Editing Axbridge (section)

==History==

''Axanbrycg'' is suggested as the source of the name, meaning a bridge over the River Axe, in the early 9th century.<ref>{{cite book | last =Room | first =Adrian|title =Dictionary of Place Names in the British Isles| url =https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofplac0000room | url-access =registration |year =1988| publisher =[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|location=London |isbn =0-7475-0170-X}}</ref>

Early inhabitants of the area almost certainly include the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] (who are known to have mined [[lead]] on the top of the Mendips) and earlier still, prehistoric man, who lived in the local caves, and whose [[flint]] tools have been found on the slopes of the local hills. The history of Axbridge can be traced back to the reign of [[King Alfred]] when it was part of the [[Saxons]]' defence system for [[Wessex]] against the [[Vikings]]. In the [[Burghal Hidage]], a list of ''burhs'' compiled in 910, it was listed as ''Axanbrycg''.<ref name="havinden">{{cite book|last=Havinden|first=Michael|title=The Somerset Landscape|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|location=London|series=The making of the English landscape|page=217|isbn=0-340-20116-9}}</ref> A listing of Axbridge appears in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''{{lang|ang|Alse Bruge}}'', meaning 'axe bridge' from the [[Old English]] ''{{lang|ang|isca}}'' and ''{{lang|ang|brycg}}''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morris  |first=John|title=Domesday Book |year=1980 |publisher=\Phillimore |location=Chichester |isbn=0-85033-367-9}}</ref>

It was part of the royal manor of Cheddar and part of the [[Winterstoke]] [[Hundred (county subdivision)|Hundred]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Somerset Hundreds|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/|publisher=GENUKI|access-date=9 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10207289 |work=Vision of Britain website |title=Relationships/unit history of Winterstoke |publisher=University of Portsmouth |access-date=22 October 2016}}</ref>
[[File:Axbridgechurch.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Church of St John the Baptist, Axbridge]]
[[File:Axbridge Railway Station.jpg|thumb|right|Former Axbridge railway station]]
It was granted a [[royal charter]] in 1202, when [[John of England|King John]] sold most of the royal manor of Cheddar to the [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]. Axbridge grew in the [[Tudor dynasty|Tudor]] period as a centre for [[cloth]] manufacture, This was reflected in its early royal charters allowing it to hold markets and fairs, and become a royal borough. It even had its own mint, with coins showing the town's symbol: the Lamb and Flag.<ref>{{cite web | title=Axbridge visitors information | url=http://www.axbridge-tc.gov.uk/visitor/index.html | access-date=25 August 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060819140758/http://www.axbridge-tc.gov.uk/visitor/index.html| archive-date= 19 August 2006 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref> Trade was possible as the [[River Axe (Bristol Channel)|River Axe]] was navigable to wharves at Axbridge.<ref>{{cite book |last=Toulson |first=Shirley |title=The Mendip Hills: A Threatened Landscape |year=1984 |publisher=Victor Gollancz |location=London |isbn=0-575-03453-X }}</ref>

Later the town's importance declined, which led to stagnation and the preservation of many historic buildings in the town centre. These include [[King John's Hunting Lodge]] (actually a [[Tudor style architecture|Tudor]] building) which is now used as a museum.

Axbridge is a very old borough and sent members to parliament in the reigns of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] and [[Edward III]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Axbridge | work=GENUKI | url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Axbridge/index.html | access-date=25 August 2006}}</ref>

During the 19th and early 20th centuries iron ore was extracted from the hill above and east of Axbridge.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gough |first=J.W. |title=The mines of Mendip |year=1967 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot | isbn= 978-0-7153-4152-0}}</ref>

[[Axbridge railway station]], on the [[Cheddar Valley line]], opened on 3 August 1869. It closed to goods traffic on 10 June 1963 and to passengers on 9 September 1963. The route of the railway is now the [[A371 road|A371]] Axbridge bypass, but the station buildings and goods shed still survive.<ref>{{cite web | title=Axbridge | work=Bristol Railway Station Archive | url=http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/Axbridge | access-date=28 September 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101013221015/http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/Axbridge| archive-date= 13 October 2010 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status = live}}</ref>

The Square was used as the setting for a [[NatWest|NatWest Bank]] television advert in the early 1990s, and in particular [[Axbridge Town Hall]] doubled as a NatWest branch.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gp1iTwmrSs|title=NatWest UK Commercial |year=1991|publisher=NatWest|access-date=13 April 2022}}</ref> Ironically a real branch of NatWest, in the High Street, was closed not long afterwards and the premises are now private residential accommodation. In 2017 several locations in the town were used for a [[Thatchers Cider]] television commercial, which featured a hot air balloon.<ref>{{cite web|title=New Thatchers Cider advert filmed in Axbridge|date=23 June 2017 |url=http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/new-thatchers-cider-advert-filmed-132595|publisher=Somerset Live|access-date=15 September 2017}}</ref>