Wellington, Somerset

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section may contain original research or unattributed claims.
Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details.

Wellington

Coordinates: 50.9755° N 3.2243° W
Population	13,696
OS grid reference	ST140203
District	Taunton Deane
Shire county	Somerset
Region	South West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WELLINGTON
Postcode district	TA21
Dial code	01823
Police	Avon and Somerset
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Taunton
European Parliament	South West England
List of places: UK • England • Somerset

Wellington is a small industrial town in rural Somerset, England, situated seven miles south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town. The town has a population of 13,696.^[1] It has many dependent villages including West Buckland, Langford Budville, Nynehead, Sampford Arundel and Sampford Moor. Rockwell Green is a formerly-independent village to the West of the town and while there is a green belt of land in between them, many consider it to be part of the town.

In the 1970s, housing developments happened on the South side of the town, prompted by its proximity to Junction 26 of the M5 motorway.

The town had its own railway station until the Beeching Report of 1963 which closed hundreds of the UK's provincial railway stations. The main Great Western Main Line from Penzance to London, and also to Bristol and the North, runs past the town, but no trains stop.

Wellington gave its name to the first Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, and boasts a large obelix to his honour, spotlit, on top of the closest hill to the town, the Wellington Monument. This is now separated from the town by the major motorway in the South-West, the M5. Because of this, Wellington, Somerset can have a legitimate claim to have contributed to the more widespread use of the term in other place names and, of course, the Wellington Boot.

Wellington's main industry was wool-making, but this has now declined. The Fox family, still one of the more renowned names in the town, was at the forefront of this, and the name still lives on today. However, the town is still largely dependent on industry, notably its aerosol factory making aerosols for big names such as Marks and Spencer and Gillette. The company, now called Swallowfield, benefitted from the growth of own-brand products during the 1970s. The company dates back to 1950 though, when it was named Walter Gregory and Co. and produced the first consumer aerosols. The company has also been known as Aerosols International and was, for a time, owned by Cadbury Schweppes. After a management buyout in 1986, Swallowfield was then listed on the stock exchange. However, the company has recently been hit with the loss of a contract with Marks and Spencer, bringing estimated losses of £2 million.

The other big industry is bed making under the Relyon name. Relyon is now South-African owned and for many years has provided its own brand beds as well as making beds (and formerly furniture) for other high street names such as Marks and Spencer.

Wellington is also famous for its public school, Wellington School, Somerset, not to be confused with Wellington School, Shropshire or Wellington College. Famous alumni of Wellington School include actor David Suchet and peer Lord Archer.

The main secondary school in the town is Court Fields Community School. The school is a technology college.

In spite of its small size, Wellington has historically been notable for its profusion of churches of many different denominations, including a Quaker meeting house. It also boasts its own weekly newspaper, the Wellington Weekly News, in which a recent winter headline proclaimed "Tree falls in road".

Wellington has its own amateur dramatic group called Wellington Arts Association, which holds productions both at Wellington Arts Centre and at the Wellesley Theatre (the cinema and theatre in the town).

Wellington was home of Fox, Fowler and Company, which was the last commercial bank permitted to print sterling banknotes in England and Wales.

The town is twinned to the town of Immenstadt in Germany, the town of Lillebonne in France and Torres Vedras in Portugal^[2].

[edit] References

^ Somerset County Council, 2002. Population estimates. (Figure obtained by combining population of Wellington and Wellington Without parishes.)
^ Wellington Town Council. Twin Towns