Editing Frome (section)

== History ==
=== Prehistoric ===

Finds from [[Whatley Quarry]] near [[Mells, Somerset|Mells]] suggest the presence of late [[Pleistocene]] mankind.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastscape |url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202834 |access-date=4 February 2019 |publisher=[[Historic England]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232330/https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202834 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Neolithic]] bowl barrows have been located in nearby Trudoxhill.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastscape |url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202873 |access-date=4 February 2019 |publisher=[[Historic England]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232228/https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202873 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> At Murtry Hill, just 3&nbsp;km to the north-west of Frome, a Neolithic long barrow 35m long by 19m wide was located with substantial upright stones (Orchardleigh Stones<ref>{{Cite web |title=Orchardleigh Stones |url=https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=7671 |access-date=2019-04-23 |website=The Megalithic Portal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314113721/http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=7671 |archive-date=14 March 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>), a 'chest' burial and cremation urns.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1006174|desc=Burial chamber (remains of), Murtry Hill, Orchardleigh Park|date=2015-08-10|access-date=2019-04-23}}</ref> Within Frome itself, another long barrow was found, with skeletons, pottery and a standing stone; its structure seemed similar to the Long Kennet barrow.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastscape |url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202689 |access-date=4 February 2019 |publisher=[[Historic England]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232058/https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202689 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Others from the Bronze Age have been identified in [[Berkley, Somerset|Berkley]] to the north-east<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastscape |url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1592648 |access-date=4 February 2019 |publisher=[[Historic England]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232113/https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1592648 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and near [[Nunney]] to the south-west.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastscape |url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202793 |access-date=4 February 2019 |publisher=[[Historic England]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232245/https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202793 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Iron Age hill forts lie to the west ([[Kingsdown Camp|Kingsdown]], [[Tedbury Camp|Tedbury]] and [[Wadbury Camp|Wadbury]]) and to the east ([[Cley Hill]] and [[Roddenbury Hillfort|Roddenberry]]).

=== Roman ===
There is some limited evidence of Roman settlement in the area. The remains of a [[Roman villa|villa]] were found in the village of [[Whatley, Mendip|Whatley]], {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} to the west of Frome.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 January 2010 |title=Whatley Combe Villa |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/28414 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003122611/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/28414 |archive-date=3 October 2016 |access-date=8 July 2010 |publisher=Somerset Historic Environment Record |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Another villa is suggested at Selwood.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastscape |url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202897 |access-date=4 February 2019 |publisher=[[Historic England]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209232306/https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202897 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Southill House, Cranmore|Southill House]] in [[Cranmore, Somerset|Cranmore]], 10 miles southwest, has evidence of a villa with a [[hypocaust]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roman building, West Cranmore |url=https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/12044 |access-date=2019-03-17 |website=Somerset HER |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715191215/https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/12044 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Two villas have been surveyed in the Hemington area, {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} to the north-west of Frome, alongside other sites, ditches and boundaries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Oswin |first=John |year=2005 |title=Lower Row Roman Villa |url=https://www.bacas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Lower_Row_Report.pdf |access-date=2019-05-03 |website=Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society |page=8 |type=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503093157/https://www.bacas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Lower_Row_Report.pdf |archive-date=3 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Iron Age forts in the area (recorded above) were re-occupied by the Roman military: Kingsdown and Tedbury.

A Roman road<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roman road from Mendip to Old Sarum |url=https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/25357 |access-date=2019-03-17 |website=Somerset HER |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715191214/https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/25357 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> ran from the west of the [[Mendip Hills|Mendips]] passing south of Frome en route to [[Old Sarum]] (Salisbury) and [[Clausentum]] ([[Southampton]]) or to Moriconium ([[Hamworthy]] near [[Poole]]), probably for the export of lead and silver from mines in the Mendips.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chris Popham – The Lead Mines at Charterhouse in the Mendip Hills |url=https://www.mindat.org/article.php/2423/The+Lead+Mines+at+Charterhouse+in+the+Mendip+Hills |access-date=2019-03-18 |website=www.mindat.org}}</ref> Part of a Romano-British sculpted head and part of a Roman road surface were found near Clink, Frome:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roman sculpted head and road surface, Clink Road, Frome |url=https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/25721 |access-date=2019-03-17 |website=Somerset HER |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715191217/https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/25721 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> possibly linked to a Roman road running south from [[Aquae Sulis]] (Bath), but this has been traced only as far as Oldford Farm, Selwood, just {{convert|2|mi|km|0}} north of Frome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roman road S from Bath |url=https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24223 |access-date=2019-03-17 |website=Somerset HER |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715191216/https://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/24223 |archive-date=15 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Just to the southeast is Friggle Street, suggestive of a Roman road.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Whitaker |first=Bob |date=2010 |title=Roman Road Research Part One |url=https://www.bacas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/2010-18-20.pdf |access-date=2019-05-24 |website=Bath and Counties Archaeological Society |pages=2 |type=PDF}}</ref>

In April 2010, the [[Frome Hoard]], one of the largest hoards of [[Roman Britain|Roman]] coins discovered in Britain, was found in a field near the town by a metal detectorist; the 52,500 coins dating from the third century AD were in a jar {{convert|14|in|cm}} below the surface.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 July 2010 |title=Huge Roman coin find for hobbyist |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/10546960.stm |access-date=8 July 2010}}</ref> The coins were excavated by archaeologists from the [[Portable Antiquities Scheme]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Booth |first=Anna |date=8 July 2010 |title=The Frome Hoard |url=http://finds.org.uk/blogs/fromehoard/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712200444/http://finds.org.uk/blogs/fromehoard/ |archive-date=12 July 2010 |access-date=8 July 2010 |publisher=[[Portable Antiquities Scheme]] |df=dmy}}</ref> and some are now on display in the [[British Museum]]. The find was the subject of a BBC TV programme ''Digging for Britain'' in August 2010. A further 250 [[Dubunni|Dubonnic]] coins had been found in an urn when ploughing near Nunney in 1860; they included those of [[Claudius]] who began the conquest of Britain.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pastscape |url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202790 |access-date=4 February 2019 |publisher=[[Historic England]] }}</ref> Other coins continue to be found in this neighbourhood, both Roman and Byzantine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search results: Nunney |url=http://finds.org.uk/database/search/results/q/Nunney |access-date=2019-09-04 |website=The Portable Antiquities Scheme |publisher=The British Museum|language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904093825/https://finds.org.uk/database/search/results/q/Nunney |archive-date=4 September 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Toponymy of 'Frome' ===

The name Frome comes from the [[Brittonic languages|Proto-Brythonic]] word *''frāmā'' ([[Welsh language|Modern Welsh]] ''ffraw''), itself from [[Proto-Celtic]] *''srōm-'' <ref>{{Cite web |title=Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru |url=http://www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html?ffraw |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126053734/http://www.geiriadur.ac.uk/gpc/gpc.html?ffraw |archive-date=26 November 2015 |access-date=2015-11-25 |website=www.geiriadur.ac.uk |df=dmy-all}}</ref> meaning fair, fine or brisk and describing the flow of the river.<ref name="belham" /> In 2019, the [[BBC]] ranked Frome as, among places in the UK, having the most difficult name to pronounce.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-49813249|title=Frome tops list of most difficult to pronounce place names in the UK|work=BBC News |date=2019-09-24|access-date=2021-02-18}}</ref>

A church built by St. [[Aldhelm]] in 685 is the earliest evidence of [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] occupation of Frome. Aldhelm was a member of the Wessex royal family, cousin to [[Cenwalh of Wessex|King Cenwealh]].<ref name="belham" /> The name was first recorded in 701 when Pope Sergius gave permission to Bishop Aldhelm to found a monastery "close to the river which is called From" (Latin: "juxta fluvium qui vocatur From").<ref>Annette Burkitt, Flesh and Bones of Frome Selwood and Wessex, 2017, The Hobnob Press, p341 {{ISBN|978 1 906978 50 1}}</ref>
The Saxon kings appear to have used Frome as a base from which to hunt in [[Selwood Forest]]. In 934 a ''[[witenagemot]]'' was held there, indicating that Frome must already have been a significant settlement, with even a royal palace.  The [[charter]] names a Welsh sub-king, sixteen bishops and twenty five ministers, all called by [[Æthelstan]], now regarded as the first king of England.<ref>Annette Burkitt, op.cit. pp355-356</ref> Æthelstan's half-brother, King [[Eadred]] (son of [[Edward the Elder]]), died in Frome on 23 November 955.{{sfn|Gathercole|2003|p=5}}<ref>Lowe, Jean (2014) A Survivor's Practical Travel Guide to Parish Councils. Earthscape Publishing, {{ISBN|978 0 9929988 0 6}} e-book and 978 0 9929988 1 3 paperback. www.fromewatch.co.uk.</ref>

=== Medieval ===

At the time of the [[Domesday Book|Domesday Survey]], the manor was owned by [[William I of England|King William]],<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Frome|volume=11|page=246}}</ref> and was the principal settlement of the largest and wealthiest [[hundred (administrative division)|hundred]] in Somerset. Over the following years, parts of the original manor were spun off as distinct manors; for example, one was owned by the [[Minster (church)|minster]], later passing to the [[Abbey House, Cirencester|Abbey at Cirencester]], which others were leased by the Crown to important families. By the 13th century, the Abbey had bought up some of the other manors (although it did let them out again) and was exploiting the profits from market and trade in the town.{{sfn|Gathercole|2003|p=5}} Local tradition asserts that Frome was a medieval borough, and the reeve of Frome is occasionally mentioned in documents after the reign of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]], but there is no direct evidence that Frome was a borough and no trace of any charter granted to it.<ref name="EB1911"/> However, the Kyre Park Charters of Edward's reign note a Hugh, lord of Parva (or little) Frome, as well as other witnesses. Additionally, [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] granted a charter to Edmund Leversedge, then [[lord of the manor]], giving him the right to hold fairs on 22 July and 21 September.{{sfn|Gathercole|2003|p=5}} The parish was part of the [[Hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]] of [[Frome (hundred)|Frome]].<ref name="genuki">{{Cite web |title=Somerset Hundreds |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119134349/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/ |archive-date=19 January 2012 |access-date=8 October 2011 |publisher=GENUKI |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[File:Former Dye-House Frome.jpg|alt=Circular stone building with slate roof.|thumb|left|Former Wool Drying House, now part of The Black Swan Arts Centre]]

[[Hales Castle]] was probably built in the years immediately after the [[Norman conquest of England]] in 1066.<ref>Prior, Stuart. (2006) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=vuqjAAAACAAJ The Norman Art of War: a Few Well-Positioned Castles.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140707080113/http://books.google.com/books?id=vuqjAAAACAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1 |date=7 July 2014 }}'' Stroud, UK: Tempus. {{ISBN|0-7524-3651-1}}. p.71.</ref> The circular [[ringwork]] is {{convert|120|ft|m}} in diameter and stands on the northern slope of Roddenbury Hill, close to the [[Iron Age]] [[Roddenbury Hillfort]], to the south-east of Frome. It comprises banks and outer ditches and has an unfinished [[bailey (fortification)|bailey]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hales Castle |url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202864 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003012739/http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=202864 |archive-date=3 October 2012 |access-date=22 July 2011 |website=Pastscape National Monument Record |publisher=[[English Heritage]] |df=dmy-all}}</ref> At a similar distance to the south-west of Frome stands [[Nunney Castle]], "aesthetically the most impressive castle in Somerset,"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pesvener |first=Nikolaus |title=The Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol |publisher=Penquin |year=1958 |isbn=0-300-09640-2 |location=London |pages=238}}</ref> built from 1373 onwards, surrounded by a moat.

In 1369, there was a record of 'three tuns of [[Isatis tinctoria|woad]]' being purchased by Thomas Bakere of Frome,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Carolyn |title='Woad to This' & The Cloth Trade of Frome |publisher=Frome Society for Local Study |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-9930605-5-7 |location=Frome |pages=155}}</ref> probably from France.&nbsp; Such a large quantity of the blue dye suggests a well-established trade for local dyers and clothiers.&nbsp; A 1392 survey of the town mentions [[tenterground]]s: fields of racks for drying the cloth and five [[fulling]] mills.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Carolyn |title=op.cit. |pages=213}}</ref> Where originally wool was exported to Flanders and Italy, more was increasingly retained at home for the production of cloth.&nbsp; Woolens such as [[broadcloth]] and the lighter [[Kersey (cloth)|kersey]] became primary products for the area.&nbsp; Surnames such as Webbe (weaver) or Tayllor appear in the early 14th century and there are explicit references to cloth makers in 1475.{{sfn|Gathercole|2003|p=5}} By 1470 Somerset was the largest producer after Suffolk, making most of the undyed white broadcloths.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Carolyn |title=op.cit. |pages=206}}</ref> The industry had become the town's principal base of employment.

On 12 April 1477, a widow, [[Ankarette Twynyho]] was taken from the manor house known locally as the Old Nunnery in Lower Keyford, accused by [[George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence]] of the murder of [[Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence]], who had died in 1476, probably of [[Postpartum infections|childbed-fever]] after birth of a short-lived son. At Warwick, she was charged with

{{blockquote|"having.....given the Duchess Isabel 'a venomous drink of ale mixed with poison' of which the Duchess has sickened from 10th October to Christmas, when she died. Ankarette protested her innocence, but a packed jury condemned her. She was sentenced and drawn to the gallows.....and hanged all within three hours."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=J E |title=The Execution of Ankarette Twynyho: Frome Society Year Book Vol 12 |publisher=Frome Society for Local Study |year=2008 |location=Frome |pages=92}}</ref>}}

[[Fall of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence|Clarence himself was imprisoned]] in the Tower shortly afterwards and was executed for treason early in 1478. Ankarette's grandson Roger Twynyho received from [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] a full posthumous pardon for Ankarette. The petition he submitted to the king later that year describes fully the circumstances of the case, well illustrating the quasi-kingly high-handedness of Clarence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fleming |first=Peter |title=Time, Space and Power in Later Medieval Bristol |date=16 December 2013 |url=http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/22171/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205152211/http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/22171/ |archive-date=5 December 2014 |access-date=26 November 2014 |publisher=University of the West of England Bristol |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Monmouth Rebellion ===

On King Charles II's death in February 1685, the [[James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth|Duke of Monmouth]], his illegitimate son, led the [[Monmouth Rebellion]], landing with three ships at [[Lyme Regis]] in Dorset in early June 1685 in an attempt to take the throne from his Catholic uncle, [[James II of England|James II]]. On 25 June 1685, Robert Smith, the constable of Frome declared Monmouth was King in Frome's marketplace, "as confidently as if he had the crown on his head".  Frome was the first locality in England to declare for him.  On 28 June, the forces of Monmouth camped in Frome, following their defeat in a skirmish with the [[James II of England|King's]] forces at [[Norton St Philip]], arriving at 4 o'clock in the morning "very wett and weary".<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGarvie |first=Michael |title=Frome through the Ages |work=Longleat: Thynne Papers, XXII, f.185R |publisher=Frome Society for Local Study |year=2000 |isbn=0-948014-28-8 |edition=2nd |location=Frome |pages=68}}</ref> Monmouth is reputed to have stayed in a gabled house in Cork Street, now named the Monmouth Chambers.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1057818|desc=MONMOUTH CHAMBERS, Frome |access-date=2019-04-16}}</ref> Whatever discipline he had over his troops vanished as he dallied in Frome, unsure what to do. He left on 30 June for Shepton Mallett.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGarvie |first=Michael |title=The Book of Frome |publisher=Frome Societyfor Local Study |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-948014-28-4 |location=Frome |pages=78–19}}</ref> At the [[Battle of Sedgemoor]] on 6 July, he was defeated.  Captured on 8 July, he was taken to the [[Tower of London]] and executed on 15 July on [[Tower Hill]] by [[Jack Ketch]].

At the subsequent '[[Bloody Assizes]]' more than 500 rebels were brought in front of the court; out of these, 144 were [[hanged, drawn and quartered]], their remains displayed across the country so that people understood the fate of those who rebelled against the king.  The other rebels were subjected to [[Penal transportation|transportation]] to [[British America|America]].  In all, 50 Frome men were convicted. 12 men, none of them from Frome, were hanged in the town at Gibbet Hill, Gorehedge.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Mick |title=Foul Deeds & Suspicious Deaths in & around Frome |last2=Lassman |first2=David |publisher=Pen & Sword True Crime |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-52670-604-1 |location=Barnsley |pages=90}}</ref>

=== Rise and fall of the cloth trade ===

The manufacture of woollen cloth was established as the town's principal industry in the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Frome Town |url=http://users.breathe.com/djsteward/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509063042/http://users.breathe.com/djsteward/history.html |archive-date=9 May 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008 |publisher=Frome Town}}</ref> In 1542 during one of his itineraries to observe historic English and Welsh landscapes, [[John Leland (antiquary)|Leland]] described Frome as a town that "hathe a metley good market" and "dyvers fayre stone howsys in the towne that stand y the moste by clothinge". He went on to mention what seems to be Spring Gardens where the Mells River meets the River Frome: clothiers' buildings and fulling mills:  "I cam to a botome, where an other broke ran in to Frome.&nbsp; And in this botome dwell certayne good clothiuars havynge fayre howsys and tukkynge myles."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Leland |first1=John |url=http://archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft |title=The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535–1543. Edited by Lucy Toulmin Smith |last2=Smith |first2=Lucy Toulmin |date=October 1907 |publisher=London G. Bell |others=Robarts – University of Toronto |volume=V |access-date=9 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831064727/https://archive.org/details/itineraryofjohnl05lelauoft |archive-date=31 August 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Frome remained the only Somerset town in which this staple industry flourished.<ref name="belham" />

By the end of 1500s, the population was around 3,000.&nbsp; The trade declined but then revived again as various clothiers changed their products and expanded their business.&nbsp; The population doubled in size by the mid-1600s, though wages remained low for both weavers and spinners.&nbsp; From 1665 to 1725 further major expansion occurred, including the building of a new artisans' suburb, now known as the Trinity area, one of the earliest purpose built industrial housing in the country.<ref name="havinden">{{Cite book |last=Havinden |first=Michael |title=The Somerset Landscape |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |isbn=0-340-20116-9 |series=The making of the English landscape |year=1981 |location=London |page=215}}</ref><ref name="Griffiths 113">{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Carolyn |title=op.cit. |pages=113}}</ref>&nbsp; The River provided power for a range of mills along its length, dyewood grinding, fulling, dyeing: 10 or more within 2&nbsp;km of the town.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Carolyn |title=op.cit. |pages=112}}</ref> Families of clothiers gradually came to be the principal landowners in the town, with the manor of Frome itself finally passing into the ownership of a cloth merchant in 1714.

In the mid-1720s, [[Daniel Defoe]] estimated that

{{blockquote|"Frome is now reckoned to have more people in it, than the city of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], and some say, than even [[Salisbury]] itself...... likely to be one of the greatest and wealthiest inland towns in England".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vision of Britain, Daniel Defoe, Letter 4, Part 2: Somerset and Wiltshire |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/travellers/Defoe/16 |access-date=2019-03-04 |website=www.visionofbritain.org.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407002318/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/travellers/Defoe/16 |archive-date=7 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Poverty, the decline of the wool industry in the mid-18th century, increased industrialisation, and rising food prices led to some unrest amongst the inhabitants of Frome, and there were riots during the century. By 1791, the town was described in less flattering terms than those Defoe had used 50 years earlier.{{sfn|Gathercole|2003|p=6}} A survey of 1785 listed these occupations: "47 clothiers. 5 dyers, 12 fellmongers, 3 woolstaplers, 54 spinsters, 6 fullers, 146 shearmen, 141 scribblers, 220 weavers, 5 handle setters, 8 twisters, 4 spinning jenny men, for a total of 651 and for the ancillary [[Carding|card]] making industry 5 cardboard makers, 59 card makers and 23 wire drawers."  These occupations of the cloth trade formed almost half of the heads of household in the town.<ref name="Griffiths 113" /> The [[Sheppard family (clothiers)|Sheppard family]], settled in Frome since 1558, became dominant, building new factories, purchasing land and properties, being the first to bring in machinery; the establishment of [[Turnpike trusts|turnpike roads]] improved access to markets home and abroad.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gill |first=Derek J |title=The Sheppards and Eighteenth Century Frome |publisher=Frome Society for Local Study |year=1982 |location=Frome |pages=1–7}}</ref> Scribbling (rough carding), carding, spinning and fly shuttle weaving all became mechanised.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Carolyn |title=op.cit. |pages=261}}</ref>

There were several public disturbances throughout this period. In 1754, a mob of Mendip colliers together with destitute people from Frome protested against the rising cost of flour. A mill and its contents were burned down, others severely damaged. Rioters extorted money from mill owners. Four men were killed when an assault was made on another mill barricaded by the owner and three soldiers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Swan Circle » Blog Archive » 'For the good of the poor': the Frome Riots of 1754 |url=http://ukfamilyrecords.com/Blog/?p=294 |access-date=2019-05-09 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In 1766, a miller in [[Beckington]] defended himself against a mob of 2,000, firing upon them, wounding some; all of his wheat and flour were seized and fires lit.<ref name=":0" /> In 1767, 500 local shearmen assembled and broke up a newly installed [[spinning jenny]] in a mill close to Frome.  Among many actions across Somerset and [[Wiltshire]], spinning jennies were smashed in a mill by a mob in 1781.<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Country cloth workers {{!}} Tolpuddle Martyrs |url=https://www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/story/tuc-150/early-unions/west-country-cloth-workers |access-date=2019-05-09 |website=www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503121126/https://www.tolpuddlemartyrs.org.uk/story/tuc-150/early-unions/west-country-cloth-workers |archive-date=3 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1796, a body of Mendip colliers entered the town armed with bludgeons to force local millers to reduce their bread prices. The constable called for dragoons stationed in the town and they themselves were assaulted. Sabres were drawn and the mob dispersed, bloodied but without fatalities. Afterwards the constable was threatened with arson and murder.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|date=September 2019|editor-last=MacLeay|editor-first=Alastair|title=The 'late alarming Riots', Frome 1797|url=|journal=Frome Society Year Book|location=Frome|volume=22|pages=41–42|access-date=}}</ref> At a time of rising unemployment, the price of potatoes provoked a riot in Frome in 1816.  Magistrates read the [[Riot Act]] and suppressed the trouble with local militia and dragoons, preventing an attack on a Sheppard factory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Riots at Bath and Frome (2 Jul 1816) |url=http://www.gomezsmart.myzen.co.uk/fabric/times/riots1.htm |access-date=2019-05-09 |website=www.gomezsmart.myzen.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509155631/http://www.gomezsmart.myzen.co.uk/fabric/times/riots1.htm |archive-date=9 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

By 1800, the population had increased beyond 12,000. There was a brief boost to the trade from the [[Napoleonic Wars]], with Frome supplying blue uniform cloth of 160 miles a year in 1801. As mechanisation increased, fewer skills were required; wages fell along with living conditions. Dyeing ceased. Steam engines replaced water mills.  By 1826, the parish established a blanket factory to employ the poor. A lack of investment locally meant the nation chose to buy the cheaper and lighter cloth produced elsewhere. Many mills closed as the trade steadily declined. Tucker's at Wallbridge, the last fabric mill of 'The Finest West of England Cloth', closed in 1965.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Carolyn |title=op.cit. |pages=113–115, 142, 259}}</ref>

=== To the present day ===

In the early 19th century, plans were developed to reinvigorate the town and once again elevate it to its former position as a more important town than Bath. These plans, the idea of [[Thomas Bunn, Frome|Thomas Bunn]], a man of independent means inherited from his father,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Experiences of a 19th Century Gentleman: The diary of Thomas Bunn of Frome |publisher=Frome Society of Local Study |year=2003 |editor-last=Gill |editor-first=Derek J |location=Frome |pages=20}}</ref> mostly failed to come to fruition, although some public buildings were erected and a wide new approach road to the town centre from the south was cut (named Bath Street after the landowner, [[Marquess of Bath|Lord Bath]] of [[Longleat]] House).<ref name="Goodall">{{Cite book |last=Goodall |first=Rodney |title=The buildings of Frome, 2nd Ed |year=2005 |publisher=Frome society for local study |isbn=0-9510157-5-3 |location=Frome |page=149}}</ref>

[[File:Selwood Printing Works Frome.jpg|alt=Corner of four-storey building with multiple matching arched windows|thumb|right|The former (Butler & Tanner) Selwood Printing Works]]

Whilst wool remained an important part of the town's economy into the 19th (and even 20th) centuries, other industries were established in the town. A bell-foundry started in 1684 by William Cockey grew to be a major producer of components for the developing [[natural gas|gas]] industry and employer of 800 people, as a new enterprise of his descendant, [[Edward Cockey]] The [[John Webb Singer|J W Singer]] brass foundry and bronze-casting works,<ref>{{Cite web |title=JW Singer & Sons |url=http://www.fromemuseum.org/singer1.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012171301/http://www.fromemuseum.org/singer1.htm |archive-date=12 October 2008 |access-date=6 February 2010 |publisher=Frome Museum}}</ref> was a major employer and produced bronze statues.<ref>{{Cite web |title=J W Singer website |url=http://www.jwsinger.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422193611/http://www.jwsinger.com/ |archive-date=22 April 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> John Webb Singer was born in Frome and established his art metal work foundry in 1851. They made brass ornaments for local churches and became known through the [[Oxford Movement]] within the [[Church of England]] which led to increasing demand for church ornaments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Founder |url=http://www.fromemuseum.org/singer2.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012171306/http://www.fromemuseum.org/singer2.htm |archive-date=12 October 2008 |access-date=6 February 2010 |publisher=Frome Museum}}</ref> In addition to church ornaments the firm developed new facilities, opened as the Frome Art Metalworks in 1866, and then the expertise to create large statues. One of the first statues cast in 1889 was that of [[Charles George Gordon|General Gordon]] riding a camel.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bucklow |first=Sue |title=Casting the World: the Story of J W Singer & Sons |publisher=Rook Lane Arts Trust |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-5272-4118-3 |location=Frome |pages=8–9, 31}}</ref> The firm was responsible for the bronze statue of [[Boudica]] with her daughters in her war chariot (furnished with [[scythed chariot|scythes]] after the [[Persian Empire|Persian]] fashion), which was commissioned by [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] and executed by [[Thomas Thornycroft]]. It was unveiled in 1902, 17 years after Thornycroft's death, and now stands next to [[Westminster Bridge]] and the [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]], London.<ref name="dnb">Mark Stocker, 'Thornycroft, Thomas (1815–1885)', ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', [[Oxford University Press]], September 2004 online edn, October 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27369], accessed 2 January 2009</ref> The statue of [[Lady Justice]] on the dome above the [[Old Bailey]] was executed by the British sculptor, [[F. W. Pomeroy]] and cast by Singers. The statue of [[Alfred the Great]] at [[Winchester]] was a further commission.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statuary |url=http://www.fromemuseum.org/singer3.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012171311/http://www.fromemuseum.org/singer3.htm |archive-date=12 October 2008 |access-date=6 February 2010 |publisher=Frome Museum}}</ref> The statues from Singers have been exported around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of Singers Statues |url=http://www.fromemuseum.org/singer6.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928081045/http://www.fromemuseum.org/singer6.htm |archive-date=28 September 2009 |access-date=6 February 2010 |publisher=Frome Museum}}</ref> Printing was another major industry, with the Butler and Tanner printworks being set up in the middle of the century. [[Brewing]] was another source of employment.<ref name="Goodall" />

Utility services came quite early in Frome with Cockey setting up a gas facility in Welshpool in 1831. Water was available from springs; the principal source was from a fountain at the foot of Church Steps, fed by stream that flowed under the graveyard. After a local company failed to deliver piped water in 1880, the local government stepped in and opened a Water Works with a piped supply system.  A sewage farm was not installed until 1885. Mains electricity was then introduced into the town in 1903.<ref name="belham" />

In [[World War I]], a large number of men from Frome and the surrounding villages enlisted.  The [[Somerset Light Infantry|Somerset Infantry]] was the primary recruiter; other county regiments from around Somerset took in many others. Some born in Frome joined up in the country they had emigrated to: [[Australia]] and [[Canada]].  The [[Royal Navy]], the [[Royal Flying Corps]], the [[British Red Cross]] and the [[Royal Army Medical Corps]] all took in volunteers and conscripts, as did multiple different regiments from across the UK. Over 450 lives, ranging from a brigadier-general to scores of privates and able seamen, were lost in the conflict, now recorded on memorials throughout the area and elsewhere.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=David L |title=Frome's Fallen Heroes |publisher=David l Adams |year=2000 |location=Frome |asin=B000S5L7JK}}</ref> A record of more than 140 local survivors of WWI has been published.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frome Family History Group |title=Frome Survivors: Those who returned from WWI |publisher=Frome Family History Group |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-5262-0775-3 |location=Frome}}</ref> These survivors included Charlie Robbins<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frome Family History Group |title=op.cit. |pages=98–99}}</ref> who was the model for the bronze statue forged by the [[John Webb Singer|Singer company]] which now stands as the memorial for the fallen of Frome.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frome Serviceman Memorial – War Memorials Online |url=https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/78566/ |access-date=2019-11-13 |website=www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113123402/https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/78566/ |archive-date=13 November 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The population fell and in the 1930s it was slightly smaller than it had been in the mid 19th century. Other industries such as printing, light engineering, metal casting, carpeting and dairying continued,<ref name="lambert">{{Cite web |last=Lambert |first=Tim |title=A brief history of Frome |url=http://www.localhistories.org/frome.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915112721/http://www.localhistories.org/frome.html |archive-date=15 September 2008 |access-date=30 September 2008 |publisher=Local histories.org |df=dmy-all}}</ref> many taking old premises from the cloth mills and others being sited at the new Marston Road Trading Estate which led to growth after [[World War II]], including the construction of [[council houses]].<ref name="belham" />