Somerton

Somerton is a small town on the edge of the Somerset Levels, with 5,484 residents at the 2021 census. It gave its name to the county, and around 900 it was possibly the capital of Wessex, although that point is uncertain. It was briefly the county town in the late 13th and early 14th century, before the role passed to Taunton about 1366.

The heart of the town is Market Place, the main square, with its market cross. The roofed Butter Cross was rebuilt in 1673 and is Somerton’s most noted feature, so it makes an easy first stop on foot. The Church of St Michael and All Angels has origins dating from the 13th century, and inside it has one of the finest wooden carved roofs in the county.

The landscape around the town is flat, open and wet. The River Cary flows north from here into King’s Sedgemoor Drain on the Somerset Levels, before reaching the River Parrett near Bridgwater. That makes the area a good fit for guests who like long skies, level cycling and slow walks along drains and rhynes rather than climbs. Somerton is in the area of Somerset Council, and a stay here keeps a market square and a medieval church close together.