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

In the 2009 season, Somerset County Cricket Club competed in four domestic competitions: the first division of the County Championship, the Friends Provident Trophy, the first division of the NatWest Pro40 League and the Twenty20 Cup. Their performance in the Twenty20 Cup saw them qualify for the Champions League Twenty20. They enjoyed a successful season, but fell short of winning in any of the competitions, prompting Director of Cricket Brian Rose to say "We've had enough of being cricket's nearly men."

Consistent performances in the County Championship helped Somerset remain challengers for the competition until the last few weeks of the season, but the batting-friendly pitch at Taunton saw the county finish with too many draws to claim their first Championship title. Consistency was also key for Somerset's success in one-day cricket, where they remained unbeaten in the group stage of the Friends Provident Trophy, but were eliminated in the first knock-out round, and finished runners-up by one point in the NatWest Pro40. In the Twenty20 Cup, Somerset qualified for the quarter-finals as one of the best third-placed teams, and eventually finished as losing finalists. This meant that they qualified for the Champions League Twenty20, where they progressed into the second group stage of the competition. They failed to win any matches in that phase of the competition, resulting in their elimination.

They were captained for the third successive season by their Australian overseas player, Justin Langer, who announced during the season that it would be his last with Somerset. Marcus Trescothick topped the batting tables, accruing almost 3,000 runs in all competitions in 2009, which saw him named as both Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) Player of the Year and the PCA's Most Valuable Player of the Year. (Full article...)

More articles...

Selected biography - show another

Savaric fitzGeldewin (died 8 August 1205) was an Englishman who became Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury in England. Related to his predecessor as well as to Emperor Henry VI, he was elected bishop on the insistence of his predecessor, who urged his election on the cathedral chapter of Bath. While bishop, Savaric spent many years attempting to annexe Glastonbury Abbey as part of his bishopric. Savaric also worked to secure the release of King Richard I of England from captivity, when the king was held by Emperor Henry VI. (Full article...)

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

edit

Selected settlement

Nailsea

Nailsea
Co-ordinates 51°26′N 2°46′W / 51.43°N 2.76°W

Nailsea is a town in the unitary district of North Somerset within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, approximately 8 miles (13 km) to the southwest of Bristol and about 11 miles (18 km) to the northeast of the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare. The nearest village is Backwell, which lies south of Nailsea on the other side of the Bristol to Exeter railway line. Nailsea is a commuter town with a population of 18,000.

The town was an industrial centre based on coal mining and glass manufacture, which have now been replaced by service industries. The surrounding area of the North Somerset Levels provides wildlife habitats including the Tickenham, Nailsea and Kenn Moors biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Bucklands Pool/Backwell Lake Local Nature Reserve. Nailsea is close to the M5 motorway and Bristol Airport, and has railway services at Nailsea and Backwell station, operated by First Great Western.

Secondary education in Nailsea is provided by Nailsea School, and primary education by St Francis School. Churches in the town include the 14th-century Holy Trinity Church and Christ Church, which was built in 1843. (Full article...)

More settlements...

edit

Did you know...

From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:

... that while playing for Lansdown Cricket Club in 1865, W.G. Grace (pictured) and two of his brothers took all of the opposition United England Eleven's twenty wickets?
... that the remains of Melanie Hall who went missing in 1996 were discovered by the M5 motorway in October 2009?
... that following the purchase of British Energy by Electricité de France, plans for a new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station have been announced?
... that the Castle Cary Cut-Off reduced the 325½ mile distance between London Paddington and Penzance railway stations by 20¼ miles?
... that Lilstock church only holds one service a year, and the last marriage held there was in 1834?

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