Mells, Great Elm and Whatley Bottom

The Horner family have clearly played a leading role in the life of the village since the 16th century, when John Horner acquired Mells Manor House, It is said, by deceit. He was entrusted with the deeds of the house by the Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey. The deeds, the 'plum' of the rhyme were purloined by John 'Jack' Horner. The story is almost certainly apocryphal, but it is still a popular nursery rhyme.

The Manor House was described in 1794 in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' as having half the old house mouldering in ruins and the rest occupied by a farmer. Since then it has been extensively restored and still retains its Elizabethan grandeur.

In St Andrews Church there is a chapel dedicated to the Horner family. An equestrian statue by Sir Alfred Munnings is its major feature. It depicts Edward Horner who died at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. Also of interest in Mells is the old village lockup, the medieval tithe barn and the Sir Edwin Luytons War Memorial.

During the walk the sound of lorries can be heard trundling their cargoes from quarries but essentially agriculture dominates the Mendips. The cloth trade flourished in this area from the 14th to the 19th centuries, and made the nearby town of Frome prosperous. Mells stream supplied the water for fulling (thickening the cloth by beating its fibres) and powering the heavy woollen hammers called fulling-stocks.

Another local industry was iron. Fussells established their first factory in 1744 for grinding edge tools and forging iron plates. They specialised in producing agricultural implements that were exported throughout the Empire, even winning gold medals at an exhibition in Vienna in 1860 for scythes and reaphooks. The ruins of the iron works are beside the stream.

The remains of the prehistoric camps of Wadbury, Tedbury, Newbury and Kingsdown are impressive and imply that this was an area of great importance in early times. Wadbury Camp and Tedbury Camp are adjacent to the walk, the latter being the most accessible on this walk by making a small detour.