Portal:Somerset

Cheddar Gorge is a limestone gorge in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Cheddar. The gorge is the site of the Cheddar show caves, where Britain's oldest complete human skeleton, Cheddar Man, estimated to be 9,000 years old, was found in 1903. Older remains from the Upper Late Palaeolithic era (12,000–13,000 years ago) have been found. The caves, produced by the activity of an underground river, contain stalactites and stalagmites.

Cheddar Gorge, including the caves and other attractions, has become a tourist destination. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, following its appearance on the 2005 television programme Seven Natural Wonders, Cheddar Gorge was named as the second greatest natural wonder in Britain, surpassed only by Dan yr Ogof caves. The gorge attracts about 500,000 visitors per year. (Full article...)

John of Tours or John de Villula (died 1122) was a medieval Bishop of Wells in England who moved the diocese seat to Bath. He was a native of Tours and was King William I of England's doctor before becoming a bishop. After his consecration as bishop, he was either given or purchased Bath Abbey, a rich monastery, and then moved the headquarters of the diocese from Wells, to the abbey. He rebuilt the church at Bath, building a large cathedral that no longer survives. He gave a large library to his cathedral and received the right to hold a fair in Bath. Not noted for his scholarship, he died suddenly in 1122. (Full article...)

1. Somerset (Unitary)
2. North Somerset (Unitary)
3. Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary)

Chard
Co-ordinates 50°52′22″N 2°57′31″W / 50.8728°N 2.9587°W / 50.8728; -2.9587

Chard is a town and civil parish. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon border, 15 miles (24 km) south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 12,000 and, at an elevation of 121 metres (397 ft), it is the southernmost and highest town in Somerset. Administratively Chard forms part of the district of South Somerset.

The name of the town was Cerden in 1065 and Cerdre in the Domesday Book of 1086. Before the Norman Conquest, Chard was held by the Bishop of Wells. The town's first charter was from King John in 1234. Most of the town was destroyed by fire in 1577, and it was further damaged during the English Civil War. A 1663 will by Richard Harvey of Exeter established Almshouses known as Harvey's Hospital. In 1685 Chard was one of the towns in which Judge Jeffreys held some of the Bloody Assizes after the failure of the Monmouth Rebellion. textile manufacture was important in the Middle Ages. Chard claims to be the birthplace of powered flight and the development of articulated artificial limbs. Chard is a key point on the Taunton Stop Line, a World War II defensive line. The Chard Canal was a tub boat canal built between 1835 and 1842. Chard Branch Line was created in 1860 to connect the two London and South Western Railway and Bristol and Exeter Railway main lines and ran through Chard until 1965.

Local folklore claims that the town has a very unusual and unique feature, a stream running along either side of Fore Street, one stream eventually flows into the Bristol Channel and the other eventually reaches the English Channel. Chard reservoir, approximately a mile north east of the town, is a Local Nature Reserve, and Snowdon Hill Quarry a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest. Major employers in the town include Numatic International Limited and the Oscar Mayer food processing plant.There are a range of sporting and cultural facilities, with secondary education being provided at Holyrood Academy and religious sites including the Church of St Mary the Virgin which dates from the late 11th century. (Full article...)

From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:

• ... that while playing for Lansdown Cricket Club in 1865, W. G. Grace (pictured) and two of his brothers took all of the opposition United England Eleven's twenty wickets?
• ... that the remains of Melanie Hall who went missing in 1996 were discovered by the M5 motorway in October 2009?
• ... that following the purchase of British Energy by Électricité de France, plans for a new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station have been announced?
• ... that the Castle Cary Cut-Off reduced the 325½ mile distance between London Paddington and Penzance railway stations by 20¼ miles?
• ... that Lilstock church only holds one service a year, and the last marriage held there was in 1834?

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Main project: WikiProject Somerset Parent projects: WikiProject UK geography, WikiProject England

Nearby projects: WikiProject Bristol, WikiProject Devon, WikiProject Dorset, WikiProject Wiltshire