British Counties›England›Somerset
Historic County of England

Somerset

County town: Taunton

County origins

Somerset Historical Research

Somerset was part of the ancient kingdom of Wessex and one of the earliest English shires, established in the 9th century. Its name derives from 'Sumorsaete', the people of Somerton.

Somerset is a county of remarkable contrasts: the wetlands of the Somerset Levels, regularly flooded until modern drainage, the limestone Mendip Hills with their caves and gorges, the upland moors of Exmoor, and a Bristol Channel coast. Glastonbury Tor, rising above the Levels, was the site of one of England's oldest monasteries — Glastonbury Abbey claimed to hold the graves of King Arthur and Guinevere. Wells Cathedral, the smallest English cathedral city, contains some of the finest medieval sculpture in Britain. The county's cider orchards, established by Norman monks, gave it one of its most enduring identities. Alfred the Great hid from the Danes in the Somerset marshes before his victory at Edington in 878.

Domesday Book 1086

Somerset was surveyed in the Domesday Book of 1086, William the Conqueror's great census of England. The survey recorded 606 settlements in the county, with details of their lords, landholders, population, and resources.

Browse 606 Domesday settlements in Somerset
606
Domesday settlements
About England's historic counties

England's 39 historic counties, established between the 9th and 12th centuries, are the framework through which English local history, legal records, and landscape have been organised for a thousand years. Most survive today as ceremonial counties, their boundaries deeply embedded in place identity.

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Everything a full report reveals about Somerset

This page introduces the historic county of Somerset. A full Aubrey report for a location within it pulls together everything the record actually holds about that ground, from the geology beneath it to the last coin dropped in a field:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Explore

Aubrey has published in-depth research reports for 2 notable places in Somerset. Read in-depth research reports on notable places — explore all of them.

Croscombe, Somerset →Cadbury Castle, Somerset →
Scheduled monuments

Somerset contains 739 scheduled monuments — sites of national importance protected under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

Browse scheduled monuments in England
739
Scheduled monuments
Aubrey Research

Research Somerset's History

An Aubrey report for a specific location in Somerset draws on historical maps, archaeological records, Domesday data and landscape history to tell the full story of any site in the county.

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Covers any location in England, Scotland or Wales