Somerset

Somerset is a in the south-west of. The is. The of Somerset borders the counties of  and  to the north,  to the east,  to the south-east, and  to the south-west. It is also partly bounded to the north and west by the coast of the and the  of the.

The traditional northern border of the county was the, but the administrative boundary has crept southwards, with the creation and expansion of the.

Somerset is a rural county of rolling hills such as the, and , and large flat expanses of land including the. There is evidence of occupation from times, with subsequent  and  occupation. Later the county played a significant part in the and.

Agriculture continues to be a major business in the county. Apple orchards were once plentiful, and to this day Somerset is linked to the production of strong cider. Population growth in the county is higher than the national average. Unemployment is lower than the national average, and the largest employment sectors are retail, manufacturing, leisure/tourism, and health/social care.

Toponymy
The name derives from Sumorsǣte, which is short for Sumortūnsǣte, meaning "the people living at or dependent upon Sumortūn". The first known use of the name Somersæte was in 845 after the region fell to the Saxons. Sumortūn is modern and may mean "summer settlement", a  tended during the summer but not occupied in winter. However, Somerton is not down on the levels where only summer occupation was possible because of flooding, but on a hill where winter occupation would have been feasible. An alternative derivation is that the name came from Seo-mere-saetan meaning "settlers by the sea lakes".

The Old English name continues to be used in the of the county, Sumorsaete ealle, meaning "all the people of Somerset". It was adopted in 1911, taken from the. Somerset was a part of the, and the reference is thought to indicate the wholehearted support the people of Somerset gave to  in his struggle to save Wessex from the  invaders.

Somerset settlement names are mostly Anglo-Saxon in origin. A few hill names include elements, for example a charter of 682 concerning  defines it as "the hill the British call Cructan and we call Crychbeorh". A few modern names are Brythonic in origin, such as, while a few others have both Saxon and Brythonic elements such as.

Human occupation
The, and specifically the s such as and , have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been settled by  hunters. Travel in the area was helped by the construction of the world's oldest known engineered roadway, the. The caves of the were settled during the  period and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at. There are numerous, some of which were later reused in the , such as , and. The age of the at  is not known, but is believed to be Neolithic.

On the authority of the future emperor, the invaded Somerset from the southeast in AD 47. The county remained part of the until around AD 409. A variety of Roman remains have been found in the county including in , and the which gave their name to.

Somerset, like to the south, held the Saxon invasion back for over a century, remaining a frontier between the Saxons and the Romano-British Celts. After the the county was divided into 700, and large areas were owned by the crown, with several fortifications such as  being used for control and defence.

Somerset contains, England's oldest prison still in use, which opened in 1610.

In the Somerset was largely. In 1685 the was played out in Somerset and neighbouring Dorset. The rebels landed at and traveled north hoping to capture  and, but were defeated in the  at , the last battle fought on English soil.

took his title, from the town of. He is commemorated on a nearby hill with a large, spotlit obelisk, known as the.

The 18th century was largely one of peace and declining industrial prosperity in Somerset. The in the Midlands and Northern England spelt the end for most of the cottage industries of Somerset. However, farming continued to flourish, with the being founded in 1777 to improve methods. Despite this, 20 years later John Billingsley conducted a survey of the county's agriculture in 1795 and found that methods could still be improved.

was an important industry in north Somerset during the 18th and 19th centuries, and by 1800 it was based around. The was built in the early 19th century to reduce the cost of transportation. The first 10 miles (16 km), running from a junction with the, along the , to a terminal basin at , were in use by 1805, together with a number of tramways. A planned 7.25 mile (11.6 km) branch to Midford was never built, but in 1815 a tramway was laid along its towing path. In 1871 the tramway was purchased by the. The coalfields reached their peak production by the 1920s, but have now all been closed, the last in 1973. Most of the surface buildings have been removed, and apart from a winding wheel outside Radstock Museum, little visible evidence of their former existence remains.

The 19th century saw improvements to the roads of Somerset with the introduction of, and the building of canals and railways. 19th century canals included the, , and. The was proposed, but very little of it was ever constructed. The usefulness of the canals was short lived, though some have now been restored for recreation. The 19th century also saw the construction of railways to and through Somerset. The county was served by three railway companies: the  (GWR), the  (S&DJR) and the  (L&SWR). The former main lines of the GWR are still in use today, although many of its branch lines were scrapped. The former lines of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway closed completely; however, the L&SWR survived as a part of the present. None of these lines, in Somerset, are. Three branch lines: the and s and the  were rescued and transferred back to private ownership as "heritage" lines.

The population of Somerset has continued to grow since 1800, particularly in the seaside towns, notably. Some population decline in the villages occurred earlier in the period, but this has now been reversed.

During the many Somerset soldiers were killed, and war memorials were put up in most of the county's towns and villages. Only a few villages escaped casualties. In the there were also casualties, though much fewer; their names were added to the memorials. During the Second World War the county was a base for troops preparing for the, and some hospitals still date partly from that time. The was set up to repel a potential German invasion, and the remains of its  can still be seen along the coast. A decoy town was constructed on, on the flight path to Bristol. It was intended to mimic the blazing lights of at night, after it had been bombed. The decoy was fitted with dim lights, and after the first wave of night bombers had passed over, drums of oil were ignited to simulate the effects of a blazing city or harbour, with the aim of fooling subsequent waves of bombers to drop their bombs on the wrong location.

For long distance holiday traffic travelling through the county to and from Devon and Cornwall, Somerset is often regarded as a marker on the journey. North-south traffic moves though the county via the. Traffic to and from the east can either travel via the, or via the , which runs east-west, crossing the M5 just beyond the northern limits of the county.

Geology, landscape and ecology
Much of the landscape of Somerset falls into types determined by the underlying. These landscapes are the  and  of the north, the  s and  of the centre, the s of the east and south, and the   of the west. To the north east of the, the are moderately high limestone hills. There is an extensive network of s, including, underground rivers, and a number of s, including and. Seventy-six (197 ) of the central and western Mendip Hills was designated an  in 1972. The main on these hills is, with some  agriculture. The is part of a larger coalfield which stretches into. To the north of the Mendip hills is the and to the south, on the clay substrate, are a number of broad valleys which support dairy farming and  into the Somerset Levels.

The Somerset Levels (or Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly, but more correctly, called) is a sparsely populated area of central Somerset, between the  and Mendip hills. They consist of marine clay levels along the coast, and the inland (often based) moors. The Levels are divided into two by the, with the catchment areas of the and - on either side. The total area of the levels amounts to approximately 160000 acre and broadly corresponds to the administrative of  but also includes the south west of  district. Approximately 70% of the area is grassland and 30% is arable. This expanse of flat land, stretching up to 20 mi inland, is not very much higher than sea level. Before it was drained, much of the land was under a shallow brackish sea in winter and was a marsh in summer. Drainage started in Roman times, and was restarted various times: in the Saxon period; in the by the, from 1400–1770; and during the Second World War, with the construction of the. Pumping and management of water levels still continues.

The basin, north of the Mendips, covers a smaller geographical area than the Somerset Levels; and forms a coastal area around. It too was reclaimed by draining. It is mirrored, across the, in Wales, by a similar low-lying area: the.

In the far west of the county, running into Devon, is, a high sandstone , which was designated as a  in 1954, under the 1949. The highest point in Somerset is on Exmoor, with an altitude of 1704 ft. Over 100 sites in Somerset have been designated as. The 40-mile (64 km) coastline of the and  forms part of the northern border of Somerset. The Bristol Channel has the second largest tidal range in the world. At, for example, the tidal range of a spring tide is over 39 ft. Proposals for the construction of a aim to harness this energy. The main coastal towns are, from the west to the north east,, , , , and. The coastal area between Minehead and the eastern extreme of the administrative county’s coastline at is known as, and is a. North of that, the coast forms and  whose northern tip,, 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, the coastline is high and dramatic where the of Exmoor meets the sea, with high cliffs and waterfalls. At an of 397 ft,  is the highest town in Somerset and also the southernmost.

The county has many rivers, including the, , , , Sheppey, and. These both feed and drain the flat levels and moors of mid and west Somerset. In the north of the county the flows into the.

Climate
Along with the rest of, Somerset has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is approximately 10 °C and shows a seasonal and a variation, but due to the modifying effect of the sea the range is less than in most other parts of the UK. January is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 1 °C and 2 °C. July and August are the warmest months in the region with mean daily maxima around 21 °C.

The south-west of England has a favoured location with respect to the high pressure when it extends its influence north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer. cloud often forms inland however, especially near hills, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. The average annual sunshine totals around 1600 hours.

Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic or with convection. The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of the rain which falls in those seasons in the south-west is from this source. Average rainfall is around 31 in–35 in. About 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west.

Economy and industry
Somerset has few industrial centres. was developed during the as the West Country's leading port. The was navigable by large ships as far as Bridgwater. By then loading the cargoes onto smaller boats at Langport Quay, next to the Bridgwater Bridge, they could be carried further up river to. The Parrett is now only navigable as far as Wharf. Bridgwater, in the 19th and 20th centuries, was a centre for the manufacture of bricks and clay roof, and later , but those industries have now closed. With its good links to the motorway system, Bridgwater has developed as a distribution hub for companies such as, Toolstation and Gerber Juice. manufacture helicopters in, and , who build aircraft oxygen systems, are also based in the town. Many towns have encouraged small-scale, such as 's , one of the UK's smallest car manufacturers.

Somerset was, and is, an important supplier of equipment and technology to support the defence of United Kingdom. A, was built at the start of the , between the villages of  and , to manufacture explosives; and in 2007 is still operating, at a much reduced output, as part of  and is due to close completely in 2008. has ; and presently has the  and Avimo, which became part of Thales Optics. It has been announced twice, in 2006 and 2007, that manufacturing is to end at Thales Optics' Taunton site, but the and Taunton Deane District Council are working to reverse or mitigate these decisions. has offices; and  is the home of. Other high-technology companies include the optics company Gooch and Housego, at.

Agriculture and food and drink production continue to be major industries in the county, employing over 15,000 people. Apple orchards were once plentiful, and Somerset is still a major producer of. The towns of Taunton and are involved with the production of cider, especially, which is sold nationwide, and there are specialist producers such as  and. in Bridgwater are the largest producer of fruit juices in, producing brands such as '' and 'Ocean Spray'. Development of the milk-based industries, such as, has resulted in the production of ranges of desserts, s and cheeses, including – some of which has the West Country Farmhouse Cheddar.

Towns such as and  grew around the medieval  industry. developed as a centre for the production of woollen s and, later, s and s, with establishing its headquarters in the town. C&J Clark's shoes are no longer manufactured there as the work was transferred to lower-wage areas, such as and. Instead, in 1993, redundant factory buildings were converted to form, the first purpose built factory outlet in the. C&J Clark also had shoe factories, at one time at Bridgwater and, to provide employment outside of the main summer tourist season, but these satellite sites had been were closed, in the late 1980s, before the main site at Street. shoes were also made in Somerset, by the Northampton-based R. Griggs Group, using skilled shoemakers from C&J Clark; this work has also been transferred to Asia.

The county has a long tradition of supplying and building stone. Quarries at supplied to freestone used in the construction of. is also widely used. promoted its use in the early 18th century, but it was used long before then. It was mined underground at, and as a result of cutting the , at various locations in , including. Bath stone is still used today, on a reduced scale; but more often as a, rather than a structural material. Further south, is the colloquial name given to stone from, which is also widely used in the construction industry. has been used locally as a building stone; and as a raw material for and. up to the 1960s had Blue Lias stone quarries, as did several other. Its quarries also supplied a cement factory at, adjacent to the. Its derelict, early 20th century, remains were removed when the was constructed in the mid-1970s. Since the 1920s, the county has supplied. is Europe's large supplier of aggregates, with quarries at. It has a dedicated railway operation,, which is used to transport aggregates by rail from a group of.

Much of the county is scenic and unspoilt. Tourism is a major industry, estimated in 2001 to support around 23,000 people. Attractions include the coastal towns, part of the, the (a ), and the museum of the  at. The town of has mythical associations, and an annual open-air  (actually in ), while the Cheddar Gorge has s open to visitors, as well as its locally produced cheese, although there is now only one cheese maker remaining in the village of.

Notes
 * Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
 * Includes hunting and forestry
 * Includes energy and construction
 * Includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Demography
The population in 1901 was 508,256. In the the population of the Somerset County Council area was 498,093 with 169,040 in , and 188,564 in giving a total for the historic county of 855,697. This was estimated to have risen to 895,700 in 2006.

The Somerset County Council area is one of the fastest growing regions in the United Kingdom. is higher than the national average, with a 6.4% increase since 1991, and a 17% increase since 1981. The is 1.4 persons per, which can be compared to 2.07 persons per hectare for the. Within the county, population density ranges 0.5 in to 2.2 persons per hectare in. The percentage of the population who are economically active is higher than the regional and national average, and the unemployment rate is lower than the regional and national average.

The black minority ethnic population of the total population is 2.9% in Somerset. Chinese is the highest ethnic population and whilst there is no official recording, it is believed that are a significant ethnic minority. Over 25% of Somerset's population is concentrated in Taunton, Bridgwater and Yeovil. The rest of the county is rural and sparsely populated. Over 9 million tourist nights are spent in Somerset each year, which significantly increases the population at peak times.

Politics
The county is divided into nine constituencies for the election of (MPs) to the. The constituencies of, ,  and  currently elect  MPs, while , ,  and  currently return. Only, which will become at the next election, returns a  politician. Residents of Somerset also form part of the electorate for the constituency for elections to the.

The of Somerset consists of a  and two. The of Somerset are, , ,  and. The two administratively independent unitary authorities, which were established on  following the break up of the, are  and. These unitary authorities include areas that were once part of Somerset before the creation of Avon in 1974.

The was considering a proposal by Somerset County Council to change Somerset's administrative structure by abolishing the five districts to create a Somerset unitary authority. The changes were planned to be implemented no later than. However, support for the county council's bid was not guaranteed and opposition among the district council and local population was strong, with 82% of people responding to a referendum organized by the five district councils rejecting the proposals. It was confirmed in July 2007 that the government had rejected the proposals for unitary authorities in Somerset, and that the present two-tier arrangements of Somerset County Council and the district councils will remain.

Culture
Somerset has traditions of art, music and literature. and wrote while staying in,. The writer spent his last years in the village of. Traditional folk music, both song and dance, was important in the agricultural communities. Somerset songs were collected by and incorporated into a number of works including  . Halsway Manor near is an international centre for folk music. The tradition continues today with groups such as, specialising in music.

The takes place most years in, near , attracting over 170,000 music and culture lovers from around the world, and world-famous entertainers. The which grew out of the Green fields at the Glastonbury Festival is held in the Mendip Hills between  and  each summer. The annual is one of several local festivals in the county which include the  and the, which, despite its name, is held at  in Somerset. The annual circuit of s is held in a variety of Somerset towns during the autumn, forming a major regional festival, and the largest in Europe.

In, had became associated with , when monks at  claimed to have discovered the bones of  and his queen. What is more certain is that Glastonbury was an important religious centre by 700 and claims to be "the oldest above-ground Christian church in the World" situated "in the mystical land of Avalon" by dating the founding of the community of monks at AD 63, the legendary visit of, who was supposed to have brought the. During the Middle Ages there were also important religious sites at and. The present covers Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The of the  is now located in the  in the city of, having been previously based at. Before the, it was a Roman Catholic diocese. There is also a monastery Saint Gregory's Abbey, commonly known as  at, and the   near the village of. There are several museums in the county including several in Bath including; the, the , the , the , and the. Several other visitor attractions reflect the cultural heritage of the county including;, , the at Yeovilton, ,  in Weston super Mare,  in , ,  in Taunton, the  in Glastonbury, and.

Somerset has 11,500, 523 s, 192 s, 41 parks and gardens including those at , , and , 36  sites and 19  sites including , ,  and  as well as  the last remaining thatched windmill in England. Other historic houses in the county which have remained in private ownership or used for other purposes include and.

play at the in Bath, while the  are based at the  in Taunton. The country gained its first club in  when  won promotion to  as  champions. They had achieved numerous giant-killing victories over  sides in the past 50 years, and since joining the elite they have won promotion again - as  champions in. They came close to yet another promotion in when they reached the  playoff final, but lost to  at the recently re-opened. courses are at and.

In addition to the county is served by the regional  and local newspapers including; the, ,  and the. Television and radio are provided by, and  (now known as ITV Wales & West Ltd).

Settlements and communications
The original of Somerset was, but in recent years that role has been transferred to Taunton.

Somerset has 4,058 miles (6,531 km) of roads. The main arterial routes, which include the, , , and , give fairly good access across the county, but many areas can only be accessed via narrow lanes. Rail services are provided by the through Yeovil, the  and the. provides national and international air services.

The county has two cities, Bath and Wells, and only a small number of towns. In many cases there are villages which are larger than their neighbouring towns; the village of Cheddar, for example, has three times the population of the nearby town of. Many of the 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, Castle Cary on the , on the , and , where there was a crossing point on the. Midsomer Norton lies on the ; while the and the   run through Radstock. Note: is the name of a conurbation consisting of Midsomer Norton and Radstock.

Education
in Somerset are provided by three : Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset – both of them – and the larger Somerset County Council. In some areas, and  schools cater for ages four to eleven, after which the pupils move on to. In other areas there is a three-tier system of, and  schools.

Some of the county's secondary schools have status. Some schools have sixth forms and others transfer their sixth formers to colleges. Several schools can trace their origins back many years, such as in Wells,  in Taunton and  in Bath. Others have changed their names over the years such as which was started in 1905 as the City of Bath Boys' School and changed to its present name in 1972 when the  was amalgamated with a local, to form a. Others such as, , , , , ,  and  have been established and built since the Second World War.

is a state in  that also takes some day pupils from the surrounding area. The Somerset LEA also provides a number of s such as, which caters for children aged between ten and seventeen with. Provision for pupils with special educational needs is also made within the mainstream schools.

There is also a range of or s. Many of these are for pupils between 11 and 18 years such as  and. was founded in 1519 and received royal foundation status around 30 years later in the reign of. is the largest boarding school, and the largest co-educational independent school in the country, catering for 1,260 pupils, of which 910 are boarders. There are also for younger children, such as, and. Other schools provide education for children from the age of 3 or 4 years through to 18 such as, and  which is one of the five established musical schools for school-age children in. Some of these schools have religious affiliations, such as, , which is associated with the ,  which is a  public school in , situated next to the  , and , which was founded by  in 1748 in Kingswood near Bristol, originally for the education of the sons of the itinerant ministers (clergy) of the. A wide range of and  courses is available in Somerset, in schools, colleges and other community venues. The colleges include;, , , , and

and are higher education establishments in the north-east corner of the county.