SOMKOSBTSHIUE. 



out of the (Uu between the llendip and Polden 

 I Lone A*bon near Bristol, opposite Clifton. Coini iu 

 adaae* hate bwa found in various place*. 

 i Ik* Roman damp* abom-mentioned there are several other 

 aarfaet fort* or ounps scattered throughout the county. l)olebcrry 

 CM**, oa Mendip, U one of tb* mot remarkable. Barrow* are 

 Matron*, especially on the Meodlp Hills, on the Quantock Hills and 

 UM hillj district* west of ihe*. The remarkable intrrnchmcnt called 

 Waa*dyk*, U partly in thia county. Commencing near Andover in 

 Hampeotre, it erowwd the Wiluhire Down*, and entered Somenetahire 

 DMT Balh-Hampton ; and turning wrtward and then north-westward, 

 to a* to make a circuit round Bath, it ran along the hills by South 

 Stoke, English Combe, SUnton Prior, Compton Dsndo, Norton Malre- 

 ward, and Long Aahton, to the Briitol Channel t Portishead. The 

 ancMBt camps oa Bath-Hampton Down, Stantonbury Hill near Stauton 

 Prior, and Mara Knoll near Norton Malreward. are ju-t on the line of 

 \\ andjkr. This ninguUr work U of unknown origin and date : it is 

 inUnectad by a Roman road on Itarlborough Downs in such a manner 

 aa to ahow it to be of earlier date than the road, and consequently 

 earlier than the Roman conquest and settlement 



Of what are usually regarded as primeval antiquities, Somersetshire 

 ilium 1 1 but few. The principal U at Son/on Drtv, 6 miles S. from 

 BrUtol, near the road to Wells : it consists of four groups of stones, 

 which formed when complete two circles ; and two other figures, one 

 an ellipe*, the other perhaps a rectangle. Some of tho stones are 

 9 fee* high, 22 feet iu girth, and IS tons in weight 



In the Saxon invasion this county was the scene of conflict : the 

 battle of Mount Badon, in which the Britons under Arthur repulsed 

 the Saxon* under Cerdic, founder of the Wcat-Saxou kingdom, is com- 

 monly fixed at or near Bath. In the reign of Cealwin of Wesaex 

 (A.D. 577), Bath was taken by the Saxons. About 653 the county was 

 incorporated with Weasex by Cenwalch, who defeated the Britons at 

 P*a*elwood, near Wincanton. In the reign of Ethelwulf (845), ix 

 body of Danes was repulsed with great slaughter at Pedridan-inutli, 

 or the month of the Parret ; and iu the reign of Alfred, Somersetshire 

 was again attacked by them. Alfred, when driven from his throne, 

 fouud security in the marshes of the Isle of Athelney, at the junction 

 of the Tone and Parret After the battle of Edington, Guthrum the 

 Dane was baptised at Alre, now Aller, near Langport ; and Alfred and 

 Guthrum spent twelve days at Wedmore, between Glastonbury and 

 Axbridge, on the occasion. Edgar, in the latter part of his reign, was 

 consecrated king at Acemannesceastre, now Bath (973). On his death 

 (975' he was buried at Olaitonbury. In the short reign of Edmund II. 

 (Ironside), a severe battle took place between him and Canute at Pen- 

 wlwood ; and on the death of Edmund, the same year, he was buried 

 at Glastonbury, near his grandfather Edgar. Iu the rising of Odo and 

 other supporters of Robert of Normandy against William Kuf us (1088), 

 Bath and the neighbourhood were plundered by the insurgents. Some 

 military operations were carried on in the reign of Stephen, who took 

 Castle Cary and Richmont castle;. 



Of the middle ages there are several memorials, gome of which are 

 noticed above, and others in the articles on BATH, WELLS, GLASTON- 

 BL'RI. Ac. The Augustinian priories of Stavordale near Wincanton, 

 and Woodspring, near Weston-uper-Mare, are tolerably entire, and 

 are now converted into farm-houses. The remains of Montacute 

 Cluniac priory, near Yeovil, and of Muchelney Benedictine Abbey, 

 founded by King Athelstan, near Langport, are of considerable interest. 

 Of the Carthusian priory of Ilintou Charterhouse, near Bath, there 

 are several remains : the present manor-house was built out of the 

 ruins. Cannington church and Stogursey church, north-west of 

 Bridgewater, and Witham Friary church, between Frome and Bruton, 

 wen all conventual churches : the first is a very fine building. The 

 only important castellated remains are Farleigh Castle, between Bath 

 and Frome; Nunney, near Frome ; and Walton Castle, near Clevedou. 

 The ancient mansions of Montacute, near Yeovil ; Shapwick, between 

 GUstonbury and Bridgewater ; Fairfield. near Stogursey, north-west of 

 Bridgewater; Button Court, near Chew Magua, between Keynsham 

 and Axbridge ; Hinton St George, near Crewkerne ; and Barrow Court, 

 near Bristol, all belong to the period which preceded the general 

 revival of classical architecture. 



In the civil war of Charles I. several memorable events occurred in 

 this county, the principal of which were the defeat of the Parliament- 

 arians under Sir \V. Waller, on Lanadown Hill, near Bath, by a Royalist 

 force under Prince Maurice and the Karl of Caernarvon, July 5th, 1643 ; 

 ad the blockade and tiege of Taunton in 1645. [TAI;NTON.J In the 

 action on Lanadown Hill the Royalist* lost many of their chiefs, among 

 others Sir Bevil Grrnville, to whom a monument, still remaining, was 

 reeled on the hill Somersetshire was the principal scene of Mon- 

 month's rebellion gaint James II. From Lyme in Dorsetshire, where 

 he landed June llth, 1685, Monmouth maruhud against Bridport, which 

 be took by aaaault, and thence advanced by Axminster to Taunton, 

 where he was received with great enthusiasm, and declared himself 

 king. After a delay of some days at Taunton, he proceed, d to 

 ^Bridgewater and Glantonbury. The duke, after an unsuccessful attack 

 upon Bristol, retired towards Wiltshire. A fierce engagement took 

 place on the 6th July, in which Montnouth'e army was defeated with 

 great loas. In the subsequent severities under the commission of 

 which Chief-Justice Jeffreys was at the head, Somersetshire was made 



SOMME. os 



to bear a full sh.ire. The prisoners for trial in this county exceeded 

 1000, of whom at least 239 were executed, the sentences being carried 

 into effect in thirty-six different towus and Tillages, among which they 

 were distributed. 



Statittict: R</iyioiu Wartliip and Education. According to the 

 Returns of the Census for 1851 there were then in the county 1129 

 place* of worship, of which 553 belonged to the Church of England, 

 318 to six bodies of Methodists, 110 to Independents, 89 to Baptists, 

 16 to Quakers, 12 to Plymouth Brethren, 8 to Roman Catholics, 8 to 

 I'ni ta> i;ni -, and 6 to Mormons. The total number of sittings provided 

 was 288,883. There were 1381 day school", of which 490 were public 

 schools, with 36,512 scholars, and 891 were private schools, with 

 17,208 scholars. The number of Sunday schools was 719, with 56,090 

 scholars ; of these, 430 schools, with 32,444 scholars, belonged to the 

 Church of England. Of evening schools for adults there were 19, with 

 272 scholars. There were 14 literary and scientific institutes in the 

 county, with 1744 members, and possessing libraries numbering about 

 10,000 volumes. 



Savinys Banks. In 1853 the county possessed 10 savings banks, at 

 Bath, Bridgewater, Castle Cory, Crewkeme, Krome Selwood, Nether 

 Stowey, Taunton, Wells, Wrington, and Yeovil. The amount owing 

 to depositors on November 20th, 1853, was 778,897*. 2. 

 SOMEKSHAM. [HUNTINGDONSHIRE.] 

 SOMERTON. [SOMERSETSHIRE.] 

 SOMMA. [NAPLES, Province of.] 

 SOMMARIVA-UEL-BOSCO. [ALBA.] 



SOMME, a department in France, is bounded N. by that of Pas-de- 

 CalaU, E. by Nord and Aisne, S. by Oise, and W. by the new depart- 

 ment of Seine-Maritime and the English Channel. Its greatest length, 

 from the neighbourhood of Ham to the mouth of the Seine, is about 

 SO miles ; the greatest breadth, from the Bresle near Aumale to the 

 neighbourhood of Luchcux, is 47 miles. The area is 237S'4 square 

 miles. The population in 1841 was 559,680; in 1851 it was 670,641, 

 giving 239'92 inhabitants to a square mile, or 65'34 above the average 

 per square mile for the whole of France. The department is formed 

 out of the old Picard districts of Amienais, Santerre, Ponthieu, and a 

 part of Vermandois, which had Amiens, Peronne, Abbeville, and Ham 

 respectively for their chief towns. 



The surface of the department is generally level, in parts undulating 

 and hilly. The coast, which runs nearly due north and south, is 

 divided into two nearly equal parts by the ffistuary of the Somme ; to 

 the north of that river the shore is lined by sand-hills or downs, which 

 protect the low grounds from the incursions of the sea ; to the south 

 of the Somme commence the cliffs which extend along the coast to tho 

 neighbourhood of Havre. The coast-line has undergone a considerable 

 change even in comparatively recent times. In the 9th century the 

 waves covered' the low ground between the Somme and the Authie, 

 several miles inland from the present shore. When the sea retired 

 there remained for some time a large lake, long since dried up, the site 

 of which forms one of the most fertile districts in the department 

 The whole of the department is occupied by the formations of the 

 cretaceous group. The extensive chalk-plains ai-e intersected at inter- 

 vals by valleys, watered by streams, and presenting green meadows and 

 trees, which contrast favourably with the general nakedness of the 

 country. Some sandstone for paving is quarried, and peat is dug in 

 some of the valleys. 



The department is watered by the Somme and its tributaries, and 

 by the Bresle and the Authie. The Somme rises in the department of 

 Aisue, not far from St-Quentin ; it has first a south-western course for 

 about 18 or 20 miles, and enters this department just above the town 

 of Ham, below which it flows about 20 miles to the north-north- 

 west to Clcry, below Prfronne, and thence westward 30 miles to 

 Amiens. Below Amiens its course is north-west in a tolerably direct 

 line, past Abbeville, 45 miles to the sea. Its whole course is about 

 115 miles, 95 miles of which are iu this department Vessels of 150 

 tons and small steamers ascend tho river as far as Abbeville; and 

 barges of 40 to 50 tons ply between Abbeville and Amiens. By 

 means of lateral canalisation, and the improvement of the bed of the 

 river, the Somme has been made navigable from Amiens almost to its 

 source. By means of this lateral canal a communication is opened 

 into the canal of St-Quentin, which used to be called the Augouldme 

 Canal, and thus a communication is formed with the Escaut or 

 Schelde, the Oise, and the Seine. [AlsSE.] The principal feeders of 

 the Somme are the Miraumont, the Nieve, and the Maie, on the right 

 bank ; and the Ayre, which receives the Dam or Don and the Noye, 

 and the Celle, on the left bank. These are all small ; but the Ayre 

 has been made navigable for about 12 miles. The Authie rises not far 

 from Doullens, and flows past that town in a north-west direction into 

 the sea. It separates the department from Pas-de-Calais. The Bretle 

 rises in the department of Oise, and flows north-wet into the sea 

 between this department and Seine-Maritime. Neither tho Authie nor 

 tho Bresle is navigable; but the mouth of the latter forms the harbour 

 of TnSport [SEINK-lNFfelUKUIlE.] 



The department is traversed by 10 imperial, 8 departmental, and a 



great number of communal roads ; and also by railroads from Amiens 



to Paris, Boulogne, and Lille. A railway has been recently authorised 



to be made from Amiens to Rouen through Gournay. 



The department is by no means naturally fertile ; the soil consist* 



