Woodspring Priory, Infirmary.JPG
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

North Somerset is a
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 governmen ...
in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the
ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...
of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the town hall in Weston-super-Mare. North Somerset, which was renamed from the Woodspring district in 1996, borders the city and county of Bristol and the local government areas of Bath and North East Somerset,
Mendip Mendip may refer to: *Mendip District, a local government district of Somerset, England * Mendip Hills, a group of hills in Somerset, England ** Mendip Way, a footpath across the Mendip Hills **Mendip TV Mast, a transmitter in the Mendips area *For ...
and
Sedgemoor Sedgemoor is a low-lying area of land in Somerset, England. It lies close to sea level south of the Polden Hills, historically largely marsh (or "moor" in its older sense). The eastern part is known as King's Sedgemoor, and the western part Wes ...
. The area comprises the parliamentary constituencies of Weston-super-Mare and North Somerset.


History

Between 1 April 1974 and 31 March 1996, this area was the Woodspring district of the county of Avon (named after Woodspring Priory, an isolated medieval church near the coast just north east of Weston-super-Mare). The district of Woodspring was formed from the municipal boroughs of Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead
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) (hist ...
s,
Long Ashton Rural District Long Ashton was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974. It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894. In 1974 it was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972 to become part of North Somerset. The parishes ...
, and part of Axbridge Rural District. Though the government proposed that the new unitary area be known as "North West Somerset" from 1 April 1996, the council voted instead to adopt the name "North Somerset" and so the name "North West Somerset" was never widely used. There remained some legal doubt as to whether the council had validly changed the name to "North Somerset", but in 2005 the council passed a resolution to put the matter beyond doubt.


Politics

North Somerset Council North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Cou ...
, a unitary authority, is elected every four years, with currently 61 councillors being elected at each election. Since the first election to the unitary authority in 1995, the council has either been under
Conservative party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
control, or no party has held a majority. As of the 2019 election the council is composed of the following councillors:


Settlements

The principal towns in the district are the coastal towns of Weston-super-Mare, Portishead, Clevedon and Nailsea. *
Abbots Leigh Abbots Leigh is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England, about west of the centre of Bristol. History The original Middle English name was ''Lega'', and the village became Abbots Leigh in the mid-12th century when Robert Fitzhardi ...
* Backwell,
Banwell Banwell is a village and civil parish on the River Banwell in the North Somerset district of Somerset, England. Its population was 2,919 according to the 2011 census. History Banwell Camp, east of the village, is a univallate hillfort which h ...
,
Barrow Gurney Barrow Gurney is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in the unitary authority of North Somerset on the B3130, midway between the A38 and A370 near the Long Ashton bypass and Bristol Airport, south west of Bristol city ce ...
,
Blagdon Blagdon is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Somerset, within the unitary authority of North Somerset, in England. It is located in the Mendip Hills, a recognised Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. According to the 2011 ...
, Bleadon, Bourton, Brockley, Burrington,
Butcombe Butcombe is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The village is situated just north of Blagdon Lake, in North Somerset. The parish has a population of 218 and mainly consists of family-owned farmland. It no longer has any amenities ...
*
Cambridge Batch Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge became ...
,
Chelvey Brockley is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish is within the unitary authority of North Somerset, about south of Nailsea, and includes the village of Chelvey. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 277. His ...
, Christon,
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
,
Clapton in Gordano Clapton in Gordano is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset on the southern side of the Gordano Valley, immediately adjacent to the M5 motorway. The parish has a population ...
,
Claverham Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Clave ...
, Cleeve, Clevedon, Congresbury * Downside,
Dundry Dundry is a village and civil parish, situated on Dundry Hill in the northern part of the Mendip Hills, between Bristol and the Chew Valley Lake, in the English county of Somerset. The parish includes the hamlets of Maiden Head and East Dun ...
*
East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, East Hewish,
East Rolstone East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
, Easton in Gordano *
Failand Failand is a village in Somerset, England. It lies within the civil parish of Wraxall and Failand and the unitary authority area of North Somerset. The village has two separate parts. Failand itself is on the B3128 Bristol to Clevedon road, and ...
, Farleigh, Felton,
Flax Bourton Flax Bourton is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish, with a population of 715, is situated within the unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of North Somerset, on the edge of Tickenham ...
* Ham Green, Hutton * Icelton * Kenn, Kewstoke,
Kingston Seymour Kingston Seymour is a small village and civil parish with royal status in Somerset, England. It is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset, between Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare on the North Somerset Levels. The parish has a pop ...
* Leigh Woods, Locking, Lodway,
Long Ashton Long Ashton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset and is one of a number of large villages just outside the boundary of city of Bristol urban area. The parish has a population ...
,
Lower Failand Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eight ...
,
Lower Langford Lower Langford is a village within the civil parishes of Churchill and Burrington in the unitary authority of North Somerset, England. It is located on the western edge of the Mendip Hills about east of Weston-super-Mare. It was a village built ...
, Loxton,
Lulsgate Bottom Lulsgate may refer to several places in North Somerset, England: * Bristol Airport, an airport formerly known as Lulsgate * Lulsgate Plateau Lulsgate Plateau is the name given to the Carboniferous Limestone hills which form a northern outlier of th ...
* Maiden Head,
Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
* Nailsea, North End, North Weston * Pill,
Portbury Portbury is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The parish includes the hamlet of Sheepway which is situated on the moorland at the northern edge of the Gordano valley, between the Gord ...
, Portishead,
Puxton Puxton is a village and civil parish, north west of Axbridge in the unitary authority of North Somerset within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The civil parish includes the isolated hamlets of East Hewish and West Hewish. History ...
*
Redcliffe Bay Redcliffe Bay is a large area of Portishead — a town in North Somerset, England — with most houses having views of the Bristol Channel. Despite its size, it is always considered part of Portishead (for example, in Town Councils). The Angli ...
, Redhill, Regil, Rickford * Sandford,
Sheepway Portbury is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The parish includes the hamlet of Sheepway which is situated on the moorland at the northern edge of the Gordano valley, between the Gord ...
,
Sidcot Sidcot School is a British co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils, associated with the Religious Society of Friends. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school is based in the Mendip Hills near the village of ...
,
St Georges ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...
,
St Mary's Grove ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...
* Tickenham *
Uphill Uphill is a village in the civil parish of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England, at the southern edge of the town, on the Bristol Channel coast. History Bone and stone tools found in caves at Uphill provide evidence of human activity i ...
, Upper Town *
Walton in Gordano Walton in Gordano is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England. It is situated in a small valley at the side of the south-western end of the Gordano Valley, about a mile from Clevedon. The parish has a population of 273. History Th ...
, West End, West Hewish, West Town,
West Wick Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...
, Weston in Gordano, Weston-super-Mare,
Wick St. Lawrence Wick St. Lawrence is a civil parish and village in Somerset, England. It falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset. The population of the parish, which includes Bourton, Icelton and Ebdon, in the 2011 census was 1,331. History The pa ...
,
Winford Winford is a village and civil parish within the Chew Valley, Somerset, England. It is within the unitary authority of North Somerset about south of Bristol. The parish has a population of 2,153. The parish includes the village of Felton whi ...
, Winscombe, Worle, Wraxall,
Wrington Wrington is a village and a civil and ecclesiastical parish on the north slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England. Both include nearby Redhill. Wrington lies in the valley of the Congresbury Yeo river, about east of Weston-super-M ...
*
Yatton Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Clav ...


Places of interest

North Somerset's natural environment and coastal towns attract visitors from nearby cities. Notable geographical features include: *
Gordano Valley Gordano (or the Gordano Valley; ) is an area of North Somerset, in England. It has been designated as a National Nature Reserve. The name Gordano comes from Old English and is descriptive of the triangular shape of the whole valley from Cleved ...
*
Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...
 – the ridgeway forms part of the district boundary *
Sand Bay Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of ...
and Sand Point *
Worlebury Hill Worlebury Hill is the name given to an upland area lying between the flatlands of Weston-super-Mare and the Kewstoke area of North Somerset, England. Worlebury Hill's rises from sea level to its highest point of , and the western end of the hill ...
*
Burrington Combe Burrington Combe is a Carboniferous Limestone gorge near the village of Burrington, on the north side of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, in North Somerset, England. "Combe" or "coombe" is a word of Celtic origin found i ...
, Goblin Combe,
Brockley Combe Brockley Combe is a wooded combe near the village of Brockley in North Somerset, England. The combe cuts into the western edge of the Lulsgate Plateau, the Carboniferous limestone hills which form a northern outlier of the Mendips, south west of ...
*
North Somerset Levels The North Somerset Levels is a coastal plain, an expanse of low-lying flat ground, which occupies an area between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol in North Somerset, England. The River Banwell, River Kenn, River Yeo and Land Yeo are the three prin ...
Notable religious sites include Woodspring Priory.


Parishes


Economy

North Somerset's economy is traditionally based on agriculture, including sheep raised for wool on the Mendip Hills and dairy farming in the valleys. This is celebrated at the annual
North Somerset Show The North Somerset Show is an agricultural show held annually in May at Wraxall, North Somerset, England. It is organised by the North Somerset Agricultural Society. History The society was formed out of the North Somerset Ploughing Society in ...
. During the Georgian era tourism became a significant economic sector in the coastal towns, most notably Weston-super-Mare which grew from a small village to a large resort town. Though tourism declined in the mid to late-20th century, in common with most British coastal resorts, this sector of the economy has stabilised. In the 19th century the major port city of Bristol found that modern ships had outgrown the narrow river approach and the Port of Bristol company began seeking locations for new docks on the coast. The first of these was
Portishead Dock Portishead may refer to: * Portishead (band), a British band ** Portishead (album), ''Portishead'' (album), the 1997 album by Portishead * Portishead, Somerset, a coastal town in North Somerset, England **Portishead power station **Portishead Rail ...
, which handled coal from South Wales, though this too has seen shipping outgrow its facilities. The newer
Royal Portbury Dock The Royal Portbury Dock is part of the Port of Bristol, in England. It is situated near the village of Portbury on the southern side of the mouth of the River Avon, Bristol, Avon, where the river joins the Severn estuary — the Avonmouth ...
is noted for the large volume of car imports. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of North and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire at current basic prices (pp. 240–253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
includes hunting and forestry
includes energy and construction
includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured


Demographics

North Somerset covers an area of around and has a resident population of 193,000 (1.4% BME) living in 85,000 households. The population of North Somerset has doubled since the 1950s and is predicted to rise by 6,184 or 3.0% to 2011 and by 17% to 2026. Whilst the proportion of people in North Somerset who are under 45 is lower than the national average, population growth is predicted to be strongest in the 2034 age group. Conversely North Somerset has a 4.2% higher percentage of older people (60+ female, 65+ male) than the rest of England and Wales. This disparity increases with age with the percentage of the population over 75 years almost 30% higher than the national average, resulting in a relatively aged population. In 2001 there were 134,132 people of working age living in North Somerset and 91,767 were in employment; an economic activity rate of 68.4%. This is very close to the economic activity rate of the West of England sub-region which was 68.8% in the 2001 census. The 2001 census stated that 1.38% of North Somerset residents identified themselves as belonging to a visible ethnic group and a further 1.27% identified themselves as 'white other'.


Education

The Unitary Authority of North Somerset, provides support for 78 schools, delivering education to approximately 28,000 pupils.
Weston College Weston College of Further and Higher Education is a general college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. It provides education and vocational training from age 14 to adult. The college provided education to ...
is the main provider of
further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...
in the area.
University Centre Weston University Centre Weston, also known as UCW, is a university centre based in the town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. The centre was formed by Weston College in 2016 following the college's announcement of university centre status with ...
offers higher education courses in conjunction with Bath Spa University and the University of the West of England.


See also

*
Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or c ...
* List of Scheduled Monuments in North Somerset


References


External links


North Somerset Council
{{Coord, 51.39, N, 2.80, W, type:adm3rd_region:GB, display=title Geography of Somerset Avon (county) Unitary authority districts of England Local government in Somerset Local government districts of South West England 1996 establishments in England