Portal:Somerset

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Somerset (/ˈsʌmərsɪt, -sɛt/ ^ⓘ SUM-ər-sit, -⁠set; archaically Somersetshire /ˈsʌmərsɪt.ʃɪər, -sɛt-, -ʃər/ SUM-ər-sit-sheer, -⁠set-, -⁠shər) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east and the north-east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Bath, and the county town is Taunton.

Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of 4,171 km² (1,610 sq mi) and a population of 965,424. After Bath (101,557), the largest settlements are Weston-super-Mare (82,418), Taunton (60,479), Yeovil (49,698) and Frome (28,559). Wells (12,000) is a city, the second-smallest by population in England. For local government purposes the county comprises three unitary authority areas: Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, and Somerset. Bath and North East Somerset Council is a member of the West of England Combined Authority.

The centre of Somerset is dominated by the Levels, a coastal plain and wetland. The north-east contains part of the Cotswolds uplands and all of the Mendip Hills, which are both national landscapes; the west contains the Quantock Hills and part of the Blackdown Hills, which are also national landscapes, and most of Exmoor, a national park. The major rivers of the county are the Avon, which flows through Bath and then Bristol, and the Axe, Brue, and Parrett, which drain the Levels.

There is evidence of Paleolithic human occupation in Somerset, and the area was subsequently settled by the Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. The county played a significant part in Alfred the Great's rise to power, and later the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. In the later medieval period its wealth allowed its monasteries and parish churches to be rebuilt in grand style; Glastonbury Abbey was particularly important, and claimed to house the tomb of King Arthur and Guinevere. The city of Bath is famous for its Georgian architecture, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The county is also the location of Glastonbury Festival, one of the UK's major music festivals. (Full article...)

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South Somerset is a local government district occupying an area of 370 square miles (958 km²), stretching from its borders with Devon and Dorset to the edge of the Somerset Levels.

There are 94 Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset. Most are Norman- or medieval-era churches, many of which are included in the Somerset towers—a collection of distinctive, mostly spireless Gothic church towers—but there are other religious buildings as well. Muchelney Abbey consists of the remains and foundations of a medieval Benedictine Abbey and an early Tudor house dating from the 16th century. Stavordale Priory was built as a priory church in the 13th century. The Hamstone Stoke sub Hamdon Priory is a 14th-century former priest's house of the chantry chapel of St Nicholas.

Since the Reformation the 13th-century Hanging Chapel in Langport has been a town hall and armoury before becoming a masonic hall in 1891. The house known as The Abbey in Charlton Mackrell takes its name from the site on which it was built, the Chantry Chapel of the Holy Spirit, founded in 1237. Naish Priory in East Coker, was never a priory, and similarly the Abbey Farm House and Abbey Barn in Yeovil which date from around 1420, have always been in lay-ownership; "abbey" was added to their names in the 19th century. The Burton Pynsent Monument was designed in 1757, for William Pitt. The other Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset are manor houses, built over long periods by local Lords of the Manor such as; the Tudor Barrington Court, Newton Surmaville Lytes Cary, Tintinhull, Ven House and Brympton d'Evercy. (Full article...)

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Possible self-portrait; detail from the Glastonbury Classbook

Dunstan, OSB (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church. His 11th-century biographer Osbern, himself an artist and scribe, states that Dunstan was skilled in "making a picture and forming letters", as were other clergy of his age who reached senior rank.

Dunstan served as an important minister of state to several English kings. He was the most popular saint in England for nearly two centuries, having gained fame for the many stories of his greatness, not least among which were those concerning his famed cunning in defeating the Devil. (Full article...)

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Harry Patch Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard Bill Bailey Jill Dando John Cleese Ælfheah of Canterbury Robert Burnell Savaric FitzGeldewin Jocelin of Wells John of Tours Hugh of Wells Herbie Hewett Jake Seamer Ted Sainsbury Stephen Newton Marcus Trescothick E. W. Bastard

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Districts of Somerset

Somerset (Unitary)
North Somerset (Unitary)
Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary)

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Image 1The west front of Wells Cathedral (from Somerset)
Image 2Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton (from Culture of Somerset)
Image 3"Samurai" by Griffens CC, at Burnham on Sea Carnival 2006, part of the West Country Carnival circuit (from Culture of Somerset)
Image 4The marina in Watchet (from Somerset)
Image 5Glastonbury Tor (from Culture of Somerset)
Image 6Theatre Royal, Bath (from Culture of Somerset)
Image 7The flag designed to represent the historic county of Somerset in 2013 (from Somerset)
Image 8The Dunster Yarn Market was built in 1609 for the trading of local cloth. (from Somerset)
Image 9Palladian Pulteney Bridge at Bath (from Somerset)
Image 10A map of the county in 1646, author unknown (from Somerset)
Image 11Stone quarries are still a major employer in Somerset (from Somerset)
Image 12Bristol Airport, which is located in North Somerset (from Somerset)
Image 13The west front of Wells Cathedral (from Culture of Somerset)
Image 14A steam locomotive and carriages, on the West Somerset Railway, a heritage line of notable length, in spring 2015 (from Somerset)
Image 15The ceremonial county immediately prior to the 2023 local government restructuring, with South Somerset (1), Somerset West and Taunton (2), Sedgemoor (3) and Mendip (4) as non-metropolitan districts (shown in pink), and just Bath and North East Somerset (5), and North Somerset (6) as unitary authorities (shown in yellow). (from Somerset)
Image 16The Avon Gorge, the historic boundary between Gloucestershire and Somerset, and also Mercia and Wessex; Somerset is to the left (from Somerset)
Image 17Tyntesfield (from Somerset)
Image 18Brean Down from Steep Holm (from Somerset)
Image 19The town of Glastonbury looking west from the top of Glastonbury Tor. The fields in the distance are the Somerset Levels. (from Somerset)
Image 20The Huish Park ground of Yeovil Town F.C. (from Culture of Somerset)
Image 21A traditional cider apple orchard at Over Stratton, with sheep grazing (from Somerset)
Image 22The River Brue in an artificial channel draining farmland near Glastonbury (from Somerset)
Image 23The Exmoor landscape with the native Exmoor Pony (from Somerset)
Image 24Tyntesfield. (from Culture of Somerset)
Image 25Weston-super-Mare Town Hall, the administrative headquarters of North Somerset (from Somerset)
Image 26Sand Sculpture at Weston-super-Mare Sand Sculpture Festival of A Midsummer Nights Dream (from Culture of Somerset)

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A view of Glastonbury from the Tor

Glastonbury
Co-ordinates 51°08′55″N 2°42′50″W / 51.1485°N 2.714°W

Glastonbury is a small town situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, 30 miles (48 km) south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census. Glastonbury is less than 1 mile (2 km) across the River Brue from the village of Street. Evidence from timber trackways such as the Sweet Track show that the town has been inhabited since Neolithic times. Glastonbury Lake Village was an Iron Age village, close to the old course of the River Brue and Sharpham Park approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Glastonbury, dates back to the Bronze Age. Centwine was the first Saxon patron of Glastonbury Abbey, which dominated the town for the next 700 years. One of the most important abbeys in England, it was the site of Edmund Ironside's coronation as King of England in 1016. Many of the oldest surviving buildings in the town, including the Tribunal, George Hotel and Pilgrims' Inn and the Somerset Rural Life Museum, which is based in an old tithe barn, are associated with the abbey. The Church of St John the Baptist dates from the 15th century.

The town became a centre for commerce, which led to the construction of the market cross, Glastonbury Canal and the Glastonbury and Street railway station, the largest station on the original Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The Brue Valley Living Landscape is a conservation project managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust and nearby is the Ham Wall National Nature Reserve.

Glastonbury has been described as a New Age community which attracts people with New Age beliefs, and is notable for myths and legends often related to Glastonbury Tor, concerning Joseph of Arimathea, the Holy Grail and King Arthur. In some Arthurian literature Glastonbury is identified with the legendary island of Avalon. Joseph is said to have arrived in Glastonbury and stuck his staff into the ground, when it flowered miraculously into the Glastonbury Thorn. The presence of a landscape zodiac around the town has been suggested, along with a collection of ley lines, but no evidence has been discovered. Glastonbury Festival takes its name from the town but is actually held in the nearby village of Pilton. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:

... that Brent Knoll Camp (pictured) on the Somerset Levels was used for military purposes in the Iron Age and again in World War II?
... that Burnham-on-Sea's lifeboat used to be pulled by horses along a railway line from its lifeboat station to the beach where it could be launched?
... that the Old Priory Barn, which now houses the Somerset Cricket Museum, is the only surviving building of the Augustinian Taunton Priory?
... that Burnett, a village in Somerset, had a civil parish of 608 acres until it was merged into the neighbouring village of Compton Dando?
... that Stokeleigh Camp is one of three Iron Age fortifications overlooking the Avon Gorge near Bristol?

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WikiProjects

Main project: WikiProject Somerset

Parent projects: WikiProject UK geography, WikiProject England

Nearby projects: WikiProject Bristol, WikiProject Devon, WikiProject Dorset, WikiProject Wiltshire

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v t e Ceremonial county of Somerset
Somerset Portal
Unitary authorities	Bath and North East Somerset North Somerset Somerset Council
Major settlements (cities in italics)	Axbridge Bath Bridgwater Bruton Burnham-on-Sea Castle Cary Chard Clevedon Crewkerne Dulverton Frome Glastonbury Highbridge Ilminster Keynsham Langport Midsomer Norton Minehead Nailsea North Petherton Portishead Radstock Shepton Mallet Somerton Street Taunton Watchet Wellington Wells Weston-super-Mare Wincanton Wiveliscombe Yeovil See also: List of civil parishes in Somerset
Rivers	Alham Aller Avill Avon Axe rivers Bristol Channel Lyme Bay Badgworthy Water Banwell Barle Brue Cam Brook Cary Chew East Lyn Exe Fivehead Frome Haddeo Hoar Oak Water Holford Horner Huntspill Isle Land Yeo Mells Midford Brook Oare Water Parret Severn Estuary Sheppey Somer Sowy Tone Washford Wellow Brook West Lyn Whitelake Yeo rivers Congresbury South Somerset
Topics	Country houses County Council Culture of Somerset Economy of Somerset Flag Geography of Somerset Geology of Somerset Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings High Sheriff of Somerset History of Somerset Local nature reserves Lord Lieutenant of Somerset Museums National nature reserves Parliamentary constituencies Places Population of major settlements Scheduled monuments Schools SSSIs Transport in Somerset Geographic areas: Blackdown Hills Brendon Hills Chew Valley Exmoor Mendip Hills Polden Hills Quantock Hills Somerset Levels South West Coast Path West Somerset Coast Path

v t e Schools in Somerset¹
Primary	Bridgwater College Academy Lympsham CE Academy Wedmore First School Academy
Middle	Fairlands Middle School Hugh Sexey CE Middle School
Secondary	Ansford Academy Backwell School Beechen Cliff School Bishop Fox's School Blue School Bridgwater College Academy Broadlands Academy Broadoak Academy Brymore Academy Bucklers Mead Academy Castle School Chew Valley School Chilton Trinity School Churchill Academy Clevedon School Court Fields School Crispin School Frome Community College Gordano School Hans Price Academy Haygrove School Hayesfield Girls' School Heathfield Community School Holyrood Academy Huish Episcopi Academy King Alfred School King Arthur's School Kings of Wessex Academy Kingsmead School Nailsea School Norton Hill School Oldfield School Preston School Priory Community School Ralph Allen School Robert Blake Science College St Dunstan's School St Gregory's RC College St Katherine's School St Mark's School Sexey's School Somervale School Stanchester Academy Taunton Academy Wadham School Wellsway School West Somerset College Westfield Academy Whitstone School Winterstoke Hundred Academy Worle Community School Writhlington School
Independent (preparatory)	All Hallows Preparatory School Chard School Hazlegrove Preparatory School King's Hall School Millfield Preparatory School Perrott Hill School
Independent (secondary)	Downside School King Edward's School, Bath King's College, Taunton King's School, Bruton Kingswood School Millfield Monkton Combe School Prior Park College Queen's College, Taunton Royal High School, Bath Sidcot School Taunton School Wellington School Wells Cathedral School
Special	Newbury Manor School North Hill House School Three Ways School
Sixth form and FE colleges	Bath College (FE) Bridgwater College Dillington House Richard Huish College Somerset College of Arts and Technology Strode College Weston College Yeovil College
Defunct	Bath College (public school) Bath Community Academy Bluecoat School Bruton School for Girls Chilton Cantelo School City of Bath Technical School Crewkerne Grammar School Ladymead Community School The Park School Ravenscroft School Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army The St Augustine of Canterbury School St Brandon's School Shapwick School Taunton Grammar School Yeovil Grammar School Yeovil School
¹includes Bath & North East Somerset and North Somerset