SOMERSETSHIRE, a maritime county of England, lying in a crescent-like form on the Bristol Channel, to which its north-western side is turned. It is bounded to the north-east by Gloucestershire, on the east by Wiltshire, on the south by Dorsetshire and part of Devonshire, and on the west by the latter county. Its greatest length, from east to west, is 65 miles, and its greatest breadth, from north to south, 45 miles. Its boundary line has several considerable indentations. The whole area comprehends 1642 square statute miles, or 1,050,880 English acres; being in extent the seventh in the list of the English counties. The acreable value of the land, according to the late returns under the Property-tax, exceeded that of any other county except Leicestershire, being, including the tithes, £876 per square mile, or about 27s. per acre.
The civil divisions of this county are denominated the eastern and the western. The eastern division contains twenty hundreds and seven liberties, and the western twenty-two hundreds. The whole country is in the diocese of Bath and Wells; and is ecclesiastically divided into three archdeaconries, under which are 13 deans, who superintend 482 parishes. There are within the county two cities (besides a part of Bristol), seven boroughs sending members to Parliament, and twenty-nine market towns. The population, by the returns under the census of 1821, was 355,314, of whom the males were 152,447, and the females 165,357. The increase since the census of 1801 had been at the rate of 17 per cent. The inhabited houses were 61,852, the uninhabited 1974, and those building 850. The number of families was 73,537, of whom 31,448 were chiefly employed in agriculture, 27,132 in trade, manufactures, or handicraft, and 14,957 not included in either of the preceding classes.
Few districts contain a greater variety of soil and situation than the county of Somerset. In the north-east corner, the range of the Mendip hills present a lofty tract of country, of late improved on the surface, but chiefly valuable for the coal and other mines beneath it. On the western side are the Quantock hills, an extensive and sterile range, and beyond them the elevated bleak plane called the Forest of Exmoor, the highest district in the western counties. One spot on this forest, called Dunkeney, is 1668 feet above the level of the sea, and from it a prospect over an extended and diversified country is displayed; terminating on one side in the Bristol, and on the other in the English Channel. These hilly, and somewhat barren portions of the county, bear, however, but a small proportion to the whole; and between them is to be seen the richest meadows and arable lands, whose value more than counterbalances the sterility of the hills. In the better parts of the county, it may rather be described as rich than beautiful. There is a deficiency of woods; the streams that run in the valleys are sluggish, and in summer nearly stagnant; but the extent of orchards, especially when in full bloom,
produce a pleasing effect, and in some measure compensate for the want of woods.
The rivers of the county are the Avon, which enters it from Wiltshire, and becomes navigable at Bath, which city it nearly surrounds. It then passes, with many curvatures, to Bristol, and soon after is lost in the Severn. The Axe rises in the Mendip hills in two branches, one of which issues from a natural excavation, called Wookey Hole, resembling some of the Derbyshire caverns. Its course is short, and it empties itself through some marshes, below Axbridge, into the Bristol Channel. The Brue rises in Wiltshire, and also enters the Bristol Channel, being navigable not more than two miles from its mouth. The Parret rises at a village of the same name in Dorsetshire, becomes navigable at Langport, and in rainy seasons a few miles above that town. It is joined, at Boroughbridge, by the Thone or Tone, which proceeds from Taunton, and passing by Bridgewater, empties itself into the sea. The only navigable canal that has been completed is the Kennet and Avon, which unites together the two great rivers Thames and Severn. It commences near Bath, and soon enters Wiltshire. Other canals have been projected in different directions, but none of them have been prosecuted to completion; though on several of them large sums have been expended.
As Somersetshire contains, on the borders of its Cattle and rivers, large tracts of the richest meadow lands, the Dairy. most valuable branch of its rural economy is the fattening of cattle and the management of the numerous dairies. The oxen, bred chiefly in the less fertile pastures of Devonshire, when grazed in this county, afford the best beef, and furnish, in great numbers, the markets of the metropolis, as well as those of Bristol and Bath, in their immediate vicinity. The produce of the dairy is of the best kind. The cheese of Cheddar has obtained great celebrity, but that made in many other parts, and frequently sold as Gloucester, is equal to any in the world. The butter in the southern division of the county is excellent, and much of it, collected in the vicinity of Crewkerne, is sent to the London cheesemongers, who supply it to their customers under the denomination of Dorsetshire butter.
The next agricultural product is cider, which forms Productions almost the universal beverage of the working classes. of the Soil. It is a more pure and yet a stronger liquor than the cider either of Herefordshire or Devonshire; the consumption of it within the country is very large, and some is sent to distant parts. Nature has been so bountiful in furnishing spontaneous productions, that less attention is paid to those agricultural pursuits which depend on skill and industry in this than in many other districts. The abundance of natural grass is such, that the farmers do not find it necessary to grow a crop of clover, or other artificial grass, so uniformly between two corn crops as is necessary in other counties; nor is the practice of fallowing, or of introducing a rotation by commencing with turnips, much resorted to. Notwithstanding this, they grow good crops of corn, and in the hundred of Taunton Dean the wheat is of the very best quality. Barley is not cultivated very extensively, as the ge-
neral use of cider causes but little consumption of malt. The bear crops are in general very good. Oats are cultivated extensively, but scarcely equal the demands of the county, and the easy intercourse with Ireland readily supplies any deficiency when it occurs. The soil is well calculated for the growth of flax, and a large proportion of that used in the manufactures of the county is raised within it. It is not unusual to rent land for half a year whilst a crop of flax is grown; after which it is taken again by the regular occupant, who finds the flax to be an excellent preparative for wheat, from the careful weeding which was necessary to its success. The rich loamy soils bring to maturity the best elm timber. Goose feathers were formerly afforded in great abundance, but the draining and inclosing many of the richest marshy plains has rendered these capable of yielding more profit by other productions, and the quantity of feathers is much diminished of late years. The landed property of the county is much divided, no one proprietor or great family having such extensive possessions as to give a preponderant political influence. There is a great number of yeomen who share the lands, many of whom maintain the homely independence of the past generations.
The mineral products of this county are valuable. The hills of Mendip supply with coals their vicinity, the cities of Bath and Wells, and the towns of Frome and Shepton Mallet. The other parts of the county use the coals of Newport, which are brought by sea to Bridgewater. Lead, of a quality superior to that of Derbyshire, is raised in Mendip and on the Cheddar hills. Calamine is extensively produced, and supplies the brass manufacturers of Bristol. Copper is found near Stowey. Manganese, bole, and red ochre, are among the other products of Mendip.
Nearly the whole of Somersetshire is a manufacturing country. Cloths of Spanish and Saxon wool are made extensively at Frome, Shepton Mallet, and their vicinity. Some woollen goods, of a middle quality, are produced at Ilminster, Chard, Taunton, and Wellington; and some of a coarser kind at Wivelcombe, Milvarton, Watchel, and other places. The linen goods are chiefly dowlas, tickens, and sailcloth; these are mostly made at Yeovil, Crewkerne, Montacute, and Martock. There are silk-mills at Bruton and Taunton. Gloves are extensively made
at Yeovil. Of late, the wove-lace manufacturers from Nottingham have found secure asylums at Chard, from the insanity of the Luddites, and carry on there large manufactories. Near Wells are establishments for making fine paper; and in the vicinity of Bristol the glass-houses produce a large quantity of valuable wares.
The foreign commerce of Somersetshire passes chiefly through Bristol, which is the mart for such goods as are required in distant countries. Some of the woollen goods which are manufactured at Taunton and Wellington are shipped from Exeter. The far greater portion of the productions of the county are, however, destined to supply the demand for internal consumption. The cattle, butter, and cheese, are chiefly sent to London, and, in time of war, to Portsmouth and Plymouth. The linen and woollen goods are distributed through the western and Welsh counties, and, in general, are designed more for the home than for foreign markets.
The titles derived from this county are—Dukes of Peccarey, Somerset and Wellington; Marquises of Lansdowne and Bath; Earls of Bridgewater, Poulett, Bristol, and Ilchester; Barons Mendip and Glastonbury.
The county returns two members to the House of Commons, and two from each of the following places: Parliament. Bath, Wells, Taunton, Bridgewater, Ilchester, Minehead, and Milborn Port; besides two for the city of Bristol, which is partly in this county, and partly in Gloucestershire, but retains an independent jurisdiction as a county of itself.
Ilchester, from the elections being held there, and the gaol and county court, is usually considered the county town, although the assizes in the spring are held at Taunton, and in the summer at Wells and Bridgewater alternately.
The principal towns and their population are, Bath, 36,811; Taunton, 8534; Bridgewater, 6155; Wells, 5888; Shepton Mallet, 5021; Yeovil, 4655; Wellington, 4170; Frome, 12,411; Crewkerne, 5434; Bedminster, 7979; North Petherton, 3091; Wedmore, 3079.
See Beauties of England and Wales. Toulmin's Taunton. Bellingsley's Agriculture of Somerset, and Warner's Bath. (w. w.)