The Somerset Portal
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), and Yeovil (49,698). 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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Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian, actor and television presenter. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom Black Books and for his regular appearances on the panel shows Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Have I Got News for You, and QI, as well as for his stand-up comedy work. He plays a variety of musical instruments and incorporates music into his performances.
Bailey was listed by The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy in 2003. In 2007, and again in 2010, he was voted the seventh greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups. In 2020 Bailey won the 18th series of the televised BBC dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing with his professional partner Oti Mabuse. At 55, he was the oldest winner in the show's history. (Full article...)Districts of Somerset
- Somerset (Unitary)
- North Somerset (Unitary)
- Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary)
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Co-ordinates 51°17′03″N 2°28′54″W / 51.2842°N 2.4817°W
Midsomer Norton is a town in Somerset 10 miles (16.1 km) south-west of Bath, 10 miles (16 km) north-east of Wells, 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Frome, and 16 miles (26 km) south-east of Bristol. It has a population of 10,458. Along with Radstock it is part of the conurbation and large civil parish of Norton Radstock, and the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset.
The town, on the Mendip Hills has a long history, shown by the early churches, but really started to grow, and become a transport hub, with the development of the Somerset coalfield with several pits providing employment until their closure in the 1960s. The town's railway stations have also closed. Midsomer Norton is now home to printing and other industries and provides shopping and service industries for the surrounding area.
It has a rich cultural history and supports several music venues and bands. The town has four primary schools, two large secondary schools and a further education college. Midsomer Norton is home to a leisure centre and several sports clubs. It has been the birth place or home to several notable people. (Full article...)
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:
- ... that the boathouse for the Burnham Area Rescue Boat (pictured) was built in just three days as part of the Challenge Anneka television series?
- ... that the medieval chronicler Matthew Paris accused the medieval bishop Hugh of Wells (d. 1235) of being biased against monks, calling him "an untiring persecutor of monks"?
- ... that horses hauled both passenger and goods trains to Weston-super-Mare railway station, England, from 1841, when the railway opened, until 1851?
- ... that a coal mining spoil heap at Writhlington, England was the site for the discovery of fossilised remains of the world's earliest known Damselfly?
- ... that Drove Cottage Henge is around 54 metres (177 ft) in diameter, yet is hard to see because repeated ploughing has heavily damaged it?
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WikiProjects
Nearby projects: WikiProject Bristol, WikiProject Devon, WikiProject Dorset, WikiProject Wiltshire
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Featured articles
- Ælfheah of Canterbury
- Bath, Somerset
- Battle of Babylon Hill
- Battle of Marshall's Elm
- Margaret Bondfield
- Robert Burnell
- Chew Stoke
- Equestrian statue of Edward Horner
- Exmoor
- Ham Wall
- Herbie Hewett
- Kennet and Avon Canal
- Mells War Memorial
- Mendip Hills
- Lionel Palairet
- Porlock Stone Circle
- River Parrett
- Sieges of Taunton
- Somerset County Cricket Club in 1891
- Somerset County Cricket Club in 2009
- Somerset Levels
- Sweet Track
- Marcus Trescothick
- Wells Cathedral
- Withypool Stone Circle
Featured lists
- List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells
- Works of Keith Floyd
- Grade I listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset
- Grade I listed buildings in Mendip
- Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset
- Grade I listed buildings in Sedgemoor
- Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset
- Grade I listed buildings in Taunton Deane
- Grade I listed buildings in West Somerset
- Grade II* listed buildings in North Somerset
- List of civil parishes in Somerset
- List of English Heritage properties in Somerset
- List of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal
- List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Avon
- List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset
- List of Somerset County Cricket Club Twenty20 players
- List of Somerset County Cricket Club grounds
- List of Somerset County Cricket Club players with 100 or more first-class or List A appearances
- List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in Southwest England
- List of hillforts and ancient settlements in Somerset
- List of local nature reserves in Somerset
- List of scheduled monuments in North Somerset
- List of scheduled monuments in Sedgemoor
- List of scheduled monuments in South Somerset
- Grade II* listed buildings in Mendip
- List of museums in Somerset
- List of national nature reserves in Somerset
- List of National Trust properties in Somerset
- Scheduled monuments in Bath and North East Somerset
- Scheduled monuments in Mendip
- Scheduled monuments in Taunton Deane
- Scheduled monuments in West Somerset
- Grade II* listed buildings in Sedgemoor
- Grade II* listed buildings in Taunton Deane
- Grade II* listed buildings in West Somerset
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- A303 road
- 1754 Taunton by-election
- 1887 Taunton by-election
- The Abbot's Fish House, Meare
- Agapemonites
- William Arnold (settler)
- Ashton Court
- Ashton Court Festival
- Athelm
- River Avon, Bristol
- Avon Gorge
- Herbert E. Balch
- Barrington Court
- E. W. Bastard
- Bath Abbey
- Bath Assembly Rooms
- Beckford's Tower
- Berhtwald
- Birnbeck Pier
- Bishop's Palace, Wells
- Blackdown Hills National Landscape
- Blagdon Lake
- John Braham (RAF officer)
- Brean Down
- HMS Bridgewater (L01)
- Bridgwater and Taunton Canal
- Bridgwater Bay
- Bridgwater
- Brislington House
- Bruton Dovecote
- Buildings and architecture of Bath
- Burnham-on-Sea
- Mike Burns (cricketer)
- Buro Happold
- Burrow Mump
- Burton Pynsent House
- Jenson Button
- Allegra Byron
- Cadbury Camp
- Cadbury Castle, Somerset
- Chard, Somerset
- Cheddar Gorge
- Cheddar, Somerset
- Chew Magna
- St Andrew's Church, Chew Stoke
- Claverton Pumping Station
- Cleeve Abbey
- Clevedon
- Clevedon Court
- Clevedon Pier
- Cleveland Pools
- Clifton Suspension Bridge
- Climate of south-west England
- Coleridge Cottage
- The Crescent, Taunton
- Crewkerne
- Cricket at the 1900 Summer Olympics
- Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill
- Dolebury Warren
- Dovecot at Blackford Farm
- Dunkery Hill
- Dunstan
- Dunster Butter Cross
- Dunster Castle
- Dunster
- Dunster Working Watermill
- Ebbor Gorge
- Exmoor pony
- Farleigh Hungerford Castle
- Reginald Fitz Jocelin
- Savaric FitzGeldewin
- Henry Fownes Luttrell (died 1780)
- Henry Fox (sportsman)
- Frome
- Fyne Court
- Gallox Bridge, Dunster
- Edith Garrud
- Geography of Somerset
- Geology of Somerset
- Gisa (bishop of Wells)
- Eleanor Glanville
- Glastonbury Abbey
- Glastonbury Canal
- Glastonbury Festival
- Glastonbury
- Glastonbury Lake Village
- Glastonbury Tor
- Grade I listed buildings in Somerset
- Grand Western Canal
- HM Prison Shepton Mallet
- Hestercombe House
- James Hill (British Army officer)
- Sidney Hill
- History of Somerset
- Holnicote Estate
- Hot Fuzz
- Jocelin of Wells
- John of Tours
- Keynsham
- King Alfred's Tower
- King John's Hunting Lodge, Axbridge
- Scott Laird
- Leigh Court
- Leigh Woods National Nature Reserve
- Long Ashton railway station
- Lyfing (archbishop of Canterbury)
- Lytes Cary
- Masonic Hall, Taunton
- Midsomer Norton
- Minehead
- Monmouth Rebellion
- Montacute House
- Muchelney Abbey
- Nailsea Court
- Nailsea
- Nailsea and Backwell railway station
- Nettlecombe Court
- Stephen Newton
- Tom Nichols (footballer)
- Nunney Castle
- Pill railway station
- PinkPantheress
- Portishead, Somerset
- Massey Poyntz
- The Priest's House, Muchelney
- Prior Park Landscape Garden
- Prior Park
- Pulteney Bridge
- Quantock Hills
- Radstock
- River Brue
- River Tone
- Robert of Bath
- Roman Baths (Bath)
- Royal Crescent
- Ted Sainsbury
- St Catherine's Court
- Sand Point and Middle Hope
- Scheduled monuments in Somerset
- Jake Seamer
- Shepton Mallet
- Sigeric (bishop)
- Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument
- Solsbury Hill
- Somerset Coal Canal
- Somerset Coalfield
- Somerset County Cricket Club in 1882
- Somerset County Cricket Club in 1885
- Somerton, Somerset
- Stanton Drew stone circles
- Steep Holm
- Stembridge Mill, High Ham
- Stoke sub Hamdon Priory
- Ston Easton Park
- Stoney Littleton Long Barrow
- Street, Somerset
- Sutton Court
- Sydney Gardens
- St Joseph's Convent, Taunton
- Taunton
- Taunton Unitarian Chapel
- Team Bath F.C.
- Theatre Royal, Bath
- Tintinhull Garden
- To Catch a Copper
- Treasurer's House, Martock
- Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard
- The Tribunal, Glastonbury
- Tyntesfield
- Vicars' Close, Wells
- Walton and Ivythorn Hills
- Watchet
- Wellington Monument, Somerset
- Wellington, Somerset
- Hugh of Wells
- Wells, Somerset
- West Hendford Cricket Ground
- West Pennard Court Barn
- West Somerset Mineral Railway
- Westhay Moor
- Weston-super-Mare
- Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum
- Edward Wickham
- Maisie Williams
- Woodspring Priory
- Wookey Hole Caves
- Worle railway station
- Worlebury Camp
- Wulfhelm
- Yarn Market, Dunster
- Yatton railway station
- Yeovil
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