In 1080 a Benedictine priory (a small monastery) was founded in Exeter. In 1088, a rebellion occured and Bath was sacked. A monastery was burned but the town recovered. The local Bishop moved his seate to Bath and in the early 12th century a great abbey was created which dominated Medieval Bath. The present building dates from the very end of the Medieval period. Oliver King was Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1495 to 1503.
In the middle ages Exeter, the castle became known as Rougemont castle- a castle built on a red hill and red rock, rouge mont to describe the Norman French building of the town. In 1100 a stone bridge was built in Hereford across the Wye to replace the wooden one. Taunton suffered a fire in 1111 as most buildings were of wood with thatched roofs. After 1114 the Normans rebuilt the cathedral but it was demolished in 1260 and rebuilt again. In 1117 King Henry I founded an abbey at Cirencester predominant to the town and was later divided into manor areas when the abbey was founded the Abbot became Lord of the Manor of Cirencester. In the Middle Ages the church ran the only 'hospitals' and in the 12th century the Hospital of St Lawrence was built in Cirencester. In 1121 Hereford gained a fair.
About 1125 a priory or small monastery was built in Taunton. The bishop of Winchester was Lord of the Manor of Taunton. In Bristol the Priory of St James was built in Bristol about 1129. An Augustinian Abbey followed about 1142. In Bristol there were Franciscan friars (called grey friars because of the colour of their costumes) and Carmelite or white friars.
In 1136 the castle Rougemont was besieged during a civil war between Stephen and Matilda. One of Matilda's supporters held the castle but Stephen laid siege. The castle surrendered when it ran out of water. In 1138, the bishop began building a castle next to the priory and on the east of the town, the priory moved outside its defences, now long gone. The monks of the priory built new streets. There was also a wooden castle at Cirencester. Little is known about it except that it was burned by Stephen during a civil war in 1142.
Leicester abbey was built in 1143. In the Middle Ages the church ran the only ‘hospitals. Leicester, an ancient Celtic captial was ruled by an Earl. However the Earl appointed a steward to run the town day to day. The Earl caused the town much suffering in 1173 when he rebelled against the king. The king’s men captured Leicester and burned part of it down.
In 1155 Bristol was given a charter (a document confirming certain rights held by the townspeople). In 1171 after the English conquered Ireland the people of Bristol were given Dublin as a colony by the king and many Bristolians settled there. Bristol also benefited when Henry II became King in 1154 as well as ruler of part of South West France. The Normans set about rebuilding the cathedral in Hereford and a new bishops palace was built about 1180 so there were two denominations in Hereford.
In 1189 Hereford was given its first charter (a document granting the townspeople certain rights). At the end of the 12th century stone walls were built around Hereford. In 1200 King John granted Bridgwater a charter (a document giving the inhabitants certain rights including the right to hold a market). William the Conqueror gave the village and the nearby bridge to one of his followers, Walter of Douai. It became known as the Bridge of Walter and in time Bridgewater from the watermill where grain and flour flourished. The Bridgwater fair attracted buyers and sellers from all over Somerset. Early in the 13th century a castle was built overlooking Bridgwater and in the middle of the town was the corn market whose name later changed to Cornhill.
During the Middle Ages in Bath, the church also ran 2 almshouses in Bath, St John the Baptist's and St Catherine's. There was also a leper hostel outside the town walls. During the Middle Ages people still came to Bath to bathe in the hot springs hoping it would cure them of their ailments .The people of Dorchester took over the Maumbary Rings and used them for bear baiting and their hospital was dedicated to St. John. There was also a school in which was refounded after the dissolution of monasteries.
In the 13th century Exeter, the friars arrived and were like monks but instead of withdrawing from the world they went out to preach. There were two denominations of friars in Exeter. The Augustinians were called grey friars because of their grey habits. At first their friary was on the site of Friernhay Street. Later they moved to a site east of the town walls. There were also Dominican friars, known as black friars because of their black habits. Bristol in the middle ages maintained the church which fostered the only hospitals. There were several in Bristol including St Johns hospital, St Catherines, St Marks and St Bartholmews. There were also leper hostels outside the town during the journey of many people who called pilgrimages to Jerusalem. In 1118 an order of fighting monks called the Knights Templar was founded to defend them and built the Temple Church in Bristol as one of many among meadowlandland in England. Merchants brought a red flower called the scarlet lychnis (lychnis chalcedonia) from the eastern Mediterranean (it is also called the Maltese Cross or the nonsuch). It became the emblem of Bristol. In Bridgewater a 'hospital' was founded by the East Gate in 1213.
Circenster when in 1215 and 1253 the abbot was given the right to hold wool fairs. In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets but they were held only once a yeare and they attracted buyers and sellers from a wide area. Many foreign merchants came to buy wool at the Cirencester fairs. By 1246 there were Franciscan friars in Exeter. They were called Grey friars because of the colour of their habits. Friars were like monks but instead of withdrawing from the world they went out to preach.
Newton Abbot was created in the 13th century. Originally there were two towns in the 13th century England and was divided into areas called manors. One, south of the River Lemon was owned by the Abbey of Torre. In 1220 the Abbot founded a new town south of the river. He was granted the right to hold weekly markets. In the Middle Ages there were few shops and if you wished to buy or sell anything you had to go to a market. The Abbot was also allowed to hold an annual fair. In 1246, the Lord of the manor north of the river created another new town. In that yeare he was granted the right to hold weekly markets. From 1262 the manor was owned by the Bushel family. So this town became known as Newton Bushel. In 1309 the Bushel's were granted the right to hold two annual fairs.
In 1189 Bath was given its first charter (a document granting the townspeople certain rights). The main industry in Medieval Bath was the manufacture of woollen cloth. Exeter was an port for wool export and wine import from Devon and sail, ship, and cargo from the south stopped at Topsham. In the early 13th century passages were dug to bring water into Exeter. By the mid-13th century Taunton had two fairs. In the Middle Ages fairs were like markets but were held only once a yeare for a period of several days. Taunton fairs would attract buyers and sellers from all over Southwest England. In the years 1239-1247 the course of the Frome, a tributary of the Avon, was diverted to make navigation easier. By the 13th century wine was Bristol's main import. In 1373 the boundaries of Bristol were extended to include Redcliffe and High Cross was erected. Bristol was made a county of its own separate from Gloucestershire and Somerset. Bridgwater was protected by a ditch and an earth rampart with a wooden stockade and was a part of the port of Bristol from 1402.
In the later Middle Ages wine was imported from Spain and Portugal as well as France. In the late Middle Ages ships from Bristol went fishing off Iceland but in 1497 John Cabot made his famous voyage to Newfoundland and after that the fishing grounds changed to the coast of North America.
By 1500 Exeter probably had a population of 8,000. In those days a typical village had only 100 or 150 inhabitants. A grammar school was founded in Bristol in 1532. Exeter was a large and important town; the main industry was still the manufacture of wool. The tanning industry also continued to thrive. Moreover Exeter continued to be an important port. In 1566 a canal was dug around the weir so ships could once again sail to the town. In 1538 Henry VIII closed the priory and the friaries and in Bridgewater-the hospitals and Circenster Abbey closed in 1539 from where Newton Abbey was created and eventually marketed for the buildings of the abbey were cannibalised and the people wanted no abbot.
At Frome, throughout the middle ages and Tudor times, by law, every man had to practice archery on Sunday afternoon. They practiced at the place called the Butts, which has survived as a street name. The religious changes of the 16th century led to a rebellion in 1549. Queen Elizabeth Hospital School was founded in 1590. Red Maids girls school was founded in 1634 (it was called that because of the colour of the school uniforms). Red Lodge was built about 1590. In 1590 Queen Elizabeth gave Bath a new charter. From then on Bath had a mayor and aldermen. From the late 17th century bells were cast in Frome and among other towns, in 1685 the Duke of Monmouth led a rebellion against the king. Bristol boomed in the late 17th century as new colonies were founded in the West Indies and North America.
In 1610 Dorchester was given a charter (a document granting the townspeople certain rights and reforming local government). In 1613 Dorchester suffered a severe fire, which destroyed much of the town. There were other less serious fires in Dorchester in 1622, 1725,1737 and 1775. In 1776 thatched roofs were banned in Dorchester to reduce the risk of fire. Dorchester was given another charter in 1630. The small market town grew continually, Trinity school was founded in 1625. Attempts were made to fortify the town and Maumbury Rings were revamped as a fort. People found a new use for the Maumbury Rings. Dorchester was a hotbed of Puritanism and plunder was turned over continually between seats and the townspeoples' charters. During the 16th and 17th centuries the old wool industry continued in Dorchester but in the 18th century it died out due to competition with northern towns. After the rebellion, a series 312 trials in Chichester took the place attracting large crowds.
Like all towns in those days Bristol suffered from outbreaks of plague and there were severe outbreaks in 1575 and 1602-04 and Bath suffered from outbreaks of the plague. It struck in 1604, 1625, 1636 and 1643. In the 18th century there were epidemics of smallpox in Cirencester, which killed many people. It struck in 1741 and again in 1758. Gloucester also suffered from frequent outbreaks of plague. There were epidemics in 1565, 1573, 1577, 1580, 1593 and 1637. It struck Leicester in 1564, 1579, 1583 and 1593 and the plague in 1604, 1606, 1610, 1625, 1636 and 1638. It struck Hereford in 1566, 1580, 1604 and 1610 but each time the town recovered.
In 1663 Richard Yarde joined the markets and fairs of the two towns together. The Newton Bushel market was closed and business moved to Newton Abbot. However the two towns continued to be separate entities. When Newton Abbot was first chartered from Exeter, the Knights Templar and pilgrimage was yet to see a market. However much of what was brought back to Exeter was Meditteranean flora among various vestiages and hospices of healing.
Seventeenth century Leicester was known as a town having four gates and five parishes. By 1707 Exeter had its first newspaper, in 1778 a new Exe bridge was built, after 1760 the streets were lit by gas and in 1778 pavements were made in the main street. Frome was reckoned to have more people in it than the city of Bath. In the town the old industry of wool manufacture continued to flourish and the port continued to import large quantities of wine. In 1711 a cannonade of bells was added to the tower of St. Mary Magdalene to chime on each hour. At the start of the 18th century there were 3 market crosses in Taunton, Chuse Cross, Ruish Cross and High Cross and the last one, High cross was removed in 1770 as these were removed because they impeded traffic.
However Exeter became very cramped as the population grew but most people continued to live inside the walls. In 1801 at the time of the first census, towns and cities in the Midlands and the North soon overtook Exeter and continued to decline in relative size, from traditional industries and manufacture and the market town outside the wall grew. Bath was linked to Bristol by rail in 1840 and to London by rail in 1841. In 1801, Frome was once a monastic settlement being a priory to a village and was larger than Taunton and Bridgwater and Yeovil.