The Amulet, Shepton Mallet (1975)
In 1971, Shepton Mallet's town centre was dying. One man, with a vision and a fawn, stepped in to rebuild it. And in the process created one of the most unique 1970s buildings in the country. I take a deep dive into the Babysham brutalist-inspired Amulet.
“I wanted to repay the town. When you are the major industry in a small place and you provide employment to many in the community you have a certain responsibility to that community.” (Shepton Mallet Journal, 4 Dec 1975)
Shepton Mallet is a small market town, tucked into a fold in the Mendips. It’s less than 3 miles, as the crow flies, from Worthy Farm where most years Glastonbury Festival emerges from the lingering mists around the summer solstice, like a chaotic west country Brigadoon. This is cider country.
This month, I look at a community centre, built by a wealthy industrialist to repay the people whose labour that had provided him with his fortune. The people of the town are currently trying to buy his gift to them, the Amulet in Shepton Mallet, back. It’s a story that connects to the rise and fall of regional theatre, and the rise and fall of a single drink.