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95-533: Somerset ( / ˈ s ʌ m ər s ɪ t , - s ɛ t / SUM -ər-sit , -⁠set ), archaically Somersetshire ( / ˈ s ʌ m ər s ɪ t . ʃ ɪər , - s ɛ t -, - ʃ ər / 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

190-727: A coastal area around Avonmouth . It too was reclaimed by draining. It is mirrored, across the Severn Estuary , in Wales, by a similar low-lying area: the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels . In the far west of the county, running into Devon, is Exmoor , a high Devonian sandstone moor , which was designated as a national park in 1954, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act . The highest point in Somerset

285-411: A form of jargon. Some phraseologies , especially in religious contexts, retain archaic elements that are not used in ordinary speech in any other context: "With this ring I thee wed." Archaisms are also used in the dialogue of historical novels to evoke the flavour of the period. Some may count as inherently funny words and are used for humorous effect. A type of archaism is the use of thou ,

380-524: A generation of British citizens who lived through the Second World War ; but in recent years the term has been repurposed as a non-archaic term for wifi and cell-phone technology. A similar desire to evoke a former age means that archaic place names are frequently used in circumstances where doing so conveys a political or emotional subtext, or when the official new name is not recognised by all (for example: 'Madras' rather than 'Chennai'). So,

475-727: A local provident society within the area. Gypsum was extracted by hand at the Hurcott open-cast mine from the Victorian era up until it closed down in 1953. In 1906, a railway station opened on the Castle Cary Cut-Off which was built by the Great Western Railway . Whilst the line still remains in use, the station was closed in 1962. When the Marconi Company built the radio stations known as

570-571: A long history of settlement, and are known to have been settled by Mesolithic hunters. Travel in the area was facilitated by the construction of one of the world's oldest known engineered roadways, the Sweet Track , which dates from 3807 BCE or 3806 BCE. The exact age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but it is believed to be Neolithic . There are numerous Iron Age hill forts , some of which, like Cadbury Castle and Ham Hill , were later reoccupied in

665-495: A model coaching inn. It closed in 1995; after a period of neglect it has been redeveloped as town houses. From the early 1980s onwards projects aiming to improve Somerton for film industry purposes have been undertaken. The market square was heavily revamped, creating a central parking area with easy access to the local amenities. The BBC drama The Monocled Mutineer was filmed in Somerton from 1985 to 1986. Somerton Court

760-476: A population of 4,697 as of 2011. Residents are often referred to locally as Somertonians . The civil parish includes the hamlets of Etsome , Hurcot , Catsgore , and Catcombe . Archaeological remains at Somerton are evidence of a Celtic settlement. The discovery of a high status cemetery in 2019, suggests that these local people adopted a more Roman lifestyle. During the Anglo-Saxon era, Somerton

855-483: A population of 5,500 as of 2021. In the 1801 census the population of the town was 1,145 and the first half of the 19th century saw strong growth (reflecting that seen elsewhere in England during this period), with the population rising to 2,140 in 1851. It however then began to drop, starting with a significant drop to 1,917 by the 1861 census. The population steadily fell until 1921, before steadily rising thereafter. It

950-440: A reconstituted county council and five districts : Mendip , Sedgemoor , South Somerset , Taunton Deane and West Somerset . Taunton Deane was granted borough status that same year. Avon consisted of six districts, of which three were created from areas formerly part of Somerset: Woodspring , Wansdyke , and Bath . In 1996, Avon was abolished and its districts were renamed and reorganised into unitary authorities . Woodspring

1045-422: A restaurant seeking to conjure up historic associations might prefer to call itself Old Bombay or refer to Persian cuisine in preference to using the newer place name. A notable contemporary example is the airline Cathay Pacific , which uses the archaic Cathay for China . Archaisms are frequently misunderstood, leading to changes in usage. One example is the phrase "odd man out", which originally came from

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1140-829: A sparsely populated wetland area of central Somerset, between the Quantock and Mendip hills. They consist of marine clay levels along the coast, and the inland (often peat based) moors. The Levels are divided into two by the Polden Hills . Land to the south is drained by the River Parrett while land to the north is drained by the River Axe and the River Brue. The total area of the Levels amounts to about 647.5 square kilometres (160,000 acres) and broadly corresponds to

1235-410: Is Dunkery Beacon on Exmoor, with a maximum elevation of 519 metres (1,703 feet). Over 100 sites in Somerset have been designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest . The 64 km (40 mi) coastline of the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary forms part of the northern border of Somerset. The Bristol Channel has the second largest tidal range in the world. At Burnham-on-Sea , for example,

1330-553: Is calcareous grassland , with some arable agriculture. To the south-west of the Somerset Levels are the Quantock Hills which was England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designated in 1956 which is covered in heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands with plantations of conifer and covers 99 square kilometres. The Somerset Coalfield is part of a larger coalfield which stretches into Gloucestershire . To

1425-680: Is a Scheduled Ancient Monument . Next to the Butter Cross stands the Old Town Hall . Bordering the square are the church, and the Lady Smith Memorial Hall, also known as the "Parish Rooms", which was built in 1902, and named after Frances (nee Pinney), the late wife of Sir John Smith , who had died in 1895. The 17th century Market House is now a restaurant. The Red Lion was opened by the Earl of Ilchester in 1768 as

1520-522: 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

1615-658: Is a town and civil parish in the English county of Somerset . It gave its name to the county and was briefly, around the start of the 14th century, the county town, and around 900 was possibly the capital of Wessex . It has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages, and the main square with its market cross is today popular with visitors. Situated on the River Cary , approximately 8.8 miles (14.2 km) north-west of Yeovil , Somerton has its own town council serving

1710-411: Is also part of the West of England Combined Authority . Modern local government in Somerset began in 1889, when an administrative county was created and Somerset County Council was established; Bath was administered separately as a county borough . In 1974, the county and council were abolished and replaced by two two-tier non-metropolitan counties , Somerset and Avon . Somerset was governed by

1805-464: Is around 17 miles (27 km) away at junction 23 ( Bridgwater ). Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West and ITV West Country . Television signals are received from the Mendip TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Somerset on 95.5 FM, Heart West on 102.6 FM and Greatest Hits Radio South West (formerly The Breeze ) on 105.6 FM. The town is served by

1900-427: Is around 700 mm (28 in). About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. The ceremonial county of Somerset is currently governed by three unitary authorities : Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES), North Somerset Council , and Somerset Council . B&NES

1995-553: Is believed to have been built around 1280 as a county gaol, with a visitor in 1579 describing the remaining portion as "an old tower embattled about castle-like". It was owned by Sir Ralph Cromwell between 1423 and 1433. Details are vague and visible remains have vanished, so its status as a castle and its very existence is in doubt, with one writer, D.J.C. King, feeling that people were confusing it with Somerton Castle in Lincolnshire. The Abbots of Muchelney Abbey held

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2090-601: Is divided into 11 parliamentary constituencies , each returning one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons .     Conservative     Labour     Liberal Democrat From 1984 to 1994, Somerset was represented by Conservative Margaret Daly as part of the Somerset and Dorset West constituency for elections to the European Parliament . From 1994 to 1999, Somerset

2185-706: 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

2280-471: Is in the law code of King Ine who was the Saxon King of Wessex from 688 to 726 CE, making Somerset along with Hampshire , Wiltshire and Dorset one of the oldest extant units of local government in the world. An alternative suggestion is the name derives from Seo-mere-saetan meaning "settlers by the sea lakes". The same ending can also be seen in the neighbouring Dorset . The Old English name

2375-410: Is notable for a carved roof, with lions and a small cider barrel purportedly carved by the monks of Muchelney Abbey . Sir John Betjeman was also inspired by an inscription on the candelabra . The church is quite plain on the outside but inside is one of the finest wooden carved roofs in the county. It is shallow pitched with massive, richly decorated tie beams and short king posts. The whole area of

2470-595: Is now at Castle Cary . On the outskirts of the town stands the impressive Somerton Viaduct . The closest main road from Somerton is the A303 road that runs near the town and stretches all the way into northern Hampshire and finally joins the M3 motorway near Basingstoke . The minor B3165 road runs through the town although the road is less commonly used and does not join to the A303 for another 4 miles (6 km). Two B roads,

2565-464: Is one that still has some current use but whose use has dwindled to a few specialized contexts, outside which it connotes old-fashioned language. In contrast, an obsolete word or sense is one that is no longer used at all. A reader encounters them when reading texts that are centuries old. For example, the works of Shakespeare are old enough that some obsolete words or senses are encountered therein, for which glosses (annotations) are often provided in

2660-705: Is part of Glastonbury and Somerton constituency for elections to the House of Commons. Somerton is situated on a plateau, above and to the south of the deep valley of the River Cary . The river flows west and then north through the Somerton Moor and then into King's Sedgemoor Drain on the Somerset Levels eventually joining the River Parrett near Bridgwater . The town is 116 miles (187 km) from London, 28 miles (45 km) south from Bristol and 9 miles (14 km) north-west from Yeovil , just off

2755-458: Is the chief settlement of the county's only extant borough ). The largest urban areas in terms of population are Bath, Weston-super-Mare , Taunton, Yeovil and Bridgwater . Many settlements developed because of their strategic importance in relation to geographical features, such as river crossings or valleys in ranges of hills. Examples include Axbridge on the River Axe , Castle Cary on

2850-656: Is used in the motto of the county, Sumorsǣte ealle , meaning "all the people of Somerset". Adopted as the motto in 1911, the phrase is taken from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . Somerset was a shire of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex , and the phrase refers to the wholehearted support the people of Somerset gave to King Alfred in his struggle to save Wessex from Viking invaders. Somerset settlement names are mostly Anglo-Saxon in origin (for example, Bath , Somerton , Wells and Keynsham ), but numerous place names include British Celtic elements, such as

2945-581: The B3153 and B3165 , run through Somerton; the B3165, mentioned earlier, starts in the town and runs southwards to the A372 Langport road . The A372 itself runs south-east to the junction of the A303 and A37 roads at Podimore services. The B3151 is also nearby, connecting Somerton with Street and Glastonbury to the north, and Ilchester to the south, and thus the A303 and A37 as well. The M5 motorway

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3040-515: The Bath and West of England Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures and Commerce was founded in 1777 to improve farming methods. Despite this, two decades later agriculturist John Billingsley conducted a survey of the county's agriculture in 1795 and found that agricultural methods could still be improved. Coal mining was an important industry in north Somerset during

3135-619: The Battle of Sedgemoor at Westonzoyland , the last pitched battle fought in England. Arthur Wellesley took his title, Duke of Wellington from the town of Wellington ; he is commemorated on a nearby hill by a large, spotlit obelisk , known as the Wellington Monument . The Industrial Revolution in the Midlands and Northern England spelled the end for most of Somerset's cottage industries. Farming continued to flourish, and

3230-681: 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

3325-839: The Early Middle Ages . On the authority of the future emperor Vespasian , as part of the ongoing expansion of the Roman presence in Britain, the Second Legion Augusta invaded Somerset from the south-east in 47 CE. The county remained part of the Roman Empire until around 409 CE, when the Roman occupation of Britain came to an end. A variety of Roman remains have been found, including Pagans Hill Roman temple in Chew Stoke , Low Ham Roman Villa and

3420-457: The Great Western Railway , and by light industries including glove making and gypsum mining. In the centre of Somerton the wide market square, with its octagonal roofed market cross, is surrounded by old houses, while close by is the 13th century Church of St Michael and All Angels . Somerton also had links with Muchelney Abbey in the Middle Ages . The BBC drama The Monocled Mutineer

3515-749: The Imperial Wireless Chain for the Post Office during 1925–26, they also established their own transmitting station at Dorchester with a receiving station 30 miles (48 km) away at Somerton. Somerton was hit by four Luftwaffe bombs on the morning of 29 September 1942 during the Second World War. The bombs were aimed at the Cow and Gate milk factory and it was largely destroyed. Ten nearby houses were badly damaged. Nine people were killed and thirty seven injured. A memorial at

3610-590: The Palaeolithic period, and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge . Bones from Gough's Cave have been dated to 12,000 BCE, and a complete skeleton, known as Cheddar Man , dates from 7150 BCE . Examples of cave art have been found in Aveline's Hole . Some caves continued to be occupied until modern times, including Wookey Hole . The Somerset Levels —specifically dry points at Glastonbury and Brent Knoll —also have

3705-655: The River Cary , North Petherton on the River Parrett , and Ilminster , where there was a crossing point on the River Isle . Midsomer Norton lies on the River Somer ; while the Wellow Brook and the Fosse Way Roman road run through Radstock. Chard is the most southerly town in Somerset and one of the highest, though at an altitude of 126 m (413 ft) Wiveliscombe is the highest town in

3800-528: The Roman Baths that gave their name to the city of Bath . After the Romans left, Britain was invaded by Anglo-Saxon peoples. By 600 CE they had established control over much of what is now England, but Somerset was still in native British hands. The British held back Saxon advance into the south-west for some time longer, but by the early eighth century King Ine of Wessex had pushed the boundaries of

3895-613: The Second World War the county was a base for troops preparing for the D-Day landings . Some of the hospitals which were built for the casualties of the war remain in use. The Taunton Stop Line was set up to repel a potential German invasion. The remains of its pill boxes can still be seen along the coast, and south through Ilminster and Chard . A number of decoy towns were constructed in Somerset in World War ;II to protect Bristol and other towns. They were designed to mimic

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3990-458: The business park on Bancombe Road. The main square, Market Place, with its market cross is today an attractive location for visitors. Market crosses have stood in the square since before 1390; the present Butter Cross, a roofed market cross, was rebuilt in 1673, and is Somerton's most noted feature. The structure was the property of the Earls of Ilchester who sold it to the town in 1916. It

4085-514: The set phrase vim and vigor ). An outdated form of language is called archaic. In contrast, a language or dialect that contains many archaic traits (archaisms) relative to closely related languages or dialects spoken at the same time is called conservative . Archaisms are most frequently encountered in history , poetry , fantasy literature , law , philosophy , science , technology , geography and ritual writing and speech. Archaisms are kept alive by these ritual and literary uses and by

4180-535: The 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1800 it was prominent in Radstock . The Somerset Coalfield reached its peak production by the 1920s. All the pits have now been closed, the last in 1973. Most of the surface buildings have been removed, and apart from a winding wheel outside Radstock Museum , little evidence of their former existence remains. Further west, the Brendon Hills were mined for iron ore in

4275-645: The Bristol conurbation, and through to the city of Bath. The green belt border intersects with the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) along its south boundary, and meets the Cotswolds AONB by its eastern extent along the Wiltshire county border, creating an extended area protected from inappropriate development. Much of the landscape of Somerset falls into types determined by

4370-556: The Dorset border. Somerton's hamlets include Etsome, Hurcot, Lower Somerton, Littleton and Midney. Great Breach Wood is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is situated just 1.4 miles (2.3 km) north-east from Somerton, near the hamlet of Littleton. Somerton's climate is typical of the climate of south-west England which is usually cool winters with warmer summers and precipitation all year round, with more rain experienced in winter. The Somerton parish had

4465-544: The Rectorship of the parish church of Somerton during the Middle Ages . They built a tithe barn, to house the tithes of crops and produce paid by the parish to the town's Rector. The Abbey was dissolved in 1539 during the English Reformation , and the tithes and the tithe barn passed into the ownership of Bristol Cathedral . In the 20th century the barn was converted into private housing. Glove making

4560-650: The Romans, and was restarted at various times: by the Anglo-Saxons ; in the Middle Ages by the Glastonbury Abbey , during 1400–1770; and during the Second World War, with the construction of the Huntspill River . Pumping and management of water levels still continues. The North Somerset Levels basin, north of the Mendips, covers a smaller geographical area than the Somerset Levels; and forms

4655-401: The West Saxon kingdom far enough west to include Somerset. The Saxon royal palace in Cheddar was used several times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot . The nature of the relations between the Britons and the Saxons in Somerset is not entirely clear. Ine's laws demonstrate that the Britons were considered to be a significant enough population in Wessex to merit provisions; however,

4750-464: The adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately 21 °C (69.8 °F). In winter mean minimum temperatures of 1 °C (33.8 °F) or 2 °C (35.6 °F) are common. In the summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, but convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than

4845-406: The administrative district of Sedgemoor but also includes the south west of Mendip district . Approximately 70% of the area is grassland and 30% is arable. Stretching about 32 kilometres (20 mi) inland, this expanse of flat land barely rises above sea level. Before it was drained, much of the land was under a shallow brackish sea in winter and was marsh land in summer. Drainage began with

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4940-423: The coastline is high and dramatic where the plateau of Exmoor meets the sea, with high cliffs and waterfalls. Along with the rest of South West England , Somerset has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C (50.0 °F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of

5035-432: The counsel of thy own soul. Today me, tomorrow thee . That is: today this happens to me, but tomorrow to you. To thine own self be true. Archaisms often linger in proverbs, "falling easier on the tongue", and employing two of the four fundamental rhetorical effects, permutation (immutatio) and addition (adiectio). Somerton, Somerset Somerton ( / ˈ s ʌ m ər t ən / SUM -ər-tən )

5130-452: The counties of Gloucester and Somerset ... and that it should be a county by itself ". The present-day northern border of Somerset (adjoining the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire) runs along the southern bank of the Avon from the Bristol Channel, then follows around the southern edge of the Bristol built-up area, before continuing upstream along the Avon and then diverges from the river to include Bath and its historic hinterland to

5225-480: The county. The county contains several-miles-wide sections of the Avon green belt area, which is primarily in place to prevent urban sprawl from the Bristol and Bath built up areas encroaching into the rural areas of North Somerset, Bath and North East Somerset, and Mendip districts in the county, as well as maintaining surrounding countryside. It stretches from the coastline between the towns of Portishead and Clevedon , extending eastwards past Nailsea , around

5320-488: The crown, with fortifications such as Dunster Castle used for control and defence. Somerset came under the political influence of several different nobles during the Middle Ages. During the Wars of the Roses, an important magnate was Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon whose wider influence stretched from Cornwall to Wiltshire. After 1485, one of the county's most influential figures was Henry VII's chamberlain Giles Daubeney . Somerset contains HM Prison Shepton Mallet , which

5415-483: The dairy site commemorates those killed. Somerton also is home to large properties, like The Lynch Country House, a Grade II listed building, built in 1812 and St Michael's and All Angels Church . Somerton is an electoral division electing two councillors to Somerset Council . The electoral division is larger than the town, including several neighbouring parishes. The town also has a town council with responsibility for some local issues. In October 2009, eleven of

5510-399: The eastern extreme of the administrative county's coastline at Brean Down is known as Bridgwater Bay , and is a National Nature Reserve . North of that, the coast forms Weston Bay and Sand Bay whose northern tip, Sand Point , marks the lower limit of the Severn Estuary. In the mid and north of the county the coastline is low as the level wetlands of the levels meet the sea. In the west,

5605-452: The flat levels and moors of mid and west Somerset. In the north of the county the River Chew flows into the Bristol Avon . The Parrett is tidal almost to Langport , where there is evidence of two Roman wharfs. At the same site during the reign of King Charles I , river tolls were levied on boats to pay for the maintenance of the bridge. The Somerset Levels (or Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly but more correctly known) are

5700-444: The late 19th century; this was taken by the West Somerset Mineral Railway to Watchet Harbour for shipment to the furnaces at Ebbw Vale . Many Somerset soldiers died during the First World War , with the Somerset Light Infantry suffering nearly 5,000 casualties. War memorials were put up in most of the county's towns and villages; only nine, described as the Thankful Villages , had none of their residents killed. During

5795-405: The laws also suggest that Britons could not attain the same social standing as the Saxons, and that many were slaves. In light of such policies, many Britons might have chosen to emigrate to places such as Brittany while those who remained would have had incentives to adopt Anglo-Saxon culture. After the Norman Conquest , the county was divided into 700  fiefs , and large areas were owned by

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5890-411: The local newspaper, Somerset County Gazette . The Church of England parish church, St Michael and All Angels , has origins which date from the 13th century, with a major reshaping in the mid 15th century, and further restoration in 1889. It is built of local lias stone cut and squared, with Hamstone dressing. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building . The church

5985-427: The margins. Archaisms can either be used deliberately (to achieve a specific effect) or as part of a specific jargon (for example in law ) or formula (for example in religious contexts). Many nursery rhymes contain archaisms. Some archaisms called fossil words remain in use within certain fixed expressions despite having faded away in all other contexts (for example, vim is not used in normal English outside

6080-450: The nighttime geometry of "blacked out" streets, railway lines, and Bristol Temple Meads railway station , to encourage German bombers away from these targets. One, on the German radio navigation beam flight path to Bristol, was constructed on Beacon Batch . It was laid out by Shepperton Studios , based on aerial photographs of the city's railway marshalling yards . The decoys were fitted with dim red lights, simulating activities such as

6175-404: The non-metropolitan county was reorganised by abolishing the four districts and their councils and reconstituting Somerset County Council as a unitary authority for the non-metropolitan county, with the powers of both a district and county council, renamed Somerset Council . The two existing unitary authorities were not altered. A previous attempt to reorganise the county as a unitary authority 2007

6270-442: The north of the Avon, before meeting Wiltshire at the Three Shire Stones on the Fosse Way at Batheaston . Somerton took over from Ilchester as the county town in the late thirteenth century, but it declined in importance and the status of county town transferred to Taunton about 1366. The county has two cities , Bath and Wells , and 30 towns (including the county town of Taunton, which has no town council but instead

6365-448: The north of the Mendip hills is the Chew Valley and to the south, on the clay substrate, are broad valleys which support dairy farming and drain into the Somerset Levels. There is an extensive network of caves , including Wookey Hole, underground rivers, and gorges , including the Cheddar Gorge and Ebbor Gorge . The county has many rivers, including the Axe, Brue , Cary, Parrett, Sheppey , Tone and Yeo . These both feed and drain

6460-496: 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 km (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)

6555-414: The north, where the River Avon formed the border with Gloucestershire, except that the hundred of Bath Forum , which straddles the Avon, formed part of Somerset. Bristol began as a town on the Gloucestershire side of the Avon, but as it grew it extended across the river into Somerset. In 1373 Edward III proclaimed "that the town of Bristol with its suburbs and precincts shall henceforth be separate from

6650-406: The phrase "to find the odd man out", where the verb "to find out" has been split by its object "the odd man", meaning the item which does not fit. The object + split verb has been reinterpreted as a noun + adjective, such that "out" describes the man rather than any verb. The pronominal adverbs found in the writing of lawyers (e.g. heretofore , hereunto , thereof ) are examples of archaisms as

6745-479: The regional average of 1,600 hours. In December 1998 there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall

6840-535: The rivers Frome and Avon, and names of hills. For example, an Anglo-Saxon charter of 682 refers to Creechborough Hill as "the hill the British call Cructan and the Anglo-Saxons call Crychbeorh ". Some modern names are wholly Brittonic in origin, like Tarnock , Priddy , and Chard , while others have both Saxon and Brittonic elements, such as Pen Hill . The caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during

6935-530: The roof is divided into square carved panels set in the framework of the structural timbers which are decorated with carved bosses where they intersect. There are 640 panels each carved with the same quatrefoil design. In the triangular spaces above each beam are dragon-like beasts. It is said there are bullet holes in the timbers, caused by soldiers who camped in the church in 1646 before the Battle of Langport . The 17th century pulpit and altar table are Jacobean woodwork. There are five other churches in

7030-477: The second-person singular pronoun that fell out of general use in the 17th century, while you or ye , formerly only used to address groups, and then also to respectfully address individuals, is now used to address both individuals and groups. Thou is the nominative form; the oblique / objective form is thee (functioning as both accusative and dative ), and the possessive is thy or thine . Though thou hast ever so many counsellors, yet do not forsake

7125-453: The stoking of steam locomotives . Burning bales of straw soaked in creosote were used to simulate the effects of incendiary bombs dropped by the first wave of Pathfinder night bombers; meanwhile, incendiary bombs dropped on the correct location were quickly smothered, wherever possible. Drums of oil were also ignited to simulate the effect of a blazing city or town, with the aim of fooling subsequent waves of bombers into dropping their bombs on

7220-434: The study of older literature. Should they remain recognised, they can potentially be revived. Because they are things of continual discovery and re-invention, science and technology have historically generated forms of speech and writing which have dated and fallen into disuse relatively quickly. However, the emotional associations of certain words have kept them alive, for example the archaic 'wireless' rather than 'radio' for

7315-531: The tidal range of a spring tide is more than 12 metres (39 feet). Proposals for the construction of a Severn Barrage aim to harness this energy. The island of Steep Holm in the Bristol Channel is within the ceremonial county and is now administered by North Somerset Council. The main coastal towns are, from the west to the north-east, Minehead , Watchet, Burnham-on-Sea, Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead . The coastal area between Minehead and

7410-635: The town councillors resigned en masse, citing excessive criticism from local residents and in particular criticism from a hostile local weblog. In February 2012 the external auditor appointed by the Audit Commission published a critical "Report in the Public Interest" regarding the activities of Somerton Town Council in the fiscal year 2008 to 2009. The town was formerly part of South Somerset district from 1974 to 2023, and part of Langport Rural District from 1894 to 1974. Somerton

7505-695: The town is in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , which records that in 733 the King of Wessex, Æthelheard lost control of Somerton to Æthelbald , King of Mercia . Somerton was the site of the 949 meeting of the witan , a form of Anglo-Saxon parliament. The town returned to West Saxon royal control in the ninth century, and it was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Sumertone". The name may come from Old English for "sea-lake enclosure", "summer town" or "summer farmstead". The Somerton name

7600-725: The town, including Methodist and Catholic groups. A grammar school in Somerton was first founded in the 1570s, and later was endowed as the Somerton Free Grammar School. In 1903, it became Somerton Free Church of England School, before merging with Montclefe in 1963. Monteclefe National School was founded in 1851 by the Pinney family of Somerton Erleigh. Somerton Infants School and Monteclefe CEVA Junior school merged in September 2014 to form King Ina Academy , with Somerton Roundabout Preschool also amalgamating with

7695-614: The underlying geology. These landscapes are the limestone karst and lias of the north, the clay vales and wetlands of the centre, the oolites of the east and south, and the Devonian sandstone of the west. To the north-east of the Somerset Levels, the Mendip Hills are moderately high limestone hills. The central and western Mendip Hills was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1972 and covers 198 km (76 sq mi). The main habitat on these hills

7790-493: The wrong location. The Chew Magna decoy town was hit by half a dozen bombs on 2 December 1940, and over a thousand incendiaries on 3 January 1941. The following night the Uphill decoy town, protecting the airfield at Weston-super-Mare , was bombed; a herd of dairy cows was hit, killing some and severely injuring others. The boundaries of Somerset are largely unaltered from medieval times. The main change has been in

7885-505: Was England's oldest prison still in use prior to its closure in 2013, having opened in 1610. During the English Civil War , Somerset was largely Parliamentarian , with key engagements being the Sieges of Taunton and the Battle of Langport . In 1685, the Monmouth Rebellion was played out in Somerset and neighbouring Dorset. The rebels landed at Lyme Regis and travelled north, hoping to capture Bristol and Bath, but they were defeated in

7980-642: Was a major industry in the town in the early nineteenth century, along with the production of rope and twine. The Somerton Brewery, owned by a local landowner named Thomas Templeman, was first recorded under the Tithe Apportionment Act of 1841. The brewery became a large producer in Somerset until its final closure around 1935. Before the National Insurance and the Health Service was introduced, Somerton Men's Club acted as

8075-476: Was an important political and commercial centre. After the Norman conquest of England the importance of the town declined, despite being the county town of Somerset in the late thirteenth century and early fourteenth century. Having lost county town status, Somerton then became a market town in the Middle Ages, whose economy was supported by transport systems using the River Parrett , and later rail transport via

8170-467: Was extended to the people in the area it controlled, and this area became known as Somerset, although Somerton soon ceased to be the most important settlement and never grew into a large town. The parish was the largest in the Hundred of Somerton . It was, briefly, the county town of Somerset from the late thirteenth century into the early fourteenth century. A building referred to as "Somerset castle"

8265-405: Was filmed in Somerton from 1985 to 1986. Archaeological evidence uncovered in 2019 indicates the existence of a Celtic settlement which pre-dates any written records of the area. The grave goods found suggest the local population were of a high status and adopted a Roman lifestyle, with the older and newer graves showing marked differences in burial customs. The earliest written reference to

8360-505: Was not until 1961 that the population of Somerton had risen above its former population of 1851. The population has since continued to steadily increase. A weekly market has been held in Somerton for much of its history. The cloth industry dominated the town's market from the 17th century until the 20th century, when agriculture took over as the leading industry. Some light industries and services, such as garage repair, physiotherapy, water treatment, and builders and decorators, are located in

8455-508: Was originally known as "Somerton Erleigh". The house has had various owners including Edward IV 's brother, the Duke of Clarence , and Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland , who sold the estate in 1530. It passed through a number of hands until 1597 when it was purchased by James Fisher, whose son later rebuilt it in 1641. The court remained in the Fisher family's possession until 1808 when it

8550-528: 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. Somerset's name derives from Old English Sumorsǣte , short for Sumortūnsǣte , meaning "the people living at or dependent on Sumortūn ( Somerton )". The first known use of Somersæte

8645-477: Was purchased by Roger Byron-Collins when it was subject to extensive upgrading and extensions. It was resold in 2005. The Dower House was built in the early 19th century. The house now stands in 55 acres (22 ha) grounds. The town's former, and only, railway station was on the Castle Cary Cut-Off , once part of the Great Western Railway . Although the line still remains in use the station closed to passengers in 1962, and goods in 1964. The nearest station

8740-525: Was rejected following local opposition. Somerset's local government records date to 1617, longer than those of any other county; a meeting of the Quarter Sessions held at Wells in that year decided that a room should be provided "for the safe keeping of the records of the Sessions". As of 2024, following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies , the ceremonial county of Somerset

8835-432: Was renamed 'North Somerset' and Wansydyke and Bath were abolished and a new district covering the same area created, named 'Bath and North East Somerset'. In 1997 the two districts and non-metropolitan county became part of the new ceremonial county of Somerset. On 1 September 2019 the non-metropolitan districts of West Somerset and Taunton Deane merged, with the new district being called Somerset West and Taunton . In 2023,

8930-425: Was represented by Liberal Democrat Graham Watson as part of the Somerset and North Devon constituency for elections to the European Parliament . From 1999 to 2020, Somerset was part of the South West England constituency for elections to the European Parliament . Archaism A distinction between archaic and obsolete words and word senses is widely used by dictionaries. An archaic word or sense

9025-499: Was sold. Its new owner renamed the house "Somerton Court", and replaced the gabled dormers with Gothic battlements and turrets. The house was later enlarged by the Hall-Stephenson family. During World War II it was occupied by Royal Navy WRENS . In the 1970s it was purchased by a local businessman Stuart Pattemore. In 1987 Somerton Court and the estate of 55 acres (22 ha) and 4 cottages including The Dower House

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