1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Wellington (Somerset)

WELLINGTON, a market town in the Wellington parliamentary division of Somersetshire, England, at the foot of the Blackdown hiUs, and near the river Tone, 170½ m. W. by S. of London by the Great Western railway. Pop. of urban district (1901), 7283. The 15th-century church of St John has a fine Perpendicular tower and chancel; while the clerestories nave is Early English. There is a magnificent altar-tomb to Sir J. Popham, Lord Chief Justice under Elizabeth and James I. The chief buildings include the West Somerset County School and a 17th-century hospital for the aged poor, founded by Sir J. Popham. A tower, which stands on the highest peak of the Blackdowns, 2½ m. S., was erected in honour of the duke of Wellington. The town has woollen manufactures, iron foundries and brick and tile works.