FACTS AND FALLACIES ABOUT SOMERSET
One of the best sources about for information on Somerset is Wikipedia, so here is the article.
The Dictionary Definition of Somerset
In addition to the above article, there are the following facts:
Somerset covers a total of 1610 square miles (4178 square km), with the administrative county covering 1331 square miles (3451 square km), Bath And North East Somerset covering 135 square miles (351 square km) and North Somerset covering 144 square miles (375 square km).
Its largest island is
Steep Holm in the Bristol Channel at 0.08 square miles (0.13 square km).
Its extremities are:
Most northerly point: 51◦ 30' 05" N, Royal Portbury Docks at the mouth of the River Avon.
Most southerly point: 50◦ 49' 14" N, on the River Axe near Tytherleigh.
Most easterly point: 02◦ 14' 38" W, near Rudge.
Most westerly point: 03◦ 50' 23" W, Saddle Stone on Exmoor.
Highest point:
Dunkery Beacon at 1705 ft (519 m)
It measures a maximum of nearly 70 miles from east to west and over 48 miles from north to south.
It is ranked 7th among English counties in overall size behind Northumberland and ahead of Suffolk.
The longest river is the
Parrett at around 47 miles.
The total population was 855697 in 2001.
The average temperature in January is 45 F (9 C) and 70 F (21 C) in August. Average annual rainfall is
35 inches (890 mm) and on
Exmoor it is 80 inches (2030 mm) a year.
The people of Somerset are not a bunch of stupid bumpkins!
There is more to see in Somerset than just Glastonbury and Bath!
The Glastonbury Pop Festival is at Pilton and never has been at Glastonbury!
Somerset is neither in the North, Cornwall or Wales!
We do not have a "funny" accent; it is the accent of Anglo-Saxon royalty and is probably one of the oldest English accents!
Proper cider as produced in Somerset is not clear and fizzy like lager!
Exmoor National Park is not entirely in Devon as 70% of it is in Somerset!
The south west peninsula does not comprise entirely of Devon and Cornwall any more than the North comprises entirely of Yorkshire!
If you have now read enough about Somerset and its flag, then why not have a look at the Somerset Polls and contribute to the surveys.
Palaeolithic Era
c.400,000 BC. Possible earliest human inhabitation of Britain in Mendip caves at Westbury-sub-Mendip.Mesolithic Era
c. 11,000 BC. Probable earliest human habitation. c.7,000 BC. Cheddar Man lived.Neolithic Era
c.4,000 - 2,000 BC. Construction of Stoney Littleton long barrow, Priddy Circles, the Sweet Track and Stanton Drew stone circles.Bronze Age
c.2,000 - 650 BC. Construction of round barrows such as those at Priddy Nine Barrows, Dunkery Beacon and Robin Hoods Butts.Iron Age
c.400 BC. Construction of first ramparts at Cadbury Castle and the lake villages at Glastonbury and Meare. Lead started to be mined in Mendip Hills. Somerset inhabited by Dumnonii, Dobunni and Durotriges Celtic tribes.The Roman Empire
43 - 450 AD. The establishment of villas, such as at Low Ham, Lopen, Somerton and Ilchester. The foundation of Bath (Aquae Sulis) with its baths and other settlements like Ilchester (Lindinis), mostly east of the River Parrett. The Fosse Way (now the A37) built and some drainage of the Levels near Brent carried out. 63 AD, the alleged foundation of Glastonbury Abbey.Post-Roman 'Arthurian' Somerset
450 -700 AD.
Somerset part of kingdom of Dumnonia that included Cornwall and Devon.
Saints Decuman, Dyfrig (Dubricius), Petrock, Bueno, Congar, Kay and Carrantoc conducted missionary work in Somerset. St. Gildas supposedly lived on Steep Holm. Possible Irish settlement. Refortification of Cadbury Castle in late 5th century by powerful warlord. c.500 AD. Battle of Llongborth, possibly at Langport. Probable foundation of Glastonbury Abbey in late 6th century. Defeat by Saxon Wessex at the Battle of Deorham (Dyrham) in 577 AD, separates the Celts of Somerset from those of Wales. Battle of Peonna (Penselwood) 658 AD, Wessex conquers Somerset as far as the Parrett. Wessex and Anglo-Saxon England
700 - 1066 AD. Earliest reference to Somerset in 845 AD as Sumorsaete, in reference to its people. 688-726 AD, reign of King Ine.
878 AD, King Alfred hides from the Danes in the Athelney marshes then defeats them at Edington in Wiltshire. St. Dunstan became abbot of Glastonbury in 946 AD.The Later Middle Ages
1067, Somerset conquered by Normans. 1068, King Harold's sons invade Somerset from Ireland, but are defeated; rebellion in Somerset at Montacute. Taunton Castle begun in 1107. c.1220, Roger Bacon born. As well as making advanced studies of optics, he predicted powered boats, balloons and heavier-than-air flight and was the first person in the Western world to describe gunpowder and predict its uses.
1373, Bristol becomes a county in its own right. 1497, Cornish rebels of An Goff's rebellion pass through Somerset and the pretender Perkin Warbeck is declared king at Taunton. Construction of Perpendicular style churches.Tudors and Stuarts
1536 -1540, Dissolution of the Monastries under Henry VIII. Glastonbury Abbey pillaged, it and various other monasteries fall into ruin.
1632, John Locke is born in Somerset. His writings form the basis of revolutionary though in the American colonies and France. 1638, colonists from Wincanton found Rhode Island. 1642, Somerset sees the first fighting of the English Civil War at Marshall's Elm near Street. 1645, siege at Dunster Castle. 1646, Battle of Langport. 1685, Duke of Monmouth lands at Lyme Regis and is declared king at Taunton. July 6th, Monmouth Rebellion defeated at Sedgemoor. Bloody Assizes of Judge Jeffreys. 1688, William of Orange stays at Wincanton on way to claiming the throne of England. 1688 and 1699, William Dampier of East Coker explores Australia.18th Century
1707, Wincanton burnt. Henry Fielding writes The Ballad of Tom Jones. William Smith makes huge advances in the understanding of geology. The great Georgian city of Bath developed as a spa town. Castle Street in Bridgwater built.19th Century
1806, Somerset Coal Canal built. 1841, GWR opened. 1848, a model aeroplane designed by John Stringfellow makes first powered flight in Chard. 1869, R.D. Blackmore wrote Lorna Doone. 1889, creation of Somerset County Council.20th Century
1940's, Somerset towns hit by German bombs. 1954, Exmoor became a National Park. 1974, creation of county of Avon (until 1996) takes nearly 300 square miles from the northern part of Somerset.
SOME MYTHS EXPLODED!