X-Nico

61 unusual facts about Somerset


Anthony Dominic Fahy

Between 1834 to 1836 he lived and worked with his Dominican brothers in the Saint Joseph Convent, in Somerset, Ohio.

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.

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 Abbey Cemetery

The Anglican Bath Abbey Cemetery, officially dedicated as the Cemetery of St Peter and St Paul (the patron saints that Bath Abbey is dedicated to), was laid out by noted cemetery designer and landscape architect John Claudius Loudon (1783–1843) in 1843 on a picturesque hillside site overlooking Bath, Somerset, England.

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.

Brislington Brook

The other briefly enters Bath and North East Somerset, then enters a shallow valley, passing underneath Saltwell Viaduct, which carries the A37 Wells Road.

Brislington Brook rises in twin tributaries fed by springs on the northern slopes of Maes Knoll, at the eastern end of Dundry Hill, just north of the boundary between Somerset and Bristol.

Cannington Nunnery

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

Cephalanthera rubra

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the species was recorded from single sites in Somerset, Sussex and Kent, and a second Hampshire site (in the upper Test Valley).

Church of All Saints, Wrington

The Church of All Saints in Wrington, Somerset, England, has 13th-century foundations, and was remodelled with the addition of a west tower around 1450.

Church of Holy Trinity, Burrington

The Church of the Holy Trinity in Burrington, Somerset, England, is from the 15th century and was restored in 1884.

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 Bridget, Chelvey

Bridget's Church in Chelvey, Brockley, Somerset, England dates from the 12th century, and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.

Church of St John the Baptist, Churchill

The Church of St John the Baptist in Churchill, Somerset, England, was largely built around 1360 and is a Grade I listed building.

Church of St John the Baptist, Hinton Charterhouse

The parish is part of the benefice of Freshford, Limpley Stoke and Hinton Charterhouse within the archdeaconry of Bath.

Corston

Corston, Somerset, village in the county of Somerset in the United Kingdom

Cossington

Cossington, Somerset is a village on the Polden Hills between Bridgwater and Street in Somerset

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.

Down Ampney

Down Ampney was notable in medieval times as one of the principal seats of the powerful Hungerford family (their principal seat was at Farleigh Hungerford, Somerset) and a number of elaborate family monuments survive in the village church.

Eliza Maria Gillespie

Eliza Maria first attended the school of the Dominican Sisters at Somerset, Ohio, and completed her studies at the Visitation Convent at Georgetown, D.C., in 1844.

Flag of Wiltshire

The six portions are also represent the six surrounding counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Dorset and Somerset.

Francis Hawley, 2nd Baron Hawley

He instead stood for election to the English House of Commons for Somerset in 1705 but was unsuccessful.

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.

Hebron Church, Long Ashton

Hebron Church in Long Ashton, North Somerset, near Bristol in England, was first founded in 1934 by Ernest Dyer.

Hendrick Fisher

His homestead and grave are currently located near St. Andrew Memorial Church on Easton Avenue west of Davidson Avenue in the Somerset section of Franklin Township.

Highbury Hill, Clutton

Highbury Hill in Clutton, Somerset, England is the site of the earthwork remains of an Iron Age univallate hillfort.

Hugh Clifford, 2nd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh

Hugh Clifford, 2nd Baron Clifford of Chudleigh (1663–1730) was baptized on 21 December 1663 in Ugbrooke and died on 12 October 1730 in Cannington, Somerset, England.

Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen is an American gymnast from Somerset, Wisconsin.

Jordan James

Jordan James (born 24 May 1980 in Bath, Somerset, England) is a Welsh rugby league international Captain and player, who currently plays for Wales and for Salford of Super League, he has previously played for Crusaders, South Wales Scorpions, Swinton, Widnes, Castleford, Sheffield Eagles and Wigan.

Liber Exoniensis

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

Mid-Suffolk Light Railway

The Middy was short-listed as the location for the 1952 Ealing Studios film The Titfield Thunderbolt, but the Camerton and Limpley Stoke line south of Bath was used instead.

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.

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.

Rebellion of 1088

They were spread far and wide geographically from Kent, controlled by Bishop Odo, to Northumberland, controlled by Robert de Mowbray, to Gloucestershire and Somerset under Geoffrey de Montbray (Bishop of Coutances), to Norfolk with Roger Bigod, Roger of Montgomery at Shrewsbury in Shropshire, and a vast swathe of territory in the south-west, centre and south of England under Count Robert.

River Pitt

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

Soda fountain

Many civilizations believed that drinking and/or bathing in these mineral waters cured diseases, and large industries often sprang up around hot springs, such as Bath in England or the many onsen of Japan.

Somerset, Kentucky

On April 16, 2012, the ID Channel featured it on the show Sins and Secrets.

Somerset, Kings County, Nova Scotia

Boardman Robinson (1876–1952) a well-known Canadian-American artist, illustrator and cartoonist of the early 20th century, was born in Somerset.

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.

Somerset, Tasmania

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

Somerton Tunnel

Not far from the west end of the tunnel, in Long Sutton, there is an old derelict building which is said to have been used as an explosives store for the GWR engineers at the time of construction.

Soo Line High Bridge

The Soo Line High Bridge is a steel deck arch bridge over the St. Croix River between Stillwater, Minnesota and Somerset, Wisconsin.

St Mary Magdalene's Church, Langridge

St Mary Magdalene's Church at Langridge in the parish of Charlcombe, Somerset, England dates from the 12th century and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.

Stacey Tadd

Stacey Tadd (born 21 February 1989 in Bath, Somerset, England) is a British breaststroke swimmer.

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.

The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Royal Benevolent Society

It was founded at the instigation of Mr John Rye, a philanthropic retired medical man of Bath, Somerset and his servant Mr Charles Gee Jones, a former Bristol Pilot and Landlord of the Pulteney Arms in Bath, following the tragic loss of life from the Clovelly fishing fleet in a severe storm in November 1838.

Tolland, Connecticut

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

Tone Dale House

Tone Dale House, also known as House of Fox, offers views of Somerset with the Quantock hills to the North, and Blackdown Hills to the south, upon which sits the Wellington monument, built in commemoration of the Duke of Wellington.

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.

William Savery

At Bath, he met the English religious writer and philanthropist, Hannah More, and was introduced by her to the preeminent abolitionist of the time, William Wilberforce.


AASC

Avon and Somerset Constabulary, the territorial police force covering Avon and Somerset, England

Arthur Bartholomew

Arthur Bartholomew (3 December 1833 Bruton, Somerset – 19 August 1909 Melbourne) was an English-born Australian engraver, lithographer and natural history illustrator.

Banks Creek, Queensland

It is now part of Somerset Region and lies adjacent to the Brisbane River to the west of Lake Manchester.

Battle of Peonnum

The Saxons were victorious, and Cenwalh advanced west through the Polden Hills to the River Parrett, annexing eastern and central Somerset.

Bertie Bolton

Cowie played four more matches for Hampshire, with his final first-class match coming against Somerset in 1922.

Broadcloth

Around 1500, broadcloth was made in a number of districts of England, including Essex and Suffolk in southern East Anglia, the West Country Clothing District (Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, east Somerset - sometimes with adjacent areas), at Worcester, Coventry, Cranbrook in Kent and some other places.

Bruce Stewart

Bruce Hylton-Stewart (1891–1972), played first-class cricket for Somerset and Cambridge University between 1912 and 1914

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.

Coal Measures Group

In those coalfields to the south of the former Wales-Brabant High i.e. the South Wales, Bristol, Somerset, Forest of Dean and concealed Oxfordshire and Kent coalfields, the corresponding group is the South Wales Coal Measures Group.

Cowick, Devon

By marriage the property passed to Amy Fraunceis (d.1703/4), daughter of John Fraunceis of Combe Flory, Somerset, and wife of Edmund Prideaux (1634-1702), MP, of Forde Abbey and from her to her daughter Katherine Prideaux, who had married in 1679 at Exeter Sir John Speke of Whitelackington, Somerset.

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.

Fiddleford

In the hamlet there is also the beautiful mill and weir and the Fiddleford Manor, one of the oldest buildings in Dorset, probably dating from around 1370 and built by William Latimer, Royal Sheriff of Somerset and Dorset.

Fred Wheldon

1901 was worse still, as he did not pass 51 in 26 innings, and 1902 was little better, but he returned to form at last in 1903 with 969 runs – the most of his career – including 112 against Somerset.

Frederick Baitup

Playing as a tailender, Baitup picked up eleven runs in the only innings in which he batted, as Somerset picked up an innings victory thanks to a century and a double-century from Jack MacBryan and Dar Lyon respectively.

George Hunt

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

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.

Johnstone Street, Bath

Johnstone Street in the Bathwick area of Bath, Somerset, England was designed in 1788 by Thomas Baldwin, with some of the buildings being completed around 1805-1810 by John Pinch the elder.

Ken Kinnersley

Kenneth Charles Kinnersley, born at Apia, Upolu, Samoa on 13 March 1914 and died at Clifton, Bristol on 30 June 1984, played first-class cricket for Somerset in 10 matches in the 1930s.

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.

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.

Lulsgate

Lulsgate Plateau, an outlier of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England

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.

Netherlands national cricket team

Several Dutch cricketers have also played at first-class level elsewhere, the most successful of these probably being Roland Lefebvre who played for Somerset and Glamorgan in English county cricket as well as for Canterbury in New Zealand.

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.

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.

Ron Davenport

Ronald Donovan Davenport (born December 22, 1962 in Somerset, Bermuda) is a former professional American football fullback in the National Football League.

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.

Sarah Parish

Parish was born in Yeovil, Somerset to Bill and Thelma Parish; she has a sister Julie and one brother, the musician John Parish.

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 Holmes

Both Jones and Campbell feel strongly that the 1996 Geena Davis movie The Long Kiss Goodnight was an unauthorized, and unpaid for, theft of the Somerset Holmes idea.

Somerset Mall

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

Somerset Rebels

The Somerset management looked for a more solid line up given the greater emphasis on away wins and he was replaced by Jason Doyle who had spent the previous season at Elite League team Poole.

Somerset, Kentucky

In 2004, Somerset was featured on the television series City Confidential.

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.

South West Water

South West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Cornwall and Devon and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset.

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.

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.

The Abbey, Beckington

The Abbey, Beckington in Somerset, UK was built as a monastic grange and also used as a college for priests; the building was begun in 1502, but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries it became a private house.

Union Meetinghouse

Mercer Union Meetinghouse, Mercer, Maine, listed on the NRHP in Somerset County

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 Fitz Reynold

His name is listed in the Somerset region and is also one of the earliest recorded members of the Reynolds family.