South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England. It has the largest area of all regions, and reaches from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. This includes the area often known as the West Country, and much of Wessex. The size of the region is shown by the fact that the northern part of Gloucestershire, near Chipping Campden, is as close to the Scottish border as it is to the tip of Cornwall.
Agriculture and tourism are the important industries of the region. Mining of tin and copper was also formerly very important in Devon and Cornwall. Traditionally, the South West of England has been well known for producing Cheddar cheese, named after Cheddar, Somerset in the Mendip Hills, for Devon cream teas, and for Somerset cider. It is now probably equally well known as the home of the Eden Project (in Cornwall), Aardman Animations, the Glastonbury festival (in Somerset), trip hop music, Cornwall's seafood restaurants, and surfing beaches. Two National Parks (Dartmoor and Exmoor) and four World Heritage Sites lie in this region.
Local government
The official region consists of the following geographic counties and local government areas:
| Map | Ceremonial county | Shire county / unitary | Districts |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Somerset | 1. Bath and North East Somerset | |
| 2. North Somerset | |||
| 11. Somerset | South Somerset, Taunton Deane, West Somerset, Sedgemoor, Mendip | ||
| 3. Bristol | |||
| Gloucestershire | 4. South Gloucestershire | ||
| 5. Gloucestershire | Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Cotswold, Stroud, Forest of Dean | ||
| Wiltshire | 6. Swindon | ||
| 7. Wiltshire | Salisbury, West Wiltshire, Kennet, North Wiltshire | ||
| Dorset | 8. Dorset | Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, East Dorset, Christchurch | |
| 9. Poole | |||
| 10. Bournemouth | |||
| Devon | 12. Devon | Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, Torridge, West Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge | |
| 13. Torbay | |||
| 14. Plymouth | |||
| Cornwall | Isles of Scilly | ||
| 15. Cornwall | Penwith, Kerrier, Carrick, Restormel, Caradon, North Cornwall | ||
South West England Media
High Willhays on Dartmoor, Devon, the region's highest point
Pulteney Bridge in Bath, Somerset: the entire city is a World Heritage Site
M5 looking south towards Avonmouth
A photo I captured of Stonehenge in April of 2009.
Silbury Hill – Europe's largest man-made earthwork
A 19th-century Photochrom of the Roman Baths in Bath, Somerset
Maes Knoll the western end of Wansdyke
- CorfeCastle
Sweyn Forkbeard, detail of a mid-13th-century miniature. Cambridge University Library, Ee.3.59, fol. 4r
The statue of Sir Francis Drake (1540–1596) on Plymouth Hoe
Other websites
- Government Office for the South West Archived 2004-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
- South West Regional Assembly Archived 2005-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
- South West Regional Development Agency Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Government's list of councils in the South West Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
- Campaign for a Cornish Assembly
- Attractions South West Archived 2021-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Photographs
- Bristol [1] [2] Archived 2006-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Cornwall: [3] [4] Archived 2007-03-22 at the Wayback Machine [5] Archived 2006-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Devon: [6] [7] Archived 2006-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
- Dorset: [8] [9] [10] Archived 2008-10-08 at the Wayback Machine [11]
- Somerset: [12] [13] Archived 2008-02-27 at the Wayback Machine