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FROME

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 246 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FROME , a See also:

market See also:town in the Frome See also:parliamentary See also:division of See also:Somersetshire, See also:England, 107 m. W. by S. of See also:London by the See also:Great Western railway. Pop. of See also:urban See also:district (1901) 11,057. It is unevenly built on high ground above the See also:river Frome, which is here crossed by a See also:stone See also:bridge of five See also:arches. It was formerly called Frome or Froome Selwood, after the neighbouring See also:forest of Selwood; and the See also:country See also:round is still richly wooded and picturesque. The See also:parish See also:church of St See also:John the Baptist, with its See also:fine See also:tower and See also:spire, was built about the See also:close of the 14th See also:century, and, though largely restored, has a beautiful See also:chancel, See also:Lady See also:chapel and See also:baptistery. Fragments of See also:Norman See also:work are See also:left; the interior is elaborately adorned with sculptures and stained See also:glass. The market-See also:hall, museum, school of See also:art, and a See also:free See also:grammar school, founded under See also:Edward VI., may be noted among buildings and institutions. The See also:chief See also:industries are See also:brewing and art See also:metal-working, also See also:printing, metal-See also:founding, and the manufacture of See also:cloth, See also:silk, tools and See also:cards for See also:wool-dressing. See also:Dairy farming is largely practised in the See also:neighbour-See also:hood. Selwood forest was See also:long a favourite haunt of brigands, and even in the 18th century gave shelter to a gang of coiners and highwaymen. The Saxon occupation of Frome (From) is the earliest of which there is See also:evidence, the See also:settlement being due to the See also:foundation of a monastery by See also:Aldhelm in 705.

A witenagemot was held there in 934, so that Frome must already have been a See also:

place of some See also:size. At the See also:time of the Domesday Survey the See also:manor was owned by See also:King See also:William. See also:Local tradition asserts that Frome was a See also:medieval See also:borough, and the See also:reeve of Frome is occasionally mentioned in documents after the reign of Edward I., but there is no See also:direct evidence that Frome was a borough and no trace of any See also:charter granted to it. It was not represented in See also:parliament until given one member by the Reform See also:Act of 1832. See also:Separate See also:representation ceased in 1885. Frome was never incorporated. A charter of See also:Henry VII. to See also:Edmund Leversedge, then See also:lord of the manor, granted the right to have fairs on the 22nd of See also:July and the 21st of See also:September. In the 18th century two other fairs on the 24th of See also:February and the 25th of See also:November were held. See also:Cattle fairs are now held on the last Wednesday in February and November, and a See also:cheese See also:fair on the last Wednesday in September. The Wednesday market is held under the charter of Henry VII. There is also a Saturday cattle market. The manufacture of woollen cloth has been established since the 15th century, Frome being the only See also:Somerset town in which this See also:staple See also:industry has flourished continuously.

End of Article: FROME

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FROMENTIN, EUGENE (1820-1876)