South Somerset is a local government district in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The South Somerset district covers an area of ranging from the borders with

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

to the edge of the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 158,000. The administrative centre of the district is

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

. On 1 April 2023, the district will be abolished and replaced by a new

unitary district A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

for the area at present served by

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county coun ...

. The new council will be known as

Somerset Council Somerset Council is the unitary authority that will replace Somerset County Council and four district councils (Somerset West and Taunton, South Somerset, Mendip, and Sedgemoor) on 1 April 2023. History The Conservative governments of The ...

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, and was originally known as Yeovil, adopting its present name in 1985. It was formed by the merger of the

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

s of

Chard Chard or Swiss chard (; '' Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf bl ...

, along with Crewkerne and Ilminster

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...

s and the Chard Rural District, Langport Rural District, Wincanton Rural District and Yeovil Rural District. The district covers the whole of the Yeovil constituency, and part of Somerton and Frome. The district is governed by the South Somerset District Council, last elected in the 2019 South Somerset District Council election. It is currently Liberal Democrat controlled, and has Beacon Council status.

Abolition

On 1 April 2023, the district council will be abolished and replaced by a new

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

for the area at present served by

. The new council will be known as

. Elections for the new council took place in May 2022, and it now will run alongside South Somerset and the other councils until their abolition in April 2023.

Towns

Its main towns include: * Bruton *

Castle Cary Castle Cary () is a market town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, north west of Wincanton and south of Shepton Mallet, at the foot of Lodge Hill and on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett. History The word Cary derives fr ...

* Crewkerne * Ilminster *

Langport Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...

* Milborne Port * Somerton * Wincanton *

Wards

The electoral wards include:

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...

and Wessex.

Parishes

Major roads

* A30 * A37 * A303 * A357

Railway stations

* Bruton ( Heart of Wessex Line and Reading to Taunton Line),

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

( Heart of Wessex Line and Reading to Taunton Line), Great Western Railway * Crewkerne ( West of England Main Line), South Western Railway *

Templecombe Templecombe is a village in Somerset, England, situated on the A357 road five miles south of Wincanton, east of Yeovil, and west of Salisbury. The village has a population of 1,560. Along with the hamlet of Combe Throop, it forms the parish o ...

(West of England Main Line), South Western Railway *

Yeovil Junction Yeovil Junction railway station is the busier, but less central, of two railway stations serving the town of Yeovil in England. The station is outside the town, in the village of Stoford. Although Yeovil is in Somerset, the station was in Dor ...

(West of England Main Line), South Western Railway * Yeovil Pen Mill ( Heart of Wessex Line), Great Western Railway

Heritage Railways

* Chard branch line, former

line between

and

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Yeovil Railway Centre The Yeovil Railway Centre is a small railway museum at Yeovil Junction railway station, Yeovil Junction on the London and South Western Railway, L&SWR West of England Main Line between Salisbury railway station, Salisbury and Exeter Central railw ...

Education

County schools (those which are not

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

) in the five non-metropolitan districts of the county are operated by

. For a full list of schools see: List of schools in Somerset

References

External links

South Somerset District Council
{{SW_England Non-metropolitan districts of Somerset