Somerset

Somerset
Somerset
Ceremonial county
	The Somerset Levels from Glastonbury Tor; St Mary's Church, Bruton; and Pulteney Bridge, Bath
	Coordinates: 51°06′N 2°54′W / 51.100°N 2.900°W
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South West England
Established	Ancient
Time zone	UTC±00:00 (Greenwich Mean Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+01:00 (British Summer Time)
Members of Parliament	9 MPs
Police	Avon and Somerset Police
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Mohammed Saddiq
High Sheriff	Janet Montgomery
Area	[convert: needs a number]
• Ranked	of 48
Population (2005 est.)	884,400
• Ranked	22nd of 48
Density	212/km2 (550/sq mi)
Ethnicity	87.4% White British (2021)
Unitary authorities
Councils	Somerset Council; Bath and North East Somerset Council; North Somerset Council
Unitary authority
Council	Somerset Council
Executive
Admin HQ	Taunton
Area	[convert: needs a number]
• Ranked	of 326
• Ranked	of 326
Density	[convert: needs a number]
ISO 3166-2	GB-SOM
GSS code	E06000066
ITL	TLK23
Website	somerset.gov.uk
Largest city	Bath
Districts
	; Districts of Somerset; Unitary
Districts	Somerset; North Somerset; Bath and North East 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

The Dunster Yarn Market was built in 1609 for the trading of local cloth

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

Key
	Owned by the National Trust
	Owned by English Heritage
	Owned by the Forestry Commission
	A Country Park
	An Accessible open space
	Museum (free)
	Museum (charges entry fee)
	Heritage railway
	Historic House