 The village of Cheddar had been important during the Roman and Saxon eras . There was a royal palace at Cheddar during the Saxon period , which was used on three occasions in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot . The ruins of the palace were excavated in the 1960s . They are located on the grounds of The Kings of Wessex Academy , together with a 14th century chapel dedicated to St. Columbanus . Roman remains have also been uncovered at the site . Cheddar was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as <unk> , meaning " Shear Water " , from the Old English <unk> and Celtic <unk> . An alternate spelling in earlier documents , common through the 1850s is <unk> . As early as 1130 AD , the Cheddar Gorge was recognised as one of the " Four wonders of England " . Historically , Cheddar 's source of wealth was farming and cheese making for which it was famous as early as 1170 AD . The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred . 
