Sedgemoor
| Sedgemoor | |
|---|---|
 Shown within Somerset | |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Non-metropolitan District |
| Region: | South West England |
| Admin. County: | Somerset |
| Area: - Total |
Ranked 88th 564.36 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Bridgwater |
| ONS code: | 40UC |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2022) - Density |
Ranked / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 98.9% White |
| Politics | |
| Sedgemoor District Council http://www.sedgemoor.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | |
| MPs: | David Heathcoat-Amory, Ian Liddell-Grainger |
Sedgemoor is a local government district of Somerset in England.
A low lying area of land close to sea level between the Quantock and Mendip hills, historically largely marsh (or moor) and contains the bulk of the area also known as the Somerset Levels, including the World's oldest known engineered roadway, the Sweet Track.
The district was formed on April 1 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the municipal borough of Bridgwater, the Burnham-on-Sea urban district, Bridgwater Rural District and part of Axbridge Rural District.
Place-name meaning
Sedgemoor does not mean "sedge moor", but is instead "marsh of a man called Sicga" from the Old Norse personal name Sicga and Old English mor "moor".[citation needed] The name was recorded as Secgamere in 1165.
Towns
- Bridgwater - the administrative centre
- Burnham on Sea
- North Petherton
- Highbridge
- Axbridge
Villages
Rivers
Battles
Industry
Light industry now predominates, but traditional trades include peat extraction, willow crafts and cider making can still be found, in addition to livestock farming. The River Parrett provides a source of eels (anguilla anguilla) and elvers during January through to May.
However also notable is the new Isleport trading estate at Highbridge which houses many global businesses such as Geest (Isleport Foods) who make yoghurt under franchise to Ski & Muller, Brake Brothers who supply the catering trade, BFP wholesale who supply dry goods to bakeries etc, Woodbury & Haines who supply furniture globally, Polybeam Limited who supply GRP radio masts to customers such as Marconi, and also AT&T whose centre there controls all internet cable traffic to and from the US
Industry in Bridgwater has also seen major growth recently with the opening of "Express Park" which houses Gerber Foods who are a global fruit juice supplier, NHS Logistics depot and Eddie Stobart depot. Also south of Bridgwater at Huntworth is a large Somerfield depot which supplies their Somerfield and former Kwik Save stores in the south west.
