Somerton is a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the
English county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
of
Norfolk
Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...
. It comprises the twin villages of East Somerton and West Somerton and is situated some north of the town of
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...
, north-east of the city of
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
, and from the sea.
[Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 – The Broads''. .]
The civil parish has an area of , and in the
2001 census had a population of 257 in 93 households, the population increasing to 289 at the 2011 census. For the purposes of local government the parish falls within the
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
of
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...
.
[Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001)]
''Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes''
. Retrieved 2 December 2005.
The church of West Somerton St Mary is one of 124 existing
round-tower church
Round-tower churches are a type of church found mainly in England, mostly in East Anglia; of about 185 surviving examples in the country, 124 are in Norfolk, 38 in Suffolk, six in Essex, three in Sussex and two each in Cambridgeshire and Berks ...
es in Norfolk.
Notable residents
In the churchyard is the grave of Robert Hales, the Norfolk Giant. He was born in the village in 1820 as one of nine children. Eventually reaching and over , he worked in the circus world, met Queen Victoria, and retired to a pub in London. As his health worsened he returned to Norfolk, where he died in 1863.
Notes
External links
* for East Somerton.
* for West Somerton.
St Mary's on the European Round Tower Churches website
Civil parishes in Norfolk
Borough of Great Yarmouth
{{Norfolk-geo-stub