in midsummer." As Simon Winchester notes in his book The Map that Changed the World, "...the roads on this part of Somerset were atrocious, thick with mud and as rough as the surface of the moon". 'Norton Canonicorum' and the priory In some church records the town is referred to as 'Norton Canonicorum' as an alternative to Midsomer Norton, and this may be because of the local Priory's link to Merton Priory in London until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. Prehistory The area at what is now Langley’s Lane in Midsomer Norton was an important and rare area of Mesolithic activity focused around an active tufa spring. Roman The Fosse Way runs through the south-western edge of the town between Westfield, Somerset and Stratton-on-the-Fosse. Middle Ages The parish was part of the hundred of Chewton. Following the Norman Conquest William the Conqueror gave large parts of north Somerset, including the manor of Norton to Geoffrey de Montbray, bishop of Coutances, and Norton was held under him by Ulveva. From about 1150 until 1300 the manor was held by de Lincoln. From 1387 the manor was held by the family of Thomas West, 1st Baron West and his descendants. 18th and 19th century: mining and landmarks The Duchy of Cornwall owned most of the mineral rights around Midsomer Norton and various small pits opened around 1750 to exploit these. Coal mining in the Somerset coalfield gave the town and area its impetus as an industrial centre. Around 1866 an obelisk Crimean War monument with two marble plaques, was built at the site of St Chad's well, by the mother of Frederick Stukeley Savage for the benefit of the poor. The obelisk was in the grounds of Norton House, a Georgian mansion built by Thomas Savage, an investor in coalmines in the area, in 1789. The house itself has since been demolished but other features of its estate are still visible at Silver Street Nature reserve (see below). Governance There are two electoral wards in the town from which Midsomer Norton elects its own Town Council with an elected Mayor. It is part of the North East Somerset constituency, which elects a Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Palladian council offices were built in the mid to late 18th century. Midsomer Norton Town Hall was commissioned by a local brewer,