The siege. on the edge of one of the inlets of the great marshland of Sedgemoor. The site was marked by the junction of the great line of the Fossway with a number of roads in all directions. The spot was defended by the river, the Ivel, which gives the town its English name. Here, at the foot of the high ground, the stream widens to surround an island, a convenient outpost in the defences of the town which arose on its southern bank. Ilchester, like Bath, drew on itself the special enmity of the rebels as being a king's town, an enmity likely to be the sharper because Ilchester stands within sight of Count Robert's castle of Montacute, and is divided only by the river from lands which were held by his fellow-rebel William of Eu.[1] The Ilchester of our day seems a strange place for a siege; but in the days of the Red King the town was still surrounded by strong walls, and those walls were defended by valiant burghers. The walls and gates have perished; the ditches have been filled up; yet the lasting impress of the four-sided shape of the Roman chester may still be traced in the direction of the roads and buildings of the modern town.[2] The importance of Ilchester had passed away even in the sixteenth century, when of its five or six churches all but one were in ruins; but, in the times with which we are dealing, its hundred and seven
- ↑ Geveltone, now Yeovilton, was held by one Ralph under William of Eu (Domesday, 96 b). Givele, now Yeovil, was held by Count Robert (Domesday, 93). All these names come in various corruptions from the river Givel or Ivel, also called Yeo. Only in Yeovil we may trace a bit of false etymology, which has also set the pattern to Yeovilton.
- ↑ I took with me to Ilchester a book by the Rev. W. Buckler, "Ilchester Almshouse Deeds" (Yeovil, 1866), which contains the accounts of Ilchester from Leland, Camden, and Stukeley, together with Stukeley's map. The last-named writer may have drawn somewhat on his imagination; but I could trace the line of the walls, represented in a great part of their course by modern buildings. Under the circumstances of the site, the usual carfax is not to be found at Ilchester, any more than at Godmanchester.
