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The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 roughly corresponding to the modern South West England
South West England

South West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly....
 government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties
Historic counties of England

The historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxons kingdoms and shires....
 of Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
, Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
, Dorset
Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
 and Somerset
Somerset

Somerset is a Counties of England in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west....
 and the City of Bristol, while the counties of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a Counties of England in South West England England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
 and Wiltshire
Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a Ceremonial counties of England in the South West England of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire....
 are also often included. Some usages of the term include even wider areas, while others are more specific though with little consistency of definition.

area is mostly rural
Rural

Rural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low populations. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country....
, with only a few sizeable cities, such as Bristol
Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
, Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
, Plymouth
Plymouth

Plymouth is a City status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority on the coast of Devon, England, about south west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers River Plym to the east and River Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound....
 and Gloucester
Gloucester

Gloucester is a city status in the United Kingdom, Non-metropolitan district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England region of England....
.






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The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 roughly corresponding to the modern South West England
South West England

South West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly....
 government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties
Historic counties of England

The historic counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England established for administration by the Normans and in most cases based on earlier Anglo-Saxons kingdoms and shires....
 of Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
, Devon
Devon

Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
, Dorset
Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
 and Somerset
Somerset

Somerset is a Counties of England in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west....
 and the City of Bristol, while the counties of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a Counties of England in South West England England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
 and Wiltshire
Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a Ceremonial counties of England in the South West England of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire....
 are also often included. Some usages of the term include even wider areas, while others are more specific though with little consistency of definition.

Geography

The area is mostly rural
Rural

Rural areas are large and isolated areas of a country, often with low populations. Today, 75 percent of the United States' inhabitants live in suburban and urban areas, but cities occupy only 2 percent of the country....
, with only a few sizeable cities, such as Bristol
Bristol

Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
, Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
, Plymouth
Plymouth

Plymouth is a City status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority on the coast of Devon, England, about south west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers River Plym to the east and River Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound....
 and Gloucester
Gloucester

Gloucester is a city status in the United Kingdom, Non-metropolitan district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England region of England....
. Tourism
Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational or leisure purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from...
 and agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
, especially dairy farming
Dairy farming

Dairy farming is a class of agriculture, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale....
, play a significant role in the economy. The landscape is principally granite
Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
 moorland in the west, and chalk
Chalk

Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. It forms under relatively deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
 and limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 downland and clay
Clay

Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired....
 vales in the east. Historically, tin mining
Dartmoor tin-mining

The Dartmoor tin mining industry is thought to have originated in pre-Roman Empire times, and continued right through to the 20th century. From the 12th century onwards tin mining was regulated by a Stannary Courts and Parliaments which had its own laws....
 and the fishery
Fishery

Generally, a fishery is a unit, engaged in raising and/or harvesting fish, which is determined by an authority or other entity to be a fishery....
 were sources of income and employment in the west of the area, but less so today, although the latter still contributes to the economy. The region is traditionally famous for its production of cider
Cider

Cider is an alcoholic beverage usually made from the fermentation juice of apples, although pears are also used.While any variety of apple may be used, certain cultivars are preferred in some regions, and these may be known as cider apples....
, clotted cream
Clotted cream

Clotted cream is a thick yellow cream made by heating unpasteurized cow's milk and then leaving it in shallow pans for several hours. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms 'clots'....
 and pasties
Pasty

A pasty , less commonly known as tiddly oggy or tiddy oggy, and sometimes as pastie in the United States, is a filled pastry case, commonly associated with Cornwall, United Kingdom....
, but now at least equally well known for the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival

The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or Glasto, is one of the largest music and performing arts festivals in the world....
 and other attractions.

Area boundaries

Apart from the Bristol Channel
Bristol Channel

The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England, and extending from the lower Severn Estuary of the River Severn to that part of the North Atlantic Ocean known as the Celtic Sea ....
 and English Channel
English Channel

The English Channel is an Arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest, to only in the Strait of Dover....
, as with any informal area, the West Country's boundaries are difficult to define and as a consequence there are a number of different definitions used.

Some groups use the term as roughly synonymous with the South West Region
South West England

South West England is one of the regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area, and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly....
, while others use it more specifically to refer to either the northern part of the region, or the southwestern part. The term is also used, for example, to refer to sports matches between such cities as Gloucester and Bath. West Country Carnival
West Country Carnival

The West Country Carnival is an annual celebration featuring a parade of illuminated Float , in the English West Country. The celebration dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605....
 events take place in Somerset and Dorset.

The "West Country" edition of the 2005 BBC TV series Seven Natural Wonders
Seven Natural Wonders

Seven Natural Wonders was a television series that aired on BBC Two from 3 May to 20 June 2005. The programme took a specific area of England each week and, from votes by the people living in that area, showed the 'seven natural wonders' of that area in a programme, although it is questionable how 'natural' some of the wonders were....
 featured "wonders" in Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire
Herefordshire

Herefordshire is a Historic counties of England and Ceremonial counties of England Counties of England in the West Midlands Regions of England of England....
 (Symonds Yat
Symonds Yat

Symonds Yat is a village within the Forest of Dean and a popular tourist destination straddling the River Wye on the county border of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire in England....
), but not those in Devon or Cornwall which were the subject of a separate programme on the "South West", nor Dorset which was covered in a programme on "The South".

The West Country Clothing District was an area that made woollen cloth, but only part of the region described above. It covered east Somerset and parts of the counties of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire] and at some periods extended into Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The clothing district around Tiverton and Exeter
Exeter

Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
 in Devon and west Somerset tended to make different kinds of cloth and is best regarded as distinct.

"West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" is a Protected Designation of Origin
Protected designation of origin

Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are geographical indications, or more precisely regimes within the Protected Geographical Status framework defined in Law of the European Union to protect the names of regional foods....
 (PDO) that can only be applied to Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese

Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, pale-yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originating in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset....
 made in the traditional way in the four counties of Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.

Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television

Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, Television South West, from the 1 January 1993....
 is an ITV
ITV

ITV is a public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom television network of British television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC....
 franchisee covering covering Devon, Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and areas of Somerset and Dorset.

West Country and Wessex

The term "West Country" is sometimes associated with the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex
Wessex

West Saxon redirects here. For other meanings of Wessex or West Saxon see Wessex .Wessex , from the Old English Westseaxe , was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of the English state in the 9th century, under the Wessex dynasty....
. Wessex Regionalists
Wessex Regionalist Party

The Wessex Regionalist Party is a minor England political party that seeks a degree of legislative and administrative home rule for "Wessex", an area in the south and south-west of England, loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of that name....
 seek to promote this as an alternative to the South-West region, including some counties in central southern England - Hampshire
Hampshire

Hampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a Counties of England on the south coast of England....
, Berkshire
Berkshire

Berkshire is a Home Counties in the South East England of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1958, and Letters patent issued confirming...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
 and the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is an England island and county, located 3-8 km from the south coast of the mainland, in the English Channel. It is situated south of the county of Hampshire and is separated from mainland Britain by the Solent....
 - and excluding Devon and Cornwall which equate to historic Brythonic kingdom of Dumnonia
Dumnonia

Dumnonia was a Brythonic kingdom of sub-Roman Britain, located in the West Country of modern England and covering Devon, most of Somerset and possibly part of Dorset, its eastern boundary being uncertain....
.

Counties and unitary authorities


The following counties and unitary authorities are included within the most usual definitions of West Country:

  • Bristol
    Bristol

    Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
  • Cornwall
    Cornwall

    Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
    • Isles of Scilly
      Isles of Scilly

      The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornwall of Great Britain. Traditionally administered as part of the county of Cornwall, the islands are now a unitary authority and have their own council....
  • Devon
    Devon

    Devon is a large Counties of England in South West England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name, rarely used inside of the county but often indicating a shire....
    • Plymouth
      Plymouth

      Plymouth is a City status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority on the coast of Devon, England, about south west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers River Plym to the east and River Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound....
    • Torbay
      Torbay

      Torbay is an east-facing bay and natural harbour, at the western most end of Lyme Bay in the south-west of England, situated roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth....
  • Dorset
    Dorset

    Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
    • Bournemouth
      Bournemouth

      Bournemouth is a large town in the Bournemouth in Dorset, England. The town has a population of 163,444 according to the United Kingdom Census 2001, making it the largest settlement in Dorset....
    • Poole
      Poole

      Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east....
  • Gloucestershire
    Gloucestershire

    Gloucestershire is a Counties of England in South West England England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
    • South Gloucestershire
      South Gloucestershire

      South Gloucestershire is a Unitary authority Districts of England in the Ceremonial counties of England of Gloucestershire in South West England England....
  • Somerset
    Somerset

    Somerset is a Counties of England in South West England. The county town is Taunton, which is in the south of the county. The Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west....
    • Bath and North East Somerset
      Bath and North East Somerset

      Bath and North East Somerset is a unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the County of Avon. It is part of the Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset....
    • North Somerset
      North Somerset

      North Somerset is a unitary authority in England. Its area covers part of the Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset but it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county....
  • Wiltshire
    Wiltshire

    Wiltshire is a Ceremonial counties of England in the South West England of England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire....
    • Swindon


Notable towns and cities


  • Barnstaple
    Barnstaple

    Barnstaple is a town in the in the Districts of England of North Devon in the county of Devon in the South West England. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter....
  • Bath
  • Bideford
    Bideford

    Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England England. It is also the main town of the Torridge Districts of England....
  • Bournemouth
    Bournemouth

    Bournemouth is a large town in the Bournemouth in Dorset, England. The town has a population of 163,444 according to the United Kingdom Census 2001, making it the largest settlement in Dorset....
  • Bridgwater
    Bridgwater

    Bridgwater in Somerset, England, is a market town, the administrative centre of the Sedgemoor Districts of England, and the leading industrial town in the Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England....
  • Bristol
    Bristol

    Bristol is a City status in the United Kingdom, unitary authority area and Ceremonial counties of England in South West England, west of London, and east of Cardiff....
  • Calne
    Calne

    Calne is a town in central Wiltshire, England. It is situated at the southern extreme of the county's North Wiltshire local government district and at the northwestern extremity of the North Wessex Downs hill range, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty....
  • Cheltenham
    Cheltenham

    Cheltenham , or Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, England. The town has a population of 110,013 . The people of the town are known as "Cheltonians"....
  • Chippenham
    Chippenham, Wiltshire

    Chippenham is a market town in Wiltshire, England, located at , some 21 km east of Bath, Somerset and 163 km west of London. In the United Kingdom Census 2001 the population of the town was recorded as 28,065....
  • Cirencester
    Cirencester

    Cirencester is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in Cotswold ....
  • Christchurch
    Christchurch, Dorset

    Christchurch is a borough and town in Dorset on the English Channel coast, adjoining Bournemouth in the west, with the New Forest to the east. Formerly in Hampshire, it is the most easterly borough in Dorset....
  • Dorchester
  • Exeter
    Exeter

    Exeter Exeter was the most south-westerly Roman fortified settlement in Roman Britain and has existed since time immemorial. Exeter Cathedral, founded in 1050 is Anglicanism....
  • Frome
  • Glastonbury
    Glastonbury

    Glastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town has a population of 8,800....
  • Gloucester
    Gloucester

    Gloucester is a city status in the United Kingdom, Non-metropolitan district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England region of England....
  • Lyme Regis
    Lyme Regis

    Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester, Dorset and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border....
  • Newquay
    Newquay

    Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port on the north Atlantic coast of Cornwall, Great Britain. It is bounded to the west by the River Gannel and its associated salt marsh, and in the east by the Porth Valley....
  • Paignton
    Paignton

    Paignton is a coastal town in Devon in England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998....
  • Penzance
    Penzance

    Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, UK.Granted various Royal Charters from 1512 onwards and Incorporation in 1614, it has a population of 20,255 and is currently Penwith's principal town....
  • Plymouth
    Plymouth

    Plymouth is a City status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority on the coast of Devon, England, about south west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers River Plym to the east and River Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound....
  • Poole
    Poole

    Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east....
  • Salisbury
    Salisbury

    Salisbury is a city status in the United Kingdom in Wiltshire, England. The city forms the largest part of the Salisbury . It has also been called New Sarum to distinguish it from the original site of settlement at Salisbury, Old Sarum, but this alternative name is not in common use....
  • St Austell
    St Austell

    St Austell is a town in Cornwall, England, UK.St Austell has a population of 22,658 ]], larger than any other town in Cornwall .As an unparished area, St Austell does not have a town council or parish council, however it is the site of Restormel Borough Council's headquarters....
  • Stroud
    Stroud, Gloucestershire

    Stroud is a town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District.Situated below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets and cafe culture....
  • Swindon
    Swindon

    Swindon is a City sized town and unitary borough authority in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire in South West England England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, Berkshire, east....
  • Taunton
    Taunton

    Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the non-metropolitan county of Somerset....
  • Tewkesbury
    Tewkesbury

    Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, Warwickshire, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook....
  • Torquay
    Torquay

    Torquay is a town in the unitary authority of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies 16 miles south of Exeter along the A380 road on the north of Torbay, 38 miles north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay....
  • Trowbridge
    Trowbridge

    Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....
  • Truro
    Truro

    Truro is a City status in the United Kingdom in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, and is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population of 20,920....
  • Warminster
    Warminster

    Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36 road, and near Frome, Somerset and Westbury, Wiltshire. It has a population of about 17,000 and is part of the West Wiltshire district....
  • Wells
    Wells

    Wells is a small cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills.The name Wells derives from the three Water well dedicated to Saint Andrew, one in the market place and two within the grounds of the Bishop's Palace, Wells and Wells Cathedral....
  • Weston-super-Mare
    Weston-super-Mare

    Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort town and civil parish in North Somerset, part of the Ceremonial counties of England of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill....
  • Weymouth
  • Yeovil
    Yeovil

    Yeovil is a town in south Somerset, England, on the A30 road and A37 road. It has a population of 41,871 at the 2001 census . The town lies within the local district of South Somerset and the Yeovil ....
Cities
City status in the United Kingdom

City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarchy to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city"....
 in bold.

Places of interest

  • Avebury
    Avebury

    Avebury is the site of a large henge and several stone circles in the England county of Wiltshire surrounding the village of Avebury . It is one of the finest and largest Neolithic monuments in Europe dating to around 5,000 years ago....
  • Bodmin Moor
    Bodmin Moor

    Bodmin Moor is a granite moorland in northeastern Cornwall, United Kingdom, 208 km? in size, dating from the Carboniferous period of geology history....
  • Cherhill White Horse
    Cherhill White Horse

    The Cherhill White Horse is a hill figure on Cherhill Downland, in the county of Wiltshire, England. Dating from the late 18th century, it is the third oldest of several such leucippotomy to be seen around Great Britain, with only the Uffington White Horse and the Westbury White Horse being older....
  • Dartmoor
    Dartmoor

    Dartmoor is an area of moorland in the centre of Devon, England. Protected by National parks of England and Wales status, it covers .The granite highland dates from the Carboniferous period of geology history....
  • Exmoor
    Exmoor

    Exmoor is a National Parks of England and Wales situated on the Bristol Channel coast of South West England England. The park straddles two counties, with 71% of the park located in Somerset and 29% located in Devon....
  • Glastonbury Tor
    Glastonbury Tor

    Glastonbury Tor is a hill at Glastonbury, Somerset, England, which features the roofless St. Michael's Tower. The site is managed by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty....
  • Jurassic Coast
    Jurassic Coast

    The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The site stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth, Devon in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of ....
  • Mendip Hills
    Mendip Hills

    The Mendip Hills are a range of limestone hills situated to the south of Bristol and Bath, Somerset in Somerset, England. Running east to west between Weston-super-Mare and Frome, Somerset, the Hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the River Avon, Bristol to the north....
    , including Cheddar Gorge
  • South West Coast
    South West Coast Path

    The South West Coast Path is Britain's longest waymarked Long-distance footpaths in the UK and a National Trails . It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset....
  • Stonehenge
    Stonehenge

    Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the England county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of Earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones and sits at the centre of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age mon...
  • West Country Carnival
    West Country Carnival

    The West Country Carnival is an annual celebration featuring a parade of illuminated Float , in the English West Country. The celebration dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605....


See also

  • West of England
    West of England

    The West of England is a loose term given to the area surrounding the City and County of Bristol, England.It is increasingly used - e.g. by the West of England Partnership - as a synonym for the former Avon area....
  • West Country dialects
    West Country dialects

    File:EnglandSouthWest.pngThe West Country dialects and West Country accents are generic terms applied to any of several England dialects and Accent s used by much of the indigenous population of South West England, the area popularly known as the West Country....
  • Scrumpy and Western music
    Scrumpy and Western

    Scrumpy and Western refers humorously to music from England's West Country that fuses comical folk-style songs, often full of double entendre, with affectionate parodies of more mainstream musical genres, all delivered in the West Country dialects....