Unitary authorities of Somerset 1 Somerset Council2 North Somerset3 Bath and North East Somerset The Grade I listed buildings in Somerset, England, demonstrate the history and diversity of its architecture.
The ceremonial county of Somerset is administered by three unitary authorities. Two of the unitary authorities were established on 1 April 1996 following the breakup of the county of Avon, are North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset. These unitary authorities include areas that were once part of Somerset before the creation of Avon in 1974.
The rest of the county is administered by Somerset Council which was established on 1 April 2023 replacing the former Somerset County Council and four districts, South Somerset, Mendip, Sedgemoor and Somerset West and Taunton. West Somerset and Taunton Deane previously existed until 1 April 2019 when they merged to form Somerset West and Taunton.
In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance, Grade I structures are those considered to be "buildings of exceptional interest". Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, strict limitations are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building's structure or fittings. In England, the authority for listing under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 rests with English Heritage, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; local authorities have a responsibility to regulate and enforce the planning regulations.
Each of the districts include Norman- or medieval-era churches, many of which are included in the Somerset towers, a collection of distinctive, mostly spireless Gothic architecture church towers. The prolific construction of the towers—some started before 1360—was typically accomplished by a master mason and a small team of itinerant masons, supplemented by local parish labourers, according to Poyntz Wright. But other authors reject this model, suggesting instead that leading architects designed the parish church towers based on early examples of Perpendicular design and ornamentation developed for cathedrals—their most important commissions. Contract builders carried out the plans, adding a distinctive mix of innovative details and decorations as new designs emerged over the years. These are included in the list of towers in Somerset.
Apart from the churches, each area has its own characteristics. Most of Bath's Grade I listed buildings are made from the local golden-coloured Bath Stone, and date from the 18th and 19th centuries. Their dominant architectural style is Georgian. In the Mendip district, the greatest concentrations of these cluster around the cathedral and abbey in Wells and in Glastonbury. North Somerset features bridges and piers along with a selection of Manor houses. The Sedgemoor district has many buildings related to trade and commerce centred on Bridgwater; while in South Somerset abbeys, priories and farmhouses predominate. Taunton Deane includes the defensive Taunton Castle, similarly Dunster Castle and related buildings in Dunster feature in West Somerset.
Click here to see an interactive OpenStreetMap with locations of all Grade I listed buildings, Somerset-wide, for which coordinates are included in the list-articles linked below.
Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset (commonly referred to as BANES or B&NES) is a unitary authority created on 1 April 1996, following the abolition of the County of Avon. Bath and North East Somerset occupies an area of , two-thirds of which is green belt. BANES stretches from the outskirts of Bristol, south into the Mendip Hills and east to the southern Cotswold Hills and Wiltshire border. The city of Bath is the principal settlement in the district, but BANES also covers Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, Radstock and the Chew Valley. BANES has a population of 170,000, about half of whom live in Bath, making it 12 times more densely populated than the rest of the district.
Bath and North East Somerset has 663 Grade I listed buildings, one of the highest concentrations in the country, covered by about 100 English Heritage listings. The oldest sites within Bath are the Roman Baths, for which the foundation piles and an irregular stone chamber lined with lead were built during the Roman occupation of Britain, although the current building is from the 18th century. Bath Abbey was a Norman church built on earlier foundations, although the present building dates from the early 16th century and shows a late Perpendicular style with flying buttresses and crocketed pinnacles decorating a crenellated and pierced parapet. The medieval era is represented by the remains of the city walls in Upper Borough Walls.
Most of Bath's Grade I listed buildings are made from the local golden-coloured Bath Stone, and date from the 18th and 19th centuries. Their dominant architectural style is Georgian, which evolved from the Palladian revival style that became popular during the early 18th century. This led to the entire city's designation as a World Heritage Site.
Much of the development, and many of the buildings, were the vision of John Wood, the Elder. The Circus is seen as the pinnacle of Wood's work. It consists of three long, curved terraces that form a circular space or theatre intended for civic functions and games. The games give a clue to the design, the inspiration for which was the Colosseum in Rome. The best known of Bath's terraces is the Royal Crescent, built between 1767 and 1774 and designed by Wood's son, John Wood, the Younger. Around 1770 the neoclassical architect Robert Adam designed Pulteney Bridge, a three-arched bridge spanning the Avon. He used as his prototype an original, but unused, design by Palladio for the Rialto Bridge in Venice. The heart of the Georgian city was the Pump Room, which together with its associated Lower Assembly Rooms was designed by Thomas Baldwin, a local builder responsible for many other buildings in the city, including the terraces in Argyle Street. Great Pulteney Street, where Baldwin eventually lived, is another of his works: this wide boulevard, constructed and over long and wide, is lined on both sides by Georgian terraces.
Outside the city of Bath most of the Grade I listed buildings are Norman- or medieval-era churches. Manor houses such as Claverton Manor, which now houses the American Museum in Britain, and the 18th-century Newton Park, which has a landscape garden designed by Capability Brown, also appear in the list; Newton Park now forms part of the Bath Spa University. There is also Grade I listed canal architecture outside the city, such as Dundas Aqueduct and Claverton Pumping Station, both designed by John Rennie. The most recent building is the agricultural Eastwood Manor Farm Steading, completed in 1860.
North Somerset
North Somerset is a unitary authority which is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county of Somerset. Its administrative headquarters are located in the town hall of Weston-super-Mare, and has a resident population of 193,000 living in 85,000 households.
There are 37 Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset, including the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which joins North Somerset to Bristol and Clevedon Pier which was built between the 1860s and 1890s. It was removed following damage in 1970 and restored, before being rebuilt and reopened to the public in 1998. Of the listed buildings, manor houses are well represented. They include Clevedon Court, built in the 14th century, and from the 15th century, Ashton Court and Nailsea Court. North Somerset has many religious structures; the largest number are from the Norman or medieval eras. The oldest is the Church of St. Quiricus and St. Julietta in Tickenham which dates from the 11th century, and there are 8 others from the 12th century.
The most recent Grade I building in North Somerset is Tyntesfield, a Victorian Gothic Revival estate near Wraxall. It was acquired by the National Trust in June 2002 after a fund raising campaign to prevent its being sold to private interests and ensure it be opened to the public. The appeal by the National Trust collected £8.2 million from the public in just 100 days and the Trust also received the largest single grant ever by the National Heritage Memorial Fund (at £17.4 million), which caused some controversy. The house is built of Bath stone, and is highly picturesque, bristling with turrets and possessing an elaborate roof.
Somerset (district)
Mendip
Mendip is a former local government district which covers a largely rural area of ranging from the Mendip Hills through on to the Somerset Levels. It has a population of approximately 11,000. The administrative centre of the district is Shepton Mallet.
There are 90 Grade I listed buildings in the former Mendip district. There are churches in the various towns and villages, however the greatest concentrations of Grade I listed buildings are in Wells and Glastonbury. In Wells these are clustered around the 10th-century Cathedral Church of St Andrew, better known as Wells Cathedral, and the 13th-century Bishop's Palace. Glastonbury is the site of the Abbey, where construction started in the 7th century, and its associated buildings. The ruined St Michael's church, itself replacing the one destroyed in an earthquake of 1275, stands on Glastonbury Tor, where the site shows evidence of occupation from Neolithic times and the Dark Ages. The Chalice Well has been in use since Pre-Christian times. Glastonbury Abbey had a wider influence outside the town: tithe barns were built at Pilton and West Bradley to hold tithes, and a Fish House was built at Meare along with a summer residence for the Abbot (now Manor Farmhouse).
Medieval structures include Farleigh Hungerford Castle, fortified around 1370, and The George Inn at Norton St Philip, used as an army headquarters during the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, and then as a courtroom to try the rebels in the Bloody Assizes. Manor houses such as the 15th-century Seymours Court Farmhouse at Beckington and The Old Manor at Croscombe. Mells Manor followed in the 16th century and in the 17th century Southill House in Cranmore was built. Ston Easton Park and Ammerdown House in Kilmersdon were both completed in the 18th century. The most recent buildings included in the list are churches: the Church of St Peter at Hornblotton, built in 1872–74 by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson to replace a medieval church on the same site, and Downside Abbey at Stratton-on-the-Fosse, more formally known as "The Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside", a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery and the Senior House of the English Benedictine Congregation. The current buildings were started in the 19th century and are still unfinished.
Sedgemoor
Sedgemoor former district is a low-lying area of land close to sea level between the Quantock and Mendip hills, historically largely marsh (or moor). It contains the bulk of the area also known as the Somerset Levels, including Europe's oldest known engineered roadway, the Sweet Track.