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Few English market towns carry quite the weight of history that Shepton Mallet does. Tucked into the eastern edge of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the south-west, with roots stretching back through the medieval wool trade and beyond. The town's compact centre still bears the marks of that prosperity: the Church of St Peter and St Paul, with its remarkable panelled nave ceiling of more than 350 carved panels, stands as one of the finest parish churches in Somerset, and the old market cross and shambles speak to centuries of commercial life on the same streets.

Shepton Mallet occupies an interesting position in the English imagination. It is not a place that announces itself loudly. The Mendip landscape around it, all limestone ridges and ancient drove roads, gives it a quiet, grounded character that rewards those who slow down enough to look properly. The River Sheppey runs through the lower part of town, and the surrounding countryside connects easily to the Somerset Levels to the south and the dramatic gorge country around Cheddar to the west. For a town of its size, the sense of place is unusually strong.