Map from Lycos @ 1:25,000
The county in the west of England is bounded on the north by the Bristol Channel and Gloucestershire, on the west and south-west by Devon, on the south by Dorset and on the east by Wiltshire. The county town is Taunton.
There are several ranges of hills in Somerset which enclose a great plain. Chief among them are the Brendon, Mendips, Polden and the Quantocks. The county is well watered and its chief rivers are the Avon, Frome and Yeo.
Somerset has for centuries been famous for its agriculture to which the climate and soils are well suited. Although considerable grain crops are raised, fruit (especially the cider apple) and livestock are more important. Somerset flocks of sheep supported the historically iportant wool industry and sheep farming is still widespread. The dairy farming is widespread with Cheddar giving its name to the famous brand of cheese.
Mineral deposits include iron, coal and lead although output is not great.
Holiday resorts in Bridgewater, Minehead, Porlock, Watchet and Weston-super-Mare - Bath is famous for its waters.
| circa 70 | | The Romans overran the settlement at Cadbury Castle in Somerset and dispersed the Britons living there |
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| circa 500 | | Defences at Cadbury Castle in Somerset thought to have been built |
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| 658 | | Kenwalh, King of the West Saxons, fought and defeated the Britons at Pen Selwood in Somerset |
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| 997 | | Danes raid the Severn estuary, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Wales (ASC) |
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| 1001 | | Army raised in Devon and Somerset routed by the Danes and many slaughtered (ASC) |
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| 1068 | | Repelled by Bristol, Irish raiders under the exiled sons of Earl Godwin forced to retreat by local levies in Somerset led by Eadnoth |
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| 1373 | | Bristol, partly in Gloucestershire and partly in Somerset, given county status by King Edward III to raise money for the war with France |
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| 1497.Jun | | Lord Audley takes command of the Cornish rebels as they march through Somerset to London |
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| 1547.Jan.28 | | Death of King Henry
VIII, aged 55; Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset becomes
Lord Protector in the name of the 9-year-old King Edward VI |
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| 1550 | | Deposition of the Lord Protector Somerset; England ruled by Northumberland |
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| 1661 | | Arrest of Somersetshire rector Thomas Budd for refusing to take the oath of obedience to the Church of England
He died, still in prison at Ilchester jail, in 1670 |
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| 1670.Jun.22 | | Death of Somersetshire rector THOMAS BUDD (1617-) at Ilchester jail after 9 years in prison for refusing to take the oath of obedience to the Church of England |
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| 1685.Jun.11 | | Rebel Duke of Monmouth lands at Lyme Regis in Dorset with 82 supporters to wrest the Crown from James II
Monmouths rebellion in the West Country was crushed by James II at the Battle of Sedgemoor and followed by the notorious Bloody Assizes presided over by Judge Jeffereys |
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| 1685.Jul.06 | | Royal army under John Churchill massacres the remnants of Monmouths rebels at the battle of Sedgemoor, near Bridgewater in Somerset
Monmouth himself escapes |
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| 1707 | | The Great Fire of Wincanton in Somerset |
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| 1791 | | William Smith (1760-1839) is impressed with the regularity of Strata from his observations at
Stowey and High Littleton in Somerset |
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| 1793 | | William Smith (1760-1839) surveys line of the Somerset Coal
He confirms the supposition that strata lying above the coal were not horizontal but inclined to the east |
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| 1806 | | Opening of the main line of the Somerset Coal Canal |
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| 1841.Jun.14 | | Opening of the GWR London to Bristol railway line, the first train reaching Bristol in 4 hours and travelling on to Bridgewater on the Bristol to Exeter line.
Opening of the railway rapidly caused a drop in traffic on the Kennet and Avon Canal |
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| 1889.Jan.16 | | First county council elections held |
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| 1954 | | Creation of the Exmoor National Park |
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| 1978 | | 1,014-km (630 mile) South West Coast Path from
Minehead in Somerset to Poole in Dorset becomes a complete National Trail |
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| 2003.Sep | | A world record cucumber weighing 12-kg (27 pounds) was displayed at Shepton Mallet in Somerset |
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| 2003.Sep | | The primary school opened at Cotford St Luke, Somerset\'s newest village (near Taunton)
It is the only public facility in the new village of 900 houses |
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| 2003.Oct.21 | | Kevin Philips, barricaded inside a house in Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset for 2 days and believed armed with a machete give himself up to police
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Recommend a Book for this Page
The Parliamentary Gazeteer of England and Wales, 1840-1843
A Fullerton & Co., London, 1843
The History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset
by J Collinson, (1791), 3 volumes
