Somerset

Somerset ( SUM-ər-set, -⁠sit), archaically Somersetshire ( SUM-ər-set-sheer, -⁠sit-, -⁠shər), is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Bristol, and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. The largest settlement is the city of Bath. Somerset is a predominantly rural county, especially to the south and west, with an area of 4,171 km2 (1,610 sq mi) and an estimated population of 1,012,934 in 2024. Bath is in the north-east of the county, Yeovil in the south-east, Taunton in the south-west, and the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare in the north-west. The city of Wells, the second-smallest city by population in England, is located in the centre. 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...