Editing Somerset (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Somerset}}
[[File:Map of Somerset in 1646.jpg|thumb|right|A map of the county in 1646, author unknown]]

===Prehistory===
The caves of the [[Mendip Hills]] were settled during the [[Paleolithic|Palaeolithic]] period,<ref>{{cite web |title=Introduction: The Paleolithic period – food gatherers |series=Aspects of Somerset history |department=Somerset Archives |publisher=Somerset Government |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Palper.htm |access-date=29 December 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814192128/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Palper.htm |archive-date=14 August 2011 }}</ref> and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at [[Cheddar Gorge]]. Bones from [[Gough's Cave]] have been dated to 12,000&nbsp;BCE, and a complete skeleton, known as [[Cheddar Man]], dates from [[8th millennium BC|7150&nbsp;BCE]].<ref>{{cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |date=20 June 2010 |title=Bones from a Cheddar Gorge cave show that cannibalism helped Britain's earliest settlers survive the ice age |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/20/ice-age-cannibals-britain-earliest-settlers |access-date=22 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307203921/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/jun/20/ice-age-cannibals-britain-earliest-settlers |archive-date= 7 March 2016 }}</ref> Examples of cave art have been found in [[Aveline's Hole]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Aveline's Hole discovery |publisher=[[University of Bristol]] |department=Spelaeological Society |url=http://www.ubss.org.uk/articles/avelines.php |access-date=22 March 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303185905/http://www.ubss.org.uk/articles/avelines.php |archive-date= 3 March 2016 }}</ref> Some caves continued to be occupied until modern times, including [[Wookey Hole Caves|Wookey Hole]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The [[Somerset Levels]]—specifically [[dry point]]s at [[Glastonbury]] and [[Brent Knoll]]—also have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been settled by [[Mesolithic]] hunters.<ref name="Dunning">{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=Robert |year=1983 |title=A History of Somerset |publisher=Phillimore & Co |location=Chichester, UK |isbn= 0-85033-461-6 }}</ref><ref name="Mesolithic">{{cite web |title=Somerset |website=Camelot Village: Britain's Heritage and History |url=http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/counties/england/somerset.html |access-date=28 May 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613211349/http://www.camelotintl.com/heritage/counties/england/somerset.html |archive-date=13 June 2006 }}</ref> Travel in the area was facilitated by the construction of one of the world's oldest known engineered roadways, the [[Sweet Track]], which dates from 3807&nbsp;BCE or 3806&nbsp;BCE.{{efn|A 6,000-year-old trackway was discovered in [[Belmarsh prison]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.physorg.com/news169297178.html |title=London's earliest timber structure found during Belmarsh prison dig |last=Anon |date=12 August 2009 |work=physorg.com News |publisher=PhysOrg.com |access-date=10 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715214221/http://www.physorg.com/news169297178.html |archive-date=15 July 2011 }}</ref>}}<ref>{{cite web |title=The day the Sweet Track was built |work=New Scientist |date=16 June 1990 |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12617212.800-science-the-day-the-sweet-track-was-built.html |access-date=13 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311232408/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg12617212.800-science-the-day-the-sweet-track-was-built.html |archive-date=11 March 2010 }}</ref><ref name=brunning>{{cite journal |last=Brunning |first=Richard |date=February 2001 |title=The Somerset Levels |series=Wetlands Special Issue |journal=[[Current Archaeology]] |volume=XV (No. 4) |issue=172 |pages=139–143 |issn=0011-3212}}</ref>

The exact age of the [[Henge|henge monument]] at [[Stanton Drew stone circles]] is unknown, but it is believed to be [[Neolithic]].<ref>{{cite report |title=History and research |series=Stanton Drew stone circles and cove |publisher=English Heritage |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stanton-drew-circles-and-cove/history-and-research/ |access-date=26 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525100919/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stanton-drew-circles-and-cove/history-and-research |archive-date=25 May 2015 }}</ref> There are numerous [[Iron Age]] [[hill fort]]s, some of which, like [[Cadbury Castle, Somerset|Cadbury Castle]]<ref name="auto">{{cite report |title=Mendip Hills: An archaeological survey of the area of outstanding natural beauty |publisher=Somerset County Council |department=Archaeological Projects |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_MendipAONB.pdf |access-date=13 November 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516154619/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_MendipAONB.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2011 }}</ref> and [[Ham Hill, Somerset|Ham Hill]], were later reoccupied in the [[Early Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |last2=Adkins |first2=Rod |year=1992 |title=A Field Guide to Somerset Archaeology |pages=72–74 |publisher=Dovecote Press |location=Wimborne, UK |isbn=0-946159-94-7}}</ref>

===Roman invasion===
On the authority of the future emperor [[Vespasian]], as part of the ongoing expansion of the Roman presence in Britain, the [[Legio II Augusta|Second Legion Augusta]] invaded Somerset from the south-east in 47&nbsp;CE. The county remained part of the [[Roman Empire]] until around 409&nbsp;CE, when the Roman occupation of Britain came to an end.<ref name="rajan">{{cite news |first=Amal |last=Rajan |date=24 August 2007 |title=Around a county in 40&nbsp;facts: A (very) brief history of Somerset |newspaper=[[The Independent]] on Sunday |location=London, UK |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/around-a-county-in-40-facts-a-very-brief-history-of-somerset-462828.html |access-date=21 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214141911/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/around-a-county-in-40-facts-a-very-brief-history-of-somerset-462828.html |archive-date=14 February 2009 }}</ref>
A variety of Roman remains have been found, including [[Pagans Hill Roman temple]] in [[Chew Stoke]],<ref name="hucker">{{cite book |last=Hucker |first=Ernest |year=1997 |title=Chew Stoke Recalled in Old Photographs |publisher=Ernest Hucker}}</ref> [[Low Ham Roman Villa]] and the [[Roman Baths (Bath)|Roman Baths]] that gave their name to the city of [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].<ref>{{cite AV media |first=Neil |last=Guiden |year=2006 |title=Roman Baths Treatment Centre |website=Images of England |medium=photograph |url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=442194 |access-date=15 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615202319/http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?id=442194 |archive-date=15 June 2009 }}</ref>

===Saxon and Norman invasions===
[[File:Pulteney Bridge, Bath 2.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.75|alt=Yellow/Gray stone bridge with three arches over water which reflects the bridge and the church spire behind. A weir is on the left with other yellow stone buildings behind.|[[Palladian]] Pulteney Bridge at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]]]
After the Romans left, Britain was invaded by Anglo-Saxon peoples. By 600&nbsp;CE they had established control over much of what is now England, but Somerset was still in native British hands. The British held back Saxon advance into the south-west for some time longer, but by the early eighth century King [[Ine of Wessex]] had pushed the boundaries of the West Saxon kingdom far enough west to include Somerset.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Brenda Ralph |first2=David Nash |last2=Ford |title=Narrative history of Saxon Somerset |website=Britannia |url=http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/somhist5.html |access-date=21 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511192241/http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/somhist5.html |archive-date=11 May 2008}}</ref> The Saxon royal palace in [[Cheddar, Somerset|Cheddar]] was used several times in the 10th century to host the [[Witenagemot]].<ref>{{cite report |last=Rahtz |first=Phillip |publisher=Archaeology Data Service |title=The Saxon and Medieval Palaces at Cheddar, Somerset: An interim report of excavations in 1960–62 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-769-1/dissemination/pdf/vol06-07/6_053_066.pdf |access-date=26 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701190407/http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-769-1%2Fdissemination%2Fpdf%2Fvol06-07%2F6_053_066.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2017}}</ref>

The nature of the relations between the Britons and the Saxons in Somerset is not entirely clear. [[Ine of Wessex|Ine's laws]] demonstrate that the Britons were considered to be a significant enough population in Wessex to merit provisions; however, the laws also suggest that Britons could not attain the same social standing as the Saxons, and that many were slaves.<ref>{{cite book |first=Martin |last=Grimmer |article=Britons in early Wessex: The evidence of the law code of Ine |title=Britons in Anglo-Saxon England |editor-first=Nick |editor-last=Higham |year=2007 |publisher=Boydell and Brewer}}</ref> In light of such policies, many Britons might have chosen to emigrate to places such as [[Brittany]]<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Higgins |year=2006 |title=The Bristol Region in the Sub-Roman and Early Anglo-Saxon Periods}}</ref> while those who remained would have had incentives to adopt Anglo-Saxon culture.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Higham |first1=Nicholas J. |first2=Martin J. |last2=Ryan |year=2013 |title=The Anglo-Saxon World |publisher=Yale University Press}}</ref>

After the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]], the county was divided into 700&nbsp;[[Fiefdom|fiefs]], and large areas were owned by the crown,<ref name="EB1911">{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Somersetshire |volume=25 |page=390 }}</ref> with fortifications such as [[Dunster Castle]] used for control and defence. Somerset came under the political influence of several different nobles during the Middle Ages. During the Wars of the Roses, an important magnate was [[Humphrey Stafford, 1st Earl of Devon|Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon]] whose wider influence stretched from Cornwall to Wiltshire. After 1485, one of the county's most influential figures was Henry VII's chamberlain [[Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney|Giles Daubeney]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stansfield-Cudworth|first=R. E.|title=Political Elites in South-West England, 1450–1500: Politics, Governance, and the Wars of the Roses|publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-77344-714-1|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|pages=191–225, 306–17}}</ref>

===The 17th–19th&nbsp;centuries===
Somerset contains [[HM Prison Shepton Mallet]], which was England's oldest prison still in use prior to its closure in 2013, having opened in 1610.<ref name="Historic">{{cite web |title=Historic Buildings of Shepton Mallet |publisher=Shepton Mallet Town Council |url=http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=189 |access-date=30 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118052345/http://www.sheptonmallet.info/site/index.php?page_id=189 |archive-date=18 January 2012 }}</ref> During the [[English Civil War]], Somerset was largely [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Rodgers |first=H.C.B., Colonel |year=1968 |title=Battles and Generals of the Civil War |publisher=Seeley Service & Co.}}</ref> with key engagements being the [[Sieges of Taunton]] and the [[Battle of Langport]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Battle of Langport |publisher=UK Battlefields Resource Centre |url=http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/civil-war/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=20 |access-date=10 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212170959/http://battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/civil-war/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=20 |archive-date=12 December 2010 }}</ref>

In 1685, the [[Monmouth Rebellion]] was played out in Somerset and neighbouring Dorset.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sedgemoor Battle and the Monmouth Rebellion Campaign |url=http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/media/139%2Epdf |access-date=14 December 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010618/http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/media/139.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref> The rebels landed at [[Lyme Regis]] and travelled north, hoping to capture [[Bristol]] and Bath, but they were defeated in the [[Battle of Sedgemoor]] at [[Westonzoyland]], the last [[pitched battle]] fought in England.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Bridgwater |url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~smedlo/history.htm |access-date=21 October 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112055456/http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~smedlo/history.htm |archive-date=12 November 2007 }}</ref> [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]] took his title, [[Duke of Wellington (title)|Duke of Wellington]] from the town of [[Wellington, Somerset|Wellington]];<ref>{{cite web |title=History and Tour — Duke of Wellington |publisher=The Prime Ministers office |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/arthur-wellesley-1st-duke-of-wellington |access-date=26 May 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501032209/https://www.gov.uk/government/history/past-prime-ministers/arthur-wellesley-1st-duke-of-wellington |archive-date=1 May 2015}}</ref> he is commemorated on a nearby hill by a large, spotlit [[obelisk]], known as the [[Wellington Monument, Somerset|Wellington Monument]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1060281 |desc=Wellington Monument |access-date=22 March 2016}}</ref>

The [[Industrial Revolution]] in the Midlands and Northern England spelled the end for most of Somerset's cottage industries. Farming continued to flourish, and the [[Royal Bath and West of England Society|Bath and West of England Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures and Commerce]] was founded in 1777 to improve farming methods. Despite this, two decades later agriculturist [[John Billingsley (agriculturist)|John Billingsley]] conducted a survey of the county's agriculture in 1795 and found that agricultural methods could still be improved.<ref>{{cite book |last=Billingsley |first=John |year=1798 |title=General View of the Agriculture of the County of Somerset |publisher=R. Cruttwell |url=https://archive.org/details/generalviewagri01survgoog}}</ref>

Coal mining was an important industry in north Somerset during the 18th and 19th&nbsp;centuries, and by 1800 it was prominent in [[Radstock]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A Brief History of the Bristol and Somerset Coalfield |work=The Mines of the Bristol and Somerset Coalfield |url=http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/mhn/b_s_coal/coal_text.htm |access-date=22 January 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117010102/http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/mhn/b_s_coal/coal_text.htm |archive-date=17 January 2009 }}</ref>

The [[Somerset Coalfield]] reached its peak production by the 1920s. All the pits have now been closed, the last in 1973.<ref name=cornwell>{{cite book |last=Cornwell |first=John |year=2005 |title=Collieries of Somerset & Bristol |place=Ashbourne, Derbyshire |publisher=Landmark Publishing Ltd. |isbn=1-84306-170-8}}</ref> Most of the surface buildings have been removed, and apart from a winding wheel outside [[Radstock Museum]], little evidence of their former existence remains. Further west, the [[Brendon Hills]] were mined for iron ore in the late 19th&nbsp;century; this was taken by the [[West Somerset Mineral Railway]] to [[Watchet]] Harbour for shipment to the furnaces at [[Ebbw Vale]].<ref>{{cite book |first=M.H. |last=Jones |year=2011 |title=The Brendon Hiills Iron Mines and the West Somerset Mineral Railway |publisher=Lightmoor Press |isbn=978-1-899889-53-2}}</ref>

===20th century===
Many Somerset soldiers died during the [[First World War]], with the [[Somerset Light Infantry]] suffering nearly 5,000&nbsp;casualties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sommilmuseum.org.uk/article.php?id=1 |title=Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) |publisher=Somerset Military Museum |access-date=23 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807030002/http://www.sommilmuseum.org.uk/article.php?id=1 |archive-date=7 August 2007 }}</ref> War memorials were put up in most of the county's towns and villages; only nine, described as the [[Thankful Villages]], had none of their residents killed. During the [[Second World War]] the county was a base for troops preparing for the [[Normandy landings|D-Day landings]]. Some of the hospitals which were built for the casualties of the war remain in use. The [[Taunton Stop Line]] was set up to repel a potential German invasion. The remains of its [[Bunker|pill boxes]] can still be seen along the coast, and south through [[Ilminster]] and [[Chard, Somerset|Chard]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pillboxes-somerset.com/taunton_stop_line.htm |title=Taunton Stop Line |work=Pillboxes Somerset |access-date=25 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028164855/http://www.pillboxes-somerset.com/taunton_stop_line.htm |archive-date=28 October 2007 }}</ref>

A number of decoy towns were constructed in Somerset in World War&nbsp;II to protect Bristol and other towns. They were designed to mimic the nighttime geometry of "blacked out" streets, railway lines, and [[Bristol Temple Meads railway station]], to encourage German bombers away from these targets.<ref name=brown>{{cite book |last=Brown |first=Donald |year=1999 |title=Somerset&nbsp;v Hitler: Secret operations in the Mendips 1939–1945 |place=Newbury, UK |publisher=Countryside Books |isbn=1-85306-590-0}}</ref> One, on the German [[Battle of the Beams|radio navigation beam]] flight path to Bristol, was constructed on [[Black Down, Somerset|Beacon Batch]].<ref name=brown/><ref name="auto"/> It was laid out by [[Shepperton Studios]], based on [[Aerial photography|aerial photographs]] of the city's railway [[Classification yard|marshalling yards]].<ref name=brown/> The decoys were fitted with dim red lights, simulating activities such as the stoking of [[steam locomotive]]s. Burning bales of straw soaked in creosote were used to simulate the effects of [[incendiary device|incendiary bombs]] dropped by the first wave of Pathfinder night bombers; meanwhile, incendiary bombs dropped on the correct location were quickly smothered, wherever possible. Drums of oil were also ignited to simulate the effect of a blazing city or town, with the aim of fooling subsequent waves of bombers into dropping their bombs on the wrong location.<ref name=brown/>

The [[Chew Magna]] decoy town was hit by half a dozen bombs on 2&nbsp;December 1940, and over a thousand incendiaries on 3&nbsp;January 1941.<ref name=brown/> The following night the [[Uphill]] decoy town, protecting the airfield at [[Weston-super-Mare]], was bombed; a herd of [[Dairy cattle|dairy cows]] was hit, killing some and severely injuring others.<ref name=brown/>