X-Nico

50 unusual facts about Somerset


Ann Street Barry

Ann Street Barry (1734 – 29 November 1801), second wife of Spranger Barry, was born in Bath, England in 1734, the daughter of an apothecary.

Barnstaple Priory

Juhel endowed it with part of the demesne land of Barnstaple Castle as well as with the manors of Pilton and Pilland, members of the barony, which were contiguous and situated immediately to the north across the River Yeo.

Bartholomew Clerke

He was grandson of Richard Clerke, gentleman, of Livermere in Suffolk, and son of John Clerke of Wells, Somerset, by Anne, daughter and heiress of Henry Grantoft of Huntingdonshire.

Bath and District Saturday Football League

The B&DFL operates within a 12 mile radius of Bath and whilst the majority of its clubs are based in Bath there are teams from Keynsham and outer suburbs of Bristol as well as some of the smaller outlying villages around Bath.

Bath by-election, 1929

The Bath by-election, 1929 was a parliamentary by-election held on 21 March 1929 for the constituency of Bath in Somerset.

Bath Preservation Trust

The Bath Preservation Trust is an independent charity based in Bath, Somerset, England which exists to safeguard the historic character of the city of Bath, the only complete city in the UK that (along with its environs) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and to champion its sustainable future.

Bruton Abbey

It was subsequently refounded as a house of Augustinian canons in 1135, by William de Mohun, who later became the Earl of Somerset.

Cambridge Colts

The team are now in the Fifth Round (the last 16) where they have been drawn at home to Weston-Super-Mare from Somerset.

Cannington Court

Cannington Court in the village of Cannington, Somerset, England was built around 1138 as the lay wing of a Benedictine nunnery, founded by Robert de Courcy.

Cannington Nunnery

Cannington Nunnery was established around 1138 and dissolved in 1536 in Cannington, Somerset, England.

Cavendish Crescent, Bath

Cavendish Crescent in Bath, Somerset, is a Georgian crescent built in the early 19th century to a design by the architect John Pinch the elder.

Church of St Andrew, Backwell

The parish is part of the benefice of Backwell with Chelvey and Brockley within the deanery of Portishead.

Church of St Andrew, Chew Magna

The Church of St Andrew in Chew Magna, Somerset, England dates from the 12th century with a large 15th-century pinnacled sandstone tower, a Norman font and a rood screen that is the full width of the church.

Church of St Peter, Englishcombe

The Church of St Peter in Englishcombe, Somerset, England was probably built by Robert de Gournay in the 12th century.

Crewkerne Castle

Crewkerne Castle (which is also known as Castle Hill or Croft Castle) was possibly a Norman motte and bailey castle on a mound that is situated north-west of the town of Crewkerne in Somerset, England.

DeForest Soaries

Additionally, he is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, New Jersey, a position he has held since November 1990.

Dianthus

Dianthus gratianopolitanus - the Cheddar Pink - was chosen as the County flower of Somerset in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity Plantlife.

Drayton, Queensland

Thomas Alford, an early settler in the area who built a house, general store, and post office in the area, named the town after his home village in Somerset.

Frances Freeling Broderip

He was born at Wells, Somersetshire, in 1814, educated at Eton, and at Balliol College, Oxford, where he took his B.A. 1837, M.A. 1839, became rector of Cossington, Somersetshire, 1844, and died at Cossington on 10 April 1866.

Francis Hawley, 2nd Baron Hawley

He succeeded his grandfather Lord Hawley in the barony in 1684, also inheriting large estates in Berkshire, Devon, Dorset and Somerset.

Geoffrey Ashe

Ashe has also helped demonstrate, through acting as secretary to a dig undertaken by Dr. Ralegh Radford in 1966-70, that Cadbury Castle in Somerset, identified as Camelot by the sixteenth-century antiquary John Leland, was actually refortified in the latter part of the fifth century, in works as yet unparalleled elsewhere in Britain at the time.

German hospital ship Ophelia

The British renamed the ship SS Huntley and used it for transporting fuel from Portishead to Boulogne.

Gerry Sweeney

Subsequently Sweeney left football and worked as a postman in Portishead, Somerset.

Guild of St George

(A generous benefactor, Mrs Greg, who became a companion in the 1930s, gifted to the Guild her own nature diaries and other precious items, and Green Pastures bungalow in Holcombe, near Bath (sold in 1962-3)).

Guildford Cathedral

Inside, the cathedral appears to be filled with light, with pale Somerset limestone pillars and white Italian marble floors.

Harriet Waylett

The daughter of a tradesman in Bath, Somerset, Harriet Cooke was born there on 7 February 1798; her uncle was a member of the Drury Lane Theatre company, and Sarah Cooke was her cousin.

Henry Fane of Brympton

Henry Fane (1669–1726) of Brympton, Somerset was a great-grandson of Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland and father of Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland.

Henry Kiddle

Henry Kiddle (15 January 1824 Bath, England - 1891) was a United States educator and had an interest in spiritualism.

James Lorimer Ilsley

He was born in Somerset, Nova Scotia, the son of Randel Ilsley and Catherine Caldwell.

KZJK

Although they were licensed to the west Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, the tower was located far east of the Twin Cities, in Somerset, Wisconsin.

Locking Castle

Locking Castle was a castle that once stood on Carberry Hill near the site of RAF Locking in Locking in the North Somerset district of Somerset, England.

Mississinewa River

The dustjacket explains that this county is located “east of Spoon River, west of Winesburg, and slightly north of Raintree County.” Its county seat is the actual rural town of Somerset next to the Mississinewa (River) Reservoir.

New Brunswick Marconi Station

New Brunswick Marconi Station (40.51529° N 74.48895° W) was located at JFK Boulevard and Easton Avenue just a few minutes from the New Brunswick border in Somerset, New Jersey.

Newbridge Navigator

The company was later brought back to life as N.B. Yachts and the company moved its production facility from Bridport in Dorset UK to Chard in the county of Somerset UK.

North Somerset Council election, 2011

The 2011 North Somerset Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of North Somerset Unitary Council in Somerset, England.

Purnell and Sons

Purnell and Sons was a small family printer based in Somerset which merged with other printers to become a large national publisher.

River Batherm

The River Batherm is a river which flows through Somerset and Devon in England.

River Otter

The River Otter rises in the Blackdown Hills just inside the county of Somerset, England near Otterford, then flows south for some 32 km through East Devon to the English Channel at the western end of Lyme Bay, part of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Permian and Triassic sandstone aquifer in the Otter Valley is one of Devon's largest groundwater sources, supplying drinking water to 200,000 people.

River Pitt

The River Pitt, also known as the Piddy, is a short tributary of the River Brue in Somerset, England.

Somerset, Massachusetts

Stephen Rebello, writer and screenwriter known for such books as Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho and for the screenplay of Hitchcock (film) based on that book.

Somerset, New Jersey

Roy Hinson, first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1983 who played for eight seasons in the NBA.

Somerset, Ohio

The village of Somerset was established in 1810 by settlers from Somerset, Pennsylvania at the spot on Zane's Trace located midway between Lancaster and Zanesville.

St Nicholas' Church, Brockley

St Nicholas' Church in Brockley, Somerset, England dates from the 12th century, and has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.

Strides Arcolab

USA - The company has a soft gelatin capsule plant at Somerset, New Jersey, USA.

Taunton Tramway

Despite plans to build a network to neighbouring towns including Wiveliscombe, Wellington and North Petherton it started small with a route from Taunton railway station to the town centre.

Thomas Linley the elder

Thomas Linley (17 January 1733 – 19 November 1795), English musician, was born in Badminton, Gloucestershire, and studied music in Bath, where he settled as a singing-master and conductor of the concerts.

Tolland, Connecticut

Alternatively, its name could have been taken after Tolland in Somerset, England.

UWE Stadium

Having left their long term home at Eastville Stadium in 1986, Bristol Rovers spent ten years in exile at Twerton Park in Bath.

West Somerset Council election, 2011

The 2011 West Somerset Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of West Somerset District Council in Somerset, England.

Who I Was Born to Be

In August 2013 Boyle performed the song during the opening ceremonies of the 2013 Special Olympics held at the Royal Crescent in Bath.


All Hallows School

All Hallows Preparatory School, East Cranmore, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England

Barbara Paul Robinson

While on sabbatical from Debevoise & Plimpton, Ms. Robinson worked as a gardener for Rosemary Verey, at Barnsley House in Gloucestershire, England, and then for Penelope Hobhouse at the National Trust Garden, Tintinhull in Somerset, experiences she found life-transforming.

Barbastelle

In Britain, only a few breeding roosts are known; Paston Great Barn in Norfolk, parts of Exmoor and the Quantock Hills in Devon and Somerset (see Tarr Steps), the Mottisfont woodland in Hampshire and Ebernoe Common in West Sussex.

Bessie Blount

Elizabeth Blount, mistress of Henry VIII of England and mother of his son, Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset

Cary Castle

Cary Castle stood on Lodge Hill overlooking the town of Castle Cary, Somerset, England.

East Somerset Railway

At this stage, the main traffic became the through trains from Yatton to Witham and the East Somerset Railway station in Wells closed, with Wells (Tucker Street) becoming the station for the city on the line.

Edward Somerset

Edward Somerset, 2nd Marquess of Worcester (1601?–1667), styled Lord Herbert of Ragland, English nobleman, son of Henry Somerset, 1st Marquess of Worcester

Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort

# Lady Henrietta Somerset (26 April 1748 – 24 July 1770, aged 22), married Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet on 6 April 1769, no issue.

Ernest Greswell

Ernest Arthur Greswell, born at Cuddalore, Madras, India on 8 June 1885 and died at Minehead, Somerset, England on 15 January 1962, played first-class cricket for Somerset in 12 matches between 1903 and 1910.

George Hunt

George E. Hunt (1896–1959), medium-pace bowler who made over 200 appearances for Somerset

International Tour de Toona

The event became the largest pro-am cycling event in North America and had stages spanning Blair, Cambria, Bedford, and Somerset Counties in Pennsylvania.

John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset

Somerset died in the Hospital of St Katharine's by the Tower.

John Cowper Powys

Powys was born in Shirley, Derbyshire, in 1872, the son of the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923), who was vicar of Montacute, Somerset, for thirty-two years, and Mary Cowper Johnson, a descendent of the poet William Cowper.

John Edward Taylor

He was born at Ilminster, Somerset, England, to Mary Scott, the poet, and John Taylor, a Unitarian minister who moved after his wife's death to Manchester with his son to run a school there.

John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton

He was born at Witham Friary, Somerset, the son of Sir William de Stourton (abt 1373-18 Sep 1413), Speaker of the House of Commons, and Elizabeth Moigne.

Jon Callard

Callard taught physical education classes and sports classes at Downside School (Somerset) in the early to mid-1990s.

KSJL

KYTY, a radio station (810 AM) licensed to serve Somerset, Texas, United States, which held the call sign KSJL from 1998 to 2007

Laura Place, Bath

Laura Place Bathwick, Bath, Somerset, England, consists of four blocks of houses around an irregular quadrangle at the end of Pulteney Bridge.

Liber Exoniensis

It contains a variety of administrative materials concerning the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Maiden Castle, Dorset

This was a characteristic of Vespasian's campaign in the region; there was military occupation at Cadbury Castle in Somerset, Hembury in Devon, and Hodd Hill in Dorset.

Margaret Beaufort

Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Stafford (c. 1427–1474), the daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset (second creation) and the mother of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham.

Neshanic

Neshanic Station, New Jersey, an unincorporated community within Branchburg Township, Somerset County

Paul Spencer Sochaczewski

Gary Braver, bestselling author of Skin Deep, said “Paul’s writing in The Sultan and the Mermaid Queen has the humanity of Somerset Maugham, the adventure of Joseph Conrad, the perception of Paul Theroux, and a self-effacing voice uniquely his own.”

RAF Northleach

Glider Training School left RAF Stoke Orchard and RAF Northleach for good relocating to RAF Exeter, Devon and its satellite of RAF Culmhead, Somerset.

Raritan

Raritan Inc., a provider of KVM Switches and IT infrastructure management solutions, in Somerset, New Jersey

Reading to Taunton line

The next junction on the right is at Witham, where the old East Somerset Railway carries stone trains from Merehead Quarry and continues to Cranmore.

Russ McCool

He was born while his father was engaged as a professional cricketer for Somerset, but brought up in Australia where he attended schools in Woy Woy, New South Wales.

Sir Francis Seymour, 1st Baronet

On 25 August 1869, Seymour had married Agnes Austin, the eldest daughter of Rev. H. D. Wickham of Horsington, Somerset and they had three daughters and one son, Albert Victor Francis Seymour, who was born when Seymour was 74 years old and later served as a Page of Honour to Queen Victoria.

Somerset Hospital

Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, New Jersey, which was originally known as Somerset Hospital.

Somerset Mall

Somerset Collection (formerly Somerset Mall), an upscale mall in Michigan

Somerset Space Walk

Funding for the project came from the Committee on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), the initial advertising leaflet was paid for by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and there was also a small grant from Sustrans, who fund art installations along cyclepaths, to deal with maintenance requirements in the years before Somerset County Council took on that responsibility.

Somerset, Tasmania

The school follows the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum and is for students from kinder to grade 12.

Sonny Leitch

Leitch claims that his friend, the renowned safe-breaker Johnny Ramensky, told him that he had stolen a hoard of Nazi loot from the Rome area during the Allied march on Rome in 1944, and that this hoard was later kept at the Shepton Mallet military prison in Somerset, and the Royal Navy supply depot at Carfin, Lanarkshire, after the war.

St George's Road Cricket Ground, Harrogate

Two double centuries were scored at the ground, 277* by Percy Holmes against Northamptonshire in 1921, as part of that 548, and 217* by Viv Richards for Somerset in 1975.

Stokeleigh Camp

It has been suggested that Stokeleigh was connected with the Wansdyke, a series of defensive linear earthworks, consisting of a ditch and an embankment running at least from Maes Knoll in Somerset, to the Savernake Forest near Marlborough in Wiltshire, however there is little evidence for this.

The Strange World of Gurney Slade

The name Gurney Slade is taken from the name of a district (and limestone quarry) in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, not far from the city of Wells.

Ursina

Ursina, Pennsylvania, a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Wassailing

The West Country is the most famous and largest cider producing region of the country and some of the most important wassails are held annually in Carhampton and Dunster (Somerset) and Whimple (Devon), both on 17 January (old Twelfth Night).

Westhay Heath

This is the only site in Somerset where the nationally rare Marsh Harrier (Circus areuginosus) breeds.

William Foord-Kelcey

Foord-Kelcey's brother John also played cricket for Oxford University and his nephew Osbert Mordaunt played for Somerset.

World Horse Welfare

Horses needing attention are taken into one of charities four Recovery and Rehabilitation Centres, based in Norfolk, Somerset, Lancashire and Aberdeenshire.