An updated version of this profile is online at nationalcharacterareas.co.uk. This pdf is retained for historical and completeness purposes.
The Yeovil Scarplands run, in an arc, from the Mendip Hills around the southern edge of the Mid Somerset Hills and the Somerset Levels and Moors to the fringes of the Blackdowns. This remote, rural landscape comprises a series of broad ridges and steep scarps separating sheltered clay vales. Less than 5 per cent of the area is urban, though Yeovil, lying in the south of the area, has grown to become a sizeable town with a busy industrial zone.
The area has a long history of settlement reflected through the archaeology, from Neolithic hill forts, through Roman villas, to remnant medieval open fields – along with many Listed Buildings. The area is known for its collection of fine manor houses and associated parklands. The area also boasts a variety of limestones and sandstones from which distinctive local settlement character is derived. Foremost among these is the Ham Hill stone: Stoke-sub-Hamdon, South Petherton and the notable Elizabethan Montacute House are all constructed principally from this stone.
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