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The Somerset Portal

caption=Somerset shown within England
caption=Somerset shown within England

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

Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of 4,171 km2 (1,610 sq mi) and an estimated population of 1,012,934 in 2024. Bath is in the north-east of the county, Yeovil in the south-east, Taunton in the south-west, and the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare in the north-west. The city of Wells, the second-smallest city by population in England, is located in the centre. 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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View of the Porlock Vale over toward Bossington Hill from Porlock Hill
View of the Porlock Vale over toward Bossington Hill from Porlock Hill
Exmoor National Park is a national park situated on the Bristol Channel coast of South West England. 71% of the National Park is located within the county of Somerset and the remaining 29% is in Devon. The park, which includes the Brendon Hills and the Vale of Porlock, covers 267 square miles (692 km2) of hilly open moorland and 34 miles (55 km) of coast. It is primarily an upland area with a dispersed population living mainly in small villages and hamlets. The three largest settlements are Lynton and Lynmouth, Porlock and Dulverton, which together contain almost 40% of the National Park population.

Prior to being a park, Exmoor was a Royal Forest and hunting ground, which was sold off in 1818. Exmoor was one of the first British National Parks, designated in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, and is named after its main river, the River Exe. Several areas of the moor, including the Coastal Heaths, North Exmoor, South Exmoor and Chains, have been declared a Site of Special Scientific interest due to the flora and fauna. In 1993 Exmoor was designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Area. (Full article...)

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Jill Wendy Dando (9 November 1961 – 26 April 1999) was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She spent most of her career at the BBC and was the corporation's Personality of the Year in 1997. At the time of her death, her television work included co-presenting the BBC One programme Crimewatch with Nick Ross.

On the morning of 26 April 1999, Dando was shot dead outside her home in Fulham, London, prompting the biggest murder inquiry ever conducted by the Metropolitan Police and the country's largest criminal investigation since the Peter Sutcliffe case. A local man, Barry George, was convicted and imprisoned for the murder, but was acquitted eight years later following an appeal and retrial. No other suspect has been charged, and the case remains unsolved. (Full article...)

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Districts of Somerset

  1. Somerset (Unitary)
  2. North Somerset (Unitary)
  3. Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary)
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Church of St Mary the Virgin, Chard
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Chard
Chard
Co-ordinates 50°52′22″N 2°57′31″W / 50.8728°N 2.9587°W / 50.8728; -2.9587

Chard is a town and civil parish. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon border, 15 miles (24 km) south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 12,000 and, at an elevation of 121 metres (397 ft), it is the southernmost and highest town in Somerset. Administratively Chard forms part of the district of South Somerset.

The name of the town was Cerden in 1065 and Cerdre in the Domesday Book of 1086. Before the Norman Conquest, Chard was held by the Bishop of Wells. The town's first charter was from King John in 1234. Most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1577, and it was further damaged during the English Civil War. A 1663 will by Richard Harvey of Exeter established Almshouses known as Harvey's Hospital. In 1685 Chard was one of the towns in which Judge Jeffreys held some of the Bloody Assizes after the failure of the Monmouth Rebellion. textile manufacture was important in the Middle Ages. Chard claims to be the birthplace of powered flight and the development of articulated artificial limbs. Chard is a key point on the Taunton Stop Line, a World War II defensive line. The Chard Canal was a tub boat canal built between 1835 and 1842. Chard Branch Line was created in 1860 to connect the two London and South Western Railway and Bristol and Exeter Railway main lines and ran through Chard until 1965.

Local folklore claims that the town has a very unusual and unique feature, a stream running along either side of Fore Street, one stream eventually flows into the Bristol Channel and the other eventually reaches the English Channel. Chard reservoir, approximately a mile north east of the town, is a Local Nature Reserve, and Snowdon Hill Quarry a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Major employers in the town include Numatic International Limited and the Oscar Mayer food processing plant.There are a range of sporting and cultural facilities, with secondary education being provided at Holyrood Academy and religious sites including the Church of St Mary the Virgin which dates from the late 11th century. (Full article...)

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Beckington Castle

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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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