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This is the Umbrella Project Page for Somerset England.
Somerset
- Administrative centre Taunton
- County Flower - Cheddar Pink
- People from Somerset are called - Somersetians
Somerset (abbreviated Som..) is a ceremonial county of historic in South West England. It borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the River Severn. Its traditional northern border is the River Avon, but the administrative boundary has crept southwards with the creation and expansion of the City of Bristol, and latterly the county of Avon and its successor unitary authorities to the north.
Somerset is a rural county of rolling hills (Blackdown Hills, Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park), and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset Levels. There is evidence of human occupation from Palaeolithic times, and of subsequent settlement in the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods.
The caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during the Palaeolithic period, and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge. Bones from Gough's Cave have been dated to 12,000 BC, and a complete skeleton, known as Cheddar Man, dates from 7150 BC. Examples of cave art have been found in caves such as Aveline's Hole. Some caves continued to be occupied until modern times, including Wookey Hole.
The county played a significant part in the consolidation of power and rise of King Alfred the Great, and later in the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion.
Agriculture is today major business in the county. Farming of sheep and cattle, including for wool and the county's famous cheeses (most notably Cheddar), are traditional and contemporary, as is the more unusual cultivation of willow for basket weaving. Apple orchards were once plentiful, and Somerset is still known for the production of strong cider. The largest employment sectors are retail, manufacturing, tourism, and health and social care. Population growth in the county is higher than the national average.
The largest urban areas in terms of population are
- Bath,
- Weston-super-Mare,
- Taunton,
- Yeovil and
- Bridgwater.
The Districts of Somerset
- South Somerset
- Taunton Deane (Borough)
- West Somerset
- Sedgemoor
- Mendip
- Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary)
- North Somerset (Unitary)
For Information about research in the County, including lists of people of renown connected to Somerset and Families Researched on Geni go to Somerset - Family Heads
For Historical information about Somerset visit Historic Somerset (Link to follow) - including connections to Historical figures, Gentry and political people connected with Somerset.
The following people on Geni offer assistance -
- C. June Barnes Curator
If you have Somerset connections please join the project and if you live in Somerset and are prepared to offer advice or help of any kind please add yourself to the list above.
To participate in any project
- you do need to first be a collaborator - so join the project. See the discussion Project Help: How to add Text to a Project - Starter Kit to get you going!
How to Participate
- If you have any queries please start a discussion linked to this project. (See the menu top right).
- Please add related projects to the menu on the right.
- If you have links to related web pages that would be of interest to others please add them in the relevant section at the bottom of the page. In order to do this use the drop down menu at the top left of the screen and Join the Project. If this option is not available to you then contact a collaborator and ask to be added to the project. As a collaborator you will be able to edit this page.
- Add any documents of interest using the menu at the top right of the page, and then add a link to the document in the text under the heading below. If you do not know how to do this please contact one of the other collaborators to assist you.
Please do not add the profiles off all your Somerset born ancestors to this project or the People connected to Somerset project. Rather add the earliest known person of a Somerset family to the Somerset - Family Heads project.
Parish Map
from The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers 1984.
See http://www.geni.com/photo/view/4560155096930045739?photo_id=6000000019096933017 - open full view.