Somerset

Somerset is a county in South West England.

Flag of Somerset

Coat of arms of Somerset

A map showing where Somerset is in England. The main county is coloured red. The special unitary authorities linked to Somerset are coloured orange.

The main town of Somerset was Somerton, but it is now Taunton. There are two cities in Somerset. They are Bath and Wells.

History

The name "Somerset" comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase Sumorsaete, which was used to describe people from Somerton.

In the past, the northern border of Somerset was the River Avon. However, as the city of Bristol has grown, the border moved south.

In 1974 parts of north Somerset, the city of Bristol and parts of south Gloucestershire were joined into a new county. This county was named Avon. In 1996 Avon was split into 4 parts, which are now unitary authorities. People usually say that 2 of these parts (named North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset) are part of Somerset, even though they have their own councils.

The oldest prison in England which is still used is in a town named Shepton Mallet in Somerset. Somerset also has the world's oldest road which people built. It is called the Sweet Track; it was built in about 3800 BC.

Industry and tourism

The Dunster Yarn Market was built in 1609 for the trading of local cloth

There is not much large industry in Somerset, but Bridgwater is a port, and Yeovil is important in building helicopters.

Tourism is an important industry in the county; in 2001 about 23,000 people worked in tourism. Tourists like Somerset because it is very beautiful, with much countryside and few big towns. Somerset has many places to visit:

• Part of the Exmoor National Park is in Somerset.
• Another popular place is Glastonbury, which has a popular music festival every year.
• The Cheddar Gorge has caves which are popular with visitors, and locally made cheese.

Farming is an important industry in Somerset, but not as many people work in this industry today. Somerset is famous for its cider (an alcoholic apple drink) and it has many apple orchards.

Interesting places in Somerset

Key
	Owned by the National Trust
	Owned by English Heritage
	Owned by the Forestry Commission
	A Country Park
	An Accessible open space
	Museum (free)
	Museum (charges entry fee)
	Heritage railway
	Historic House

Bath Abbey Bristol Channel Burrow Hill Cider Farm Cadbury Castle Cheddar Gorge Chew Valley Lake Clifton Suspension Bridge Dunster Castle East Somersest Railway Exmoor Fussell Iron Works Gartell Light Railway Georgian Bath Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Tor

Ham Hill Kennet and Avon Canal Mendip Hills Montacute House River Avon, Bristol River Chew Roman Baths Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway Somerset Levels Stanton Drew Taunton Stop Line Wells Cathedral West Somerset Railway Wookey Hole

Politics

Districts of Somerset

A map showing the districts of Somerset

The numbers on the map are linked to the numbers below.

1. South Somerset
2. Taunton Deane
3. West Somerset
4. Sedgemoor
5. Mendip
6. Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary)
7. North Somerset (Unitary)

Cities, towns, and villages

Wells Cathedral

This is a list of the main towns and cities in Somerset:

Bath Bishops Hull Bishops Lydeard Bridgwater Brympton Burnham-on-Sea Chard Cheddar Comeytrowe Crewkerne Frome Glastonbury Ilminster Martock

Meare Minehead North Petherton Shepton Mallet Somerton South Petherton Street Taunton Watchet Wellington Wells Weston-super-Mare Wincanton Yeovil

Other websites

• BBC Somerset
• Somerset County Council
• Bath and North East Somerset Council
• North Somerset Council
• Travel Information Archived 2008-01-15 at the Wayback Machine