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Yeovil, Somerset

Yeovil
red brick building with small car park in front.
Yeovil County Court
Yeovil is located in Somerset
Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil shown within Somerset
Population 45,000 (2011)
OS grid reference ST552164
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town YEOVIL
Postcode district BA20, BA21, BA22
Dialling code 01935
Police Avon and Somerset
Fire Devon and Somerset
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Somerset
50°56′43″N 2°38′13″W / 50.9452°N 2.6370°W / 50.9452; -2.6370Coordinates: 50°56′43″N 2°38′13″W / 50.9452°N 2.6370°W / 50.9452; -2.6370

Yeovil (/ˈjvɪl/ YOH-vil) is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, with a population of 45,000. The town lies within the local district of South Somerset and the Yeovil parliamentary constituency, situated at the southern boundary of Somerset to the neighbouring county of Dorset, 130 miles (210 km) from London, 40 miles (64 km) south of Bristol and 30 miles (48 km) from Taunton.

It has palaeolithic remains, was on an old Roman road and was left in the will of King Alfred the Great to his youngest son Aethelweard. In the Domesday Book it is recorded as the town of Givele or Ivle, and later became a centre for the glove-making industry. During the Middle Ages the population of the town suffered from the Black Death and several serious fires.

In the 20th century it developed into a centre of the aircraft and defence industries, which made it a target for bombing in the Second World War, with one of the largest employers being Westland Aircraft. Additionally, the Fleet Air Arm has a station RNAS Yeovilton (HMS Heron), the primary base of the Royal Navy's Westland Wildcat and Westland EH101 helicopters, several miles north of the town and is a major local employer (Ministry of Defence). Several other manufacturing and retail companies also have bases in the town. Plans have been proposed for various regeneration projects in the town.


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