Portal:Somerset

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Selected article

Holy Trinity Church, Nailsea

North Somerset is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset. As a unitary authority, North Somerset is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county of Somerset. Its administrative headquarters are located in the town hall of Weston-super-Mare. North Somerset includes areas that were once part of Somerset before the creation of Avon in 1974.

There are 37 Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset, including the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which joins North Somerset to Bristol and Clevedon Pier. Of the listed buildings, manor houses include Clevedon Court, built in the 14th century, and from the 15th century, Ashton Court and Nailsea Court. Somerset has many religious structures; the largest number are from the Norman or medieval eras. Some of the churches are included in the Somerset towers, a collection of distinctive, mostly spireless Gothic church towers. (Full article...)

More articles...

Selected biography - show another

Trenchard in RAF full dress c. 1930

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956) was a British officer who was instrumental in establishing the Royal Air Force. He has been described as the "Father of the Royal Air Force."

During his formative years, Trenchard struggled academically, failing many examinations and only just succeeding in meeting the minimum standard for commissioned service in the British Army. As a young infantry officer, Trenchard served in India and with the outbreak of the Boer War, he volunteered for service in South Africa. While fighting the Boers, Trenchard was critically wounded and as a result of his injury, he lost a lung, was partially paralysed and returned to Great Britain. On medical advice, Trenchard travelled to Switzerland to recuperate and boredom saw him taking up bobsleighing. After a heavy crash, Trenchard found that his paralysis was gone and that he could walk unaided. Following further recuperation, Trenchard returned to active service in South Africa. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies
Harry Patch Bill Bailey Jill Dando John Cleese Ælfheah of Canterbury Robert Burnell Dunstan Savaric FitzGeldewin Jocelin of Wells John of Tours Hugh of Wells Herbie Hewett Jake Seamer Ted Sainsbury Stephen Newton Marcus Trescothick E. W. Bastard

edit

Districts of Somerset

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

edit

Subcategories

Category puzzle

Select [►] to view subcategories

edit

Related portals

Selected images

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

edit

Selected settlement

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...)

More settlements...

edit

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:

... that before he died, Dr William Oliver (pictured) gave his coachman £100, 10 sacks of flour and a recipe for a type of biscuit named after its inventor that is still eaten today?
... that a wicket was first laid at the North Perrott Cricket Club Ground soon after the Second World War?
... that astronomer William Herschel was the first organist at the Octagon Chapel in Bath?
... that the Old Church of St Nicholas in Uphill, Somerset, England, which was built around 1080, is still used for services even though the nave has no roof?
... that Saltford Manor House is thought to be the oldest continuously occupied private house in England?

More facts...

edit

Things you can do

Here are some tasks awaiting attention:

Article requests : Berwick, Common Moor, Neroche Forest, + all redlinks on sub lists of Grade II* listed buildings in Somerset & Scheduled Monuments in Somerset
Add photos to Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Somerset
Cleanup : Articles requiring cleanup
Stubs : Improve Stub-Class articles including Category:Somerset geography stubs & Category:Somerset building and structure stubs
Verify : West Country dialects
Other : Remove any spam links you find in the "External links" section of articles you edit. Consider replacement of external links by pointing to DMOZ. See Template:dmoz for more info.
Check external links & refs using the Checklinks tool.

edit

WikiProjects

Main project: WikiProject Somerset

Parent projects: WikiProject UK geography, WikiProject England

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

edit

Topics

edit

Recognised content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Somerset}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.

Featured articles

Featured lists

Featured topics

Good articles

Good topics

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Purge server cache

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