Somerset

Somerset is a county in South West England.

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
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

 Bath Abbey
 Bristol Channel
 Burrow Hill Cider Farm
 Cadbury Castle Accessible open space
 Cheddar Gorge Accessible open space File:NTE icon.svg
 Chew Valley Lake
 Clifton Suspension Bridge
 Dunster Castle File:NTE icon.svg
 East Somersest Railway Heritage Railway
 Exmoor Accessible open space
 Fussell Iron Works
 Gartell Light Railway Heritage Railway
 Georgian Bath
 Glastonbury Abbey
 Glastonbury Tor Accessible open space Ham Hill Accessible open space
 Kennet and Avon Canal Accessible open space
 Mendip Hills Accessible open space
 Montacute House Historical House File:NTE icon.svg
 River Avon, Bristol
 River Chew
 Roman Baths Museum
 Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
 Somerset Levels Accessible open space
 Stanton Drew
 Taunton Stop Line
 Wells Cathedral
 West Somerset Railway Heritage Railway
 Wookey Hole

Politics
Districts of Somerset
framed|right|A map showing the districts of Somerset
The numbers on the map are linked to the numbers below.

 South Somerset
 Taunton Deane
 West Somerset
 Sedgemoor
 Mendip
 Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary)
 North Somerset (Unitary)

 Cities, towns, and villages 
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 


Category:Ceremonial counties of England