Somerset
A largely rural county between the Bristol Channel and Dorset, with the Levels at its centre, the Mendips to the north east, and the Quantocks and most of Exmoor to the west. Bath is its largest place and Wells one of the smallest cities in England. Taunton is the seat of Somerset Council.
1,019,030 people at the mid 2025 estimate, on 4,170 square kilometres, in 418 civil parishes. Two of them are on this site. Three councils run it: Somerset Council (opens in a new tab), Bath and North East Somerset Council (opens in a new tab) and North Somerset Council (opens in a new tab).
Where the villages are
Who runs it
| Council | People, mid 2025 | Land | Parishes | Based in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset Council (opens in a new tab) | 590,972 | 3,450 km² | 328 | Taunton |
| Bath and North East Somerset Council (opens in a new tab) | 200,898 | 346 km² | 51 | Bath |
| North Somerset Council (opens in a new tab) | 227,160 | 374 km² | 39 | Weston-super-Mare |
| Police | Avon and Somerset Police (opens in a new tab) | the whole county |
|---|---|---|
| Fire and rescue | Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (opens in a new tab) | Somerset |
| Fire and rescue | Avon Fire and Rescue Service (opens in a new tab) | Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset |
Council areas from the ONS Counties and Unitary Authorities, December 2025, super generalised. Land from the ONS Standard Area Measurements, December 2024. Parishes from the ONS parish to ward to district lookup, 2025. People from the ONS mid-year population estimates, mid 2025. Towns from OS Open Names, through postcodes.io. Read on 16 September 2026; the councils, police and fire services were written in by hand. The description is from Wikipedia, read 16 September 2026. Something wrong? Email hello@heathfold.uk.
Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (opens in a new tab). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.