Ilminster Area Guide

Part of the Local Community in Ilminster

Symonds & Sampson are proud to be part of the local community. We enjoy taking part in the annual Christmas window competition, raising funds for our nominated charities, and sponsoring many local events, including the town’s Literary Festival, local school and village fetes.  For details of what's coming up, please visit our Events Page.

Out & About - Sport, Leisure and Culture in Ilminster & South Somerset

There’s plenty to keep you active in and around Ilminster with golf at Cricket St Thomas, a tennis, pickleball and bowls club, a football club, and a cricket club in the town. A recently opened Padel court on the Dillington Estate is proving very popular too.  Both Chard and Crewkerne offer well-equipped leisure centres and indoor swimming pools and are within easy driving distance.

Ilminster offers a vibrant, community-driven arts and culture scene anchored by historic venues, local galleries, and traditional Somerset craft. Despite its small market town size, it boasts an active theatrical presence and a thriving hub for visual and musical arts, much of which is centred around the Ilminster Arts Centre and The Warehouse Theatre, both hosting a diverse and impressive calendar of music, theatre, talks, film screenings, workshops and events throughout the year. A weekly market takes place in the town centre and is in the heart of South Somerset’s celebrated agricultural heritage, including traditional cider-making at Perry’s Cider Mill in the neighbouring village of Dowlish Wake.

Surrounded by beautiful countryside, Ilminster nestles between the Blackdown Hills National Landscape (formerly AONB) to the west, the Special Protected Area of the Somerset Levels to the north, the rolling hills of Dorset to the south and beyond to Lyme Regis and the World Heritage Jurassic Coast (18 miles). The surrounding area is rich in footpaths, cycle routes, historic buildings and estates, and miles of pretty lanes and rights of way that meander through picture-postcard villages.

Herne Hill Nature Trail lies just outside of the town, as does the former railway line (part of Sustrans Route 33) towards Donyatt Halt, now a traffic free cycle path that goes all the way to Chard, and walks along the River Ile. The town is close to several National Trust properties, including Barrington Court, Tintinhull House, Montacute and Lytes Cary, all within a short drive. Both the town and surrounding area are home to a host of creative artists, makers and growers, with local vineyards and cider makers particularly enjoying national acclaim.  Local craft and food fairs and the town’s weekly markets are not to be missed!