Portal:Somerset

Farleigh Hungerford Castle, is a medieval castle in Farleigh Hungerford. The castle was built in two phases: the inner court was constructed between 1377 and 1383 by Sir Thomas Hungerford, who made his fortune working as a steward to John of Gaunt. The castle was built to a quadrangular design, already slightly old-fashioned, on the site of an existing manor house overlooking the River Frome. A park was attached to the castle, requiring the destruction of a local village.

The castle largely remained in the hands of the Hungerford family over the next two centuries, despite periods during the War of the Roses in which it was held by the Crown following the attainder and execution of members of the family. At the outbreak of the English Civil War in 1642, the castle, modernized to the latest Tudor and Stuart fashions, was held by Sir Edward Hungerford. Edward declared his support for Parliament, becoming a leader of the Roundheads in Wiltshire. Farleigh Hungerford was seized by Royalist forces in 1643, but recaptured by Parliament without a fight near the end of the conflict in 1645. As a result it escaped slighting following the war, unlike many other castles in the south-west of England. In the 1915 Farleigh Hungerford Castle was sold to the Office of Works and a controversial restoration programme began. It now owned by English Heritage, who operate it as a tourist attraction, and the castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. (Full article...)

Savaric fitzGeldewin (died 8 August 1205) was an Englishman who became Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury in England. Related to his predecessor as well as to Emperor Henry VI, he was elected bishop on the insistence of his predecessor, who urged his election on the cathedral chapter of Bath. While bishop, Savaric spent many years attempting to annexe Glastonbury Abbey as part of his bishopric. Savaric also worked to secure the release of King Richard I of England from captivity, when the king was held by Emperor Henry VI. (Full article...)

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

Chew Stoke
Co-ordinates 51°21′03″N 2°38′18″W / 51.3507°N 2.6383°W / 51.3507; -2.6383

Chew Stoke is a small village and civil parish in the Chew Valley, about 8 miles (13 km) south of Bristol. It is at the northern edge of the Mendip Hills, a region designated by the United Kingdom as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is within the Bristol/Bath green belt. The parish includes the hamlet of Breach Hill, which is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Chew Stoke itself.

Chew Stoke has a long history, as shown by the number and range of its heritage-listed buildings. The village is at the northern end of Chew Valley Lake, which was created in the 1950s, close to a dam, pumping station, sailing club, and fishing lodge. A tributary of the River Chew, which rises in Strode, runs through the village.

The population of 905 is served by one shop, two public houses, a primary school and a bowling club. Together with Chew Magna, it forms the ward of Chew Valley North in the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. Chew Valley School and its associated leisure centre are less than a mile (1.6 km) from Chew Stoke. The village has some areas of light industry but is largely agricultural; many residents commute to nearby cities for employment. (Full article...)

From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:

• ... that during World War II, Shepton Mallet (pictured), the oldest operating prison in Britain, was used as the protective storage of important government documents including the Magna Carta and Domesday Book?
• ... that the Shapwick Hoard, found by metal detecting cousins in 1998, contained the largest number of silver denarii ever found in Great Britain and was equivalent to ten years' pay for a Roman legionary?
• ... that the village of Sharpham in Somerset, is the birthplace of Elizabethan poet Sir Edward Dyer, writer Henry Fielding and cleric William Gould?
• ... that Simonsbath House was the only house in the Royal Forest of Exmoor for 150 years?
• ... that the only working, full sized, Caisson lock ever built, was on the Somerset Coal Canal at Combe Hay, Somerset in England between 1795 and 1805?

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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