 West Shepton, which forms the south-west corner of the town, is dominated by the former Shepton Mallet Union Workhouse, a Grade II listed building originally constructed in 1848. It later became the Norah Fry mental hospital and is now a housing development. Nearby, on the western edge of the town, is the modern community hospital. Moving northwards, back down into the river valley, are two hamlets: Darshill, once the site of a number of mills, and Bowlish, which contains several grand clothiers' houses. The steeply-sloping fields adjoining the river between Bowlish and the rest of the Shepton Mallet are known locally as The Meadows. To their east is Hillmead, a council housing estate built in the 1960s.
