Not far from the border of Devon, in the county of Somerset, lies the lovely and idyllic burg known as Chard. Chard sets itself apart from nearly every other part of Somerset, though, thanks to its unique location and gorgeous architecture. Chard is at the southernmost point of Somerset and, at nearly four hundred feet high in elevation, it also the highest point in the county. There are a seemingly endless array of fascinating and unique features in the town, though, and this is what helps the town to have such a lovely and charming identity.
Fore Street is a great place to see some of the fun flavour of Chard. On either side of the street is a stream that runs throughout the town. One stream ends up connecting to the English Channel while the other one finds its home at the Bristol Channel. Because of this, residents like to joke about the fact that the rest of England flows out of the lovely town of Chard. The town was first established in the early 1200s when it was granted a charter from King John and though a few of the antiquated buildings from that era still exist, many of the classic edifices of those days were destroyed during a massive fire that ravaged the town in 1577. Fires of this magnitude were actually not very uncommon in those days because many of the houses from that era were made of thatched roofs and other extremely flammable materials. Many towns that were lively before the Middle Ages succumbed to fires such as the one that attacked Chard. Luckily, many of the original establishments were rebuilt immediately following the fire so we can still appreciate some buildings that are over five hundred years old and still carry much of the flavor that was lost during the few hundred years that predated the fire.
Sadly, Chard wouldn't be immune to further damage for long. During the English Civil War Chard was hit particularly hard and people from both sides ransacked the homes and materials within. Even Charles 1 visited the town on a plundering expedition. At any rate, such awful events did nothing to detract the proud people of Chard from rebuilding their town and their lives. Chard still accomplished far more than most cities in spite of random acts of destruction and it was in Chard that powered flight was first accomplished. The year was 1948 and John Stringfellow, a Victorian hero in aeronautics, created the Aerial Steam Carriage which was the first instance of using an engine to create flight. Another pioneer of technology, James Gillingham, grew up in Chard and he broke new ground in the field of artificial limbs when he crafted the first prosthetic arm in the late 1800s. Chard is the perfect example of a town that refuses to let strife and pain get in the way of living. There may have been dark periods in the history of this city but its residents have never shied away from innovating and creating throughout the many years that Chard has blessed us with its existence.
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