91�ȱ� Sounds - Secret Somerset

Secret Somerset

Explore fascinating stories from Somerset.

Radio Somerset,42 episodes

Episodes

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Brean Down: from the Iron Age to WWII
The land has seen an Iron Age hill fort, a Roman temple and a Victorian folly.
05 Mar 2025,8 mins
Black dogs on the Quantocks?
Dan Broadbent from the Quantock Landscape Partnership Scheme recounts mythical tales.
25 Feb 2025,6 mins
The incredible stories of Cricket St Thomas
The estate has been used as a wildlife park, a theme park and filming location.
20 Feb 2025,13 mins
The Victorian pleasure ground
The artist William Turner sketched the view of the Watchet coast from the site.
13 Feb 2025,8 mins
The leaning church of Burnham-on-Sea
Discovering the unique quirks of St Andrew's Church built in the 14th century.
03 Feb 2025,7 mins
Did King George III’s secret son live in Somerset?
Frederick Blomberg was adopted and raised by the King and Queen in 1765.
24 Jan 2025,10 mins
Ilminster’s Victorian police cells
The former magistrates’ court and police station building now houses the town council.
23 Jan 2025,7 mins
Somerset village linked to two American presidents
John Adams and John Quincy Adams are remembered in Barton St David’s church.
17 Jan 2025,8 mins
The factory behind the breakfast table staple
Hemyock in the Blackdown Hills produced St Ivel Gold until 2008.
14 Jan 2025,6 mins
The haunting of Hestercombe
The ghost of Mrs Portman has been spotted in the historic house by visitors.
10 Dec 2024,6 mins
Ilminster’s shooting club
The rifle group is thought to have started in the Victorian times.
09 Dec 2024,9 mins
80 years of Calverts in Taunton
The family-run furniture shop was established in 1944.
29 Nov 2024,4 mins
Chard’s hanging tree
A hanging tree once stood between Tesco and B&Q in the town.
21 Nov 2024,6 mins
Reconstructing Somerset’s Roman Mosaics
Volunteers have spent five years reproducing Roman designs at Avalon Archaeology.
18 Nov 2024,10 mins
From Exmoor to Australia: The oldest ringing church bell
How a 16th century bell that chimed in Upton ended up in an rainforest wedding chapel.
18 Oct 2024,8 mins
The chained library with books older than America
The Wells Cathedral library securely holds books, published before the 1800s, in chains.
04 Oct 2024,7 mins
The WW2 hero who didn’t carry a weapon
Arturo Fanconi from Ilminster was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal for saving lives.
25 Sep 2024,7 mins
The bootmaker whose inventions changed lives
Chard's James Gillingham found his calling after a local man was injured in an accident.
24 Sep 2024,7 mins
The witchcraft trial of Julian Cox
Julian Cox was the last person to be executed in Taunton for witchcraft in 1663.
13 Sep 2024,7 mins
The Somerset bank with its own banknotes
It’s said Stuckey’s banknotes had a circulation second only to the Bank of England.
30 Aug 2024,5 mins
Old Mother Leakey: the ghost of Minehead
A ghost, a bishop and mysterious shipwrecks around Minehead harbour.
21 Aug 2024,10 mins
The hidden past of Exmoor’s WW2 training site
A radar station and archaeological remains can be found on the North Hill site.
13 Aug 2024,9 mins
In the cockpit of Concorde
The story of Yeovilton’s Concorde at the Fleet Air Arm Museum.
13 Aug 2024,10 mins
The Exmoor pub with famous connections
A president, a spy and a tragic ghost – the history of The Royal Oak in Withypool.
30 Jul 2024,9 mins
Taunton’s Tudor Tavern
The town's oldest listed domestic building is now a café.
25 Jul 2024,8 mins
How Cheddar inspired Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
The author first visited the picturesque area of Somerset on his honeymoon in 1916.
11 Jul 2024,5 mins
The coal miner who ended up in a lunatic asylum
Mark Whitcomb and the Furman sisters are remembered at the Mendip Hospital Cemetery.
03 Jul 2024,8 mins
The Pauper Lunatic Asylum Cemetery
The cemetery is the final resting place for inmates and staff from the asylum.
25 Jun 2024,9 mins
The burning city on the Mendips
Lights and fires were used to trick German bombers into thinking they’d reached Bristol.
19 Jun 2024,8 mins
The gothic mansion that became a TB Sanatorium
Quantock Lodge was built in the 1800s for the-then MP of Taunton, Henry Labouchere.
13 Jun 2024,9 mins