree, on behalf of the Empress Matilda, but was taken by Stephen by the ruse of a feigned repulse. Now, only a fragment of the keep overlooks the glen. Half a mile beyond is a remarkable cavern, the Lamb's Lair, entered by a vertical shaft of some 70 fathoms.
The S. porch is of unusual size and contains a monument which must be a standing reproach to a declining birthrate. Under a large Elizabethan canopy is an effigy of Sir J. Newton , attended by twenty children. At the other end of the village are two mansions, Harptree Court and Eastwood. Harptree, West, about 1 m. N. of East Harptree. The church has a Norman tower with an ugly slated spire.
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