Place:Bath and North East Somerset District, Somerset, England

Watchers
NameBath and North East Somerset District
Alt namesBANESsource: abbreviation for Bath and North East Somerset used locally (Wikipedia)
TypeDistrict municipality, Unitary authority
Coordinates51.416°N 2.499°W
Located inSomerset, England     (1996 - )
See alsoWansdyke District, Avon, Englanddistrict covering the area 1974-1966
Somerset, Englandcounty from which this part of Avon taken in 1974
Bath, Somerset, Englandmunicipal district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996
Keynsham, Somerset, Englandurban district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996
Norton Radstock, Somerset, Englandurban district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996
Bathavon Rural, Somerset, Englandrural district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996
Keynsham Rural, Somerset, Englandrural district transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996
Clutton Rural, Somerset, Englandrural district part transferred to Wansdyke, Avon in 1974 and then to BANES in 1996

Bath and North East Somerset is a unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Somerset. It was established in 1996 when the County of Avon was abolished.

this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Bath and North East Somerset (abbreviated BANES) covers an area of 220 square miles (570 km2), of which two thirds is green belt. It stretches from the eastern outskirts of Bristol, south into the Mendip Hills and east to the southern Cotswold Hills and the border of Wiltshire. The municipalities included are as follows:

While Avon County was in existence, the rural part of Bath and North East Somerset was covered by a district named Wansdyke.

The area has varied geography including river valleys and rolling hills. The history of human habitation is long but expanded massively during Roman times, and played significant roles during the Saxon era and English civil war. Industry developed from a largely agricultural basis to include coal mining in the 19th century and precipitated the coming of canals and railways. Bath developed as a spa resort in Georgian times and remains a major cultural tourism centre having gained World Heritage City status.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Bath and North East Somerset. especially the sections entitled "History" (highly recommended) and "Governance" (including the list of civil parishes and former rural districts and the link to Google maps showing their locations).

The article Somerset Coalmining gives a history of the coalfield and a list of the collieries together with the periods during which each operated.

Research Tips

  • The Somerset Heritage Centre (incorporating what was formerly the Somerset Record Office and the Somerset Local Studies Library) can be found at its new location at Langford Mead in Taunton. It has an online search facility leading to pages of interest, including maps from the First and Second Ordnance Survey (select "Maps and Postcards" from the list at the left, then enter the parish in the search box).
    The Heritage Centre has an email address: archives@somerset.gov.uk.
  • Three maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrate the changes in political boundaries over the period 1830-1945. All have expanding scales and on the second and third this facility is sufficient that individual parishes can be inspected.
  • Somerset Hundreds as drawn in 1832. This map was prepared before The Great Reform Act of that year. Note the polling places and representation of the various parts of the county.
  • Somerset in 1900, an Ordnance Survey map showing rural districts, the boundaries of the larger towns, the smaller civil parishes of the time, and some hamlets and villages in each parish
  • Somerset in 1943, an Ordnance Survey map showing the rural districts after the changes to their structure in the 1930s
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Bath and North East Somerset. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.