Yeovil is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2021) was 49,698. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, 126 miles (203 km) west of London, 41.8 miles (67.3 km) south of Bristol, 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Sherborne and 27.6 miles (44.4 km) east of Taunton. The aircraft and defence industries which developed in the 20th century made it a target for bombing in the Second World War; they are still major employers. Yeovil Country Park, which includes Ninesprings, is one of several open spaces with educational, cultural and sporting facilities. Religious sites include the 14th-century Church of St John the Baptist. The town is on the A30 and A37 roads and has two railway stations.
Ilminster is a market town and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England, with a population of 5,808. Bypassed in 1988, the town now lies just east of the junction of the A303 and the A358. The parish includes the hamlet of Sea.
Chard is a town and a civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon and Dorset borders, 15 miles (24 km) south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 14,000 and, at an elevation of 121 metres (397 ft), Chard is the southernmost and one of the highest towns in Somerset. Administratively Chard forms part of the district of South Somerset.
Crewkerne is a town and electoral ward in south Somerset, England, 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Yeovil and 7 miles (11 km) east of Chard. The civil parish of West Crewkerne includes the hamlets of Coombe, Woolminstone and Henley, and borders the county of Dorset to the south. The town is on the main headwater of the River Parrett, A30 road and West of England Main Line railway, in modern times the slower route between the capital and the southwest peninsula, having been eclipsed by the Taunton route.
Creech St Michael is a village and civil parish in Somerset, three miles east of Taunton. The parish straddles the M5 motorway and includes several scattered settlements. The village of Creech St Michael and the hamlets of Charlton, Creech Heathfield, and Ham lie east of the motorway. The hamlets of Adsborough, Coombe, Langaller, and Walford lie west of the motorway. The parish has a population of 2,416.
Yeovil is a constituency in Somerset created in 1918 and represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Since the 2024 General Election, the constituency has been represented by Liberal Democrat MP Adam Dance.
Dowlish Wake is a small village and civil parish in Somerset, England, 2 miles (3 km) south of Ilminster and 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Chard in the South Somerset district. With a population of 277, it has several thatched houses and a pub, the New Inn. Its post office closed in 1991.
Thornfalcon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Taunton. The village has a population of 119. The parish includes the hamlet of Ash. The name comes from Thorn, and the personal name Fagun which was the Norman surname of Sir Gilbert of Thorn, whose family were lords of the manor until the 14th century.
Donyatt is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at the source of the River Isle 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Chard in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 347. The parish includes the hamlet of Peasmarsh.
The TA postcode area, also known as the Taunton postcode area, is a group of 24 postcode districts in South West England, within 19 post towns. These cover western Somerset, plus very small parts of Dorset and Devon.
Misterton is a village and civil parish 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of Crewkerne, Somerset, England.
Chard Junction railway station was situated on the London and South Western Railway’s West of England Main Line about 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of the village of Tatworth in Somerset, England. It was the junction of a short branch line to Chard. It was opened in 1860 as Chard Road, and closed in 1966. An adjacent milk depot was served by its own sidings from 1937 to 1980. Chard Junction signal box remained open to control Station Road level crossing and a passing loop on the long section of single track railway between Yeovil Junction and Pinhoe until March 2021, when control was passed to Basingstoke.
The earliest known infrastructure for transport in Somerset is a series of wooden trackways laid across the Somerset Levels, an area of low-lying marshy ground. To the west of this district lies the Bristol Channel, while the other boundaries of the county of Somerset are along chains of hills that were once exploited for their mineral deposits. These natural features have all influenced the evolution of the transport network. Roads and railways either followed the hills, or needed causeways to cross the Levels. Harbours were developed, rivers improved, and linked to sources of traffic by canals. Railways were constructed throughout the area, influenced by the needs of the city of Bristol, which lies just to the north of Somerset, and to link the ports of the far south-west with the rest of England.
South West Coaches is a privately owned bus company that operates services around Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire, in South West England.
The 2015 South Somerset District Council election took place on 7 May 2015 to elect members of South Somerset District Council in Somerset, England. This is on the same day as the general election, and other local elections. This election saw 29 Liberal Democrats, 28 Conservatives, and 3 Independents elected to the Council.
The 2017 Somerset County Council election took place on 4 May 2017 as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom. All 55 councilors were elected from 54 electoral divisions, which each returned either one or two county councilors by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office.
The 2022 Somerset Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of Somerset County Council. The number of councillors was doubled from 55 to 110 at this election, in preparation for the county council becoming a unitary authority on 1 April 2023, when it was renamed Somerset Council.
