Frome

I am taking you to Somerset now! I was actually surprised to learn that Frome is less than an hour from where I live. I must confess, I had high expectations about this town. I read so many great things and on an impromptu trip, me and my partner ended up visiting. First impressions as we parked up were…flat. I felt like it may be like any other town I had visited.

BUT what a mistake that impression was.

So I am glad I can bring you some lovely photos and insight into this charming and interesting town. Luckily it is really easy to park, there’s several car parks and we easily found a space in the car park closest to the museum. There’s also a central train station, which I think would work well as the town is small and contained so it’s manageable by foot; it just depends how many things you buy as to whether you want to drive or train in!

Noted for its windmills, established in its wool & cloth manufacturing, this Somerset town is built on the Mendip Hills and has in modern day has repeatedly made it on to lists of “one of the coolest places to live”.

It was established back in Saxon times, when a monastery and subsequent settlement grew around the river Frome. It also has the longest running market in Europe, going since 1268!

So lets break it down…

Walkers

Frome is very hilly so if you weren’t planning a walk as such, be prepared to hike up a few hills…however there is plenty to look at when you do get walking; for every hill that we did climb, it always felt worth the effort.

There’s a few different themed walks, ie focused around pubs or parks that you can do and there’s also a Heritage Trail with over 100 buildings on route; impressive! There are also guided tours you can do at different times of the year, giving you options on how you get your history fix of Frome.

I knew there must be green spaces in Frome but there was so much that we spent our time doing during our visit that we missed them but since I did more research, Victoria Park looks so lovely and there is a loop walk you can do that is approx 1 mile long. The park opened in the late 1800’s in celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee and is a formal looking park/garden that has a cafe and bandstand; I would truly like to come back here for that.

The photo below doesn’t do the steep, cobbled streets justice but there’s a real sense of going back in time as you wander the narrow streets, they are picturesque and welcoming.

Shoppers

Now this for me is one of the highlights of this town. My advice is don’t come here for shops you know, come here prepared to be absolutely dazzled by the huge amount of independent shops that Frome offers instead. Everywhere you see signs for supporting local businesses and there are more shops here than I could possibly mention. There are several areas of shopping to explore and I’ll focus on the non high street ones:

You have got the Iron Gates on King Street – this is a singular Grade II listed building which has studio space but also a few retail spaces. I checked out The Healing Hub in there, which was amazing; gifts, crystals, jewellery candles and is set in a gorgeous room.

Their markets are also something that you read about, hear about and, well if we had gone on a market day, we would have seen! Unfortunately we missed them but if you visit between a Wednesday and a Sunday, you should be in luck to catch one.

St Catherine’s Artisan Square- Stony Street, Catherine Hill which turns into Catherine Street plus a few other streets make up this area of beautiful independent shops. We stopped into Pilea on Catherine Hill, a really cool plant shop, and we also popped into a great vintage store focused on 40’s and 50’s Hollywood glamour, Deadly is the Female.

I’d love to come back and spend some time in many of the shops and I think if you had a present you wanted to buy someone (or hint hint early Christmas shoppers), you’d find some really unique finds here:

I think if I lived more locally, the Share; A library of things shop is a great concept store where you can rent a huge variety of items.

You have to locate Cheap Street too! This is considered an exceptionally well-kept medieval street and still has a leat (a trench that water leads to or from a mill) running through it! Whilst we were looking for it, as soon as we saw all the coloured bunting we knew we had discovered it. It’s hard to capture it well with so many advertising boards but I bet once they are all gone it’s great to step across and would photograph really well. There’s lot of higgledy piggledy shops and cafe’s on this street; of course there was a great bookshop so I was straight in there, Winstone’s and at the top of Cheap Street, we saw in the window of the Frome Bookshop, an old Almanac dating back to 1816, which you can see under the Sightseeing section.

Cafes/Restaurants

Where there is shopping, there is a need to eat and drink! We started our day with a coffee at Cordero Lounge; a chain but nonetheless a great coffee. I love their interiors styling too.

We had lunch at Bistro Lotte, a French bistro. The walk up Catherine Hill and Catherine Street seemed to take so long to get there (plus we kept stopping, to look at various shops, houses and points of interest). I would say, the food was exceptional and it was well worth the walk (it’s also a b&b). I love that it was a former grocer and that the original sign is still visible.

I loved the look of:
Old Bakehouse on Cheap Street – this has been family run for years and has great reviews
Eight Stony Street looked modern and relaxing the menu looked really good too
There are absolutely so many cafes- we thought the Grain Bar, close to where we parked looked nice too, next door to the Cheese & Grain venue.
The Archangel – one of the oldest buildings in Frome, and a lovely looking place to eat and sleep

Drinkers

There were lots of nice looking pubs and bars around, that again it would be hard to pick where to go; but having eaten in the Bistro Lotte, I think this would be a nice place to stop for a drink.
There’s a lively local pub (so it says online!), The Sun, as you head back into the more central area of Frome, which I loved the frontage to. There’s really something for everyone, you’re bound to find something. We liked the look of the Blue Boar too at the bottom of the hill; I’ve taken a photo of the plaque outside as it has some interesting facts about the place.

Hotels

There seem to be quite a few b&b’s in Frome. In the centre though, there aren’t too many and they seem to get booked up quite fast.

I would love to stay in Bistro Lotte (clearly a favourite location for me!) or Rook Lane Bed & Breakfast. There are some beautiful looking apartments/cottages for rent too.

We did actually book into Dollys Shepherd Hut for the night, which is about 20mins down the road (and you definitely need a car and to bring provisions with you); it was such a lovely way to finish our day there too

Sightseeing

We loved seeing the Valentine’s Lamp on Catherine’s Hill; a working gas lamp dedicated to St Valentine, alongside a renovated George V post box from which you can send a love letter. For the past 24 years, a rocket is set off at 5.30pm on Valentine’s Day to beckon people to the lamp. Sweet idea!

You’ll see just after the Almanac picture below a building called the Blue House. Now it is sheltered housing but it’s origins consisted of a chapel and chambers. I read an interesting fact that said it’s existence, and given that it’s Grade I listed, is really great, has been sustained purely by donations from the people of Frome.

St John’s Baptist church is also very pretty; have a wander around both inside and out- on the outside look out for 4 carvings in the wall on the west side of the church; very intricate.

We did walk across Frome Bridge; this was close to where we parked and it’s just past the Blue House; it was covered over with lots of greenery, so I couldn’t get a good photo but it’s at the quieter end of town and if you do get a chance, wander down the street to the left of it, where you’ll find some lovely examples of Queen Anne houses.

Also look out for Boyle Cross; a market cross found in the centre of the town, where the original markets would have been held. It’s spot marked the division of the lower and upper market areas.

We didn’t get time to go to but would love to come back for:
– Frome Musuem, which looks small but I always think in the corner buildings like those, that there is probably more room in there. It has both permanent and temporary exhibitions.
– Jenson Button Bridge- former resident and local, Formula 1 driver Jenson Button has his very own bridge!
– Gentle Street- with plenty of houses dating back to the 16 and 17 century, this historical street sounds great to walk about
– We somehow missed the town fountain – it’s called the Lion Fountain and it is actually set into the wall of St John’s Baptist Church! It’s important because it supplies water to the leat that I mentioned, that runs through Cheap Street
– Many towns have a town hall and this one has a great and really informative service, where you can find out more about the area and what’s on.
– Not too far behind the St John’s Baptist Church, look out for Silk Mill Studio; a well preserved texture mill. Today it’s been repurposed as an events venue as well as an artists studio.

Would I go back?

I am definitely planning a return trip here. I think there will be several actually, but I will need to save up a bit first and come back for a shop-til-you-drop kind of day. But shopping aside, it really is a relaxed place to be and has a really strong community feel to it; you can really feel that even as a visitor. Aside from his F1 career aspirations, I don’t know how Jenson Button could have left this charming place! ;). I think the Festivals that Frome have would be worth a visit, so I will check this out next July and I think I will have to go back there on Valentine’s Day to check out the lamp being lit too!