Fascinating Somerset Facts

Imagine Somerset for a moment as a giant soup bowl'. 
Stand somewhere in the middle — on top of Glastonbury Tor, say — and you’ll see the rim of the bowl represented by the rival ranges of hills that ring the flatlands and wetlands of the Levels. There’s a bit broken out of the rim, which is where the sea used to get in to flood the Levels in olden times. No two groups of hills are the same; each has its own characteristics and its own charm waiting to beguile you.

Take your pick from the northern Gordano hills, the southern border range, the southern limits of the Cotswolds, the Mendips (designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or AONB), the Quantocks (another AONB), the Blackdowns (yet another AONB), the Poldens, the Brendons, and majestic Exmoor, which is a national park. As you see, we’re not making it up about the natural beauty.

It’s the stone that does it. The gritty, grey carboniferous limestone of the Mendips, made from the compressed corals and shellfish of a prehistoric sea 300 million years ago, weathers down to form spectacular crags and gorges. The softer oolitic limestones, made of trillions of tiny rounded grains, give us softer, rounded hills and the honey-coloured buildings of Bath and of South Somerset. On Exmoor, the rock begins to give way to the darker-tinted sandstones, also formed as the bed of a prehistoric sea, as Somerset merges into Devon. This change is reflected in the variety of landscape.

Immune from changes in sea level, the hilltops hosted intense centres of local life, with villages and farms self-sufficient in winter. On rolling hills with deep valleys, each fold of the landscape sheltered a unique local culture. When you’re out exploring, each mile you walk reveals a different landscape.

Farmland, moorland, upland grazing, wooded valleys with picture postcard villages nestling in them, friendly local pubs and bed and breakfasts, rare wildlife waiting for you to notice it. The seasons are more noticeable when you get high up. You’re virtually guaranteed snow in winter — rare in these parts — and if you’re a regular visitor you’ll see the whole annual cycle unfold.

For more on our enhanced Interactive E Book Created by Ian Brodie   click here to download to your android or IOS ITunes or your desk top.