Portal:Somerset
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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...)
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The 1885 season was an annus horribilis for Somerset County Cricket Club. Captained by Edward Sainsbury, who had taken over from Stephen Newton, captain for the previous three seasons, they played six first-class cricket matches. Somerset's only win of the season came in their first match; all the other were lost. Two of the losses, those away against Gloucestershire and Surrey, number among the county's ten heaviest defeats. Somerset were unable to field a full team for their fourth match, which coupled with their poor results and lack of fixtures resulted in the club being stripped of its first-class status at the end of the season.
At an emergency meeting held in Taunton a new club secretary was appointed and wealthy benefactors were sought, but Sainsbury retained the club captaincy. Somerset played second-class cricket for five seasons, until their readmission to the first-class game for the 1891 season.
In their histories of Somerset County Cricket Club, Peter Roebuck and David Foot mostly gloss over the season; Roebuck includes a scorecard, but provides only two paragraphs of prose, while Foot only mentions the loss of first-class cricket. (Full article...)
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John Marwood Cleese (/kliːz/ KLEEZ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and presenter. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he cofounded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus. Along with his Python costars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983).
In the mid-1970s, Cleese and first wife Connie Booth cowrote the sitcom Fawlty Towers, in which he starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, for which he won the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. In 2000, the show topped the British Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, and in a 2001 Channel 4 poll, Basil was ranked second on its list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. (Full article...)Districts of Somerset
- Somerset (Unitary)
- North Somerset (Unitary)
- Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary)
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Co-ordinates 51°01′08″N 3°06′00″W / 51.019°N 3.1°W
Taunton is the county town of Somerset. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset.
The town has over 1,000 years of religious and military history, and is now undergoing a regeneration project. It has various transport links which support its central role in economy and commerce.
Taunton is the site of Musgrove Park Hospital and Somerset County Cricket Club's County Ground and is home to 40 Commando, Royal Marines. Central Taunton is part of the annual West Country Carnival circuit. It hosts the Taunton flower show, which has been held in Vivary Park since 1866. The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office is located on Admiralty Way. (Full article...)
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:
- ... that the architect Hans Price was responsible for the distinctive look of buildings in Weston-super-Mare, England, during the Victorian era (example pictured)?
- ... that Portbury Ashlands is a new nature reserve on the site previously used to dump the waste from Portishead power stations?
- ... that Poundisford Park was set up as a medieval deer park by the Bishop of Winchester?
- ... that the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway has been described as "the most successful of all railways in Southern England"?
- ... that the Norman church in Pawlett, Somerset has a stained glass window showing Christ blessing children who are in modern dress and holding a teddy bear and toy boat?
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Nearby projects: WikiProject Bristol, WikiProject Devon, WikiProject Dorset, WikiProject Wiltshire
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- A303 road
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- Henry Fownes Luttrell (died 1780)
- Henry Fox (sportsman)
- Frome
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- Gallox Bridge, Dunster
- Edith Garrud
- Geography of Somerset
- Geology of Somerset
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- Eleanor Glanville
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- Glastonbury Tor
- Grade I listed buildings in Somerset
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- James Hill (British Army officer)
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- History of Somerset
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- John of Tours
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- Nunney Castle
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- Massey Poyntz
- The Priest's House, Muchelney
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- Robert of Bath
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- Sir Bevil Grenville's Monument
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- Sutton Court
- Sydney Gardens
- St Joseph's Convent, Taunton
- Taunton
- Taunton Unitarian Chapel
- Team Bath F.C.
- Theatre Royal, Bath
- Tintinhull Garden
- To Catch a Copper
- Treasurer's House, Martock
- Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard
- The Tribunal, Glastonbury
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- Walton and Ivythorn Hills
- Watchet
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- Wellington, Somerset
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- Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum
- Edward Wickham
- Maisie Williams
- Woodspring Priory
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