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.
Somerset possesses a number of Roman and other remains and is rich in ecclesiatical arhcitecture. Wells Cathedral, Glastonbury Abbey and the churches at Bath, Cheddar, Crewkerne, Taunton and Yeovil are well-known examples of the Perpendicular style.
The origins of the name "Somerset" is derived from the Old English (Saxon) "Sumersaeton" which is itself derived from the village of Somerton, "farmstead used in summer", with the suffix "saete" ("house"). Although the Anglo-Saxons arrived in what is now Somerset in AD 658 the name was not adopted for the whole county until after the Norman conquest of 1066.
