South West England

South West England is one of the regions of England. It has the largest area of all regions, and reaches from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. This includes the area often known as the West Country, and much of Wessex. The size of the region is shown by the fact that the northern part of Gloucestershire, near Chipping Campden, is as close to the Scottish border as it is to the tip of Cornwall.

South West England

High Willhays on Dartmoor, Devon: the region's highest point

Agriculture and tourism are the important industries of the region. Mining of tin and copper was also formerly very important in Devon and Cornwall. Traditionally, the South West of England has been well known for producing Cheddar cheese, named after Cheddar, Somerset in the Mendip Hills, for Devon cream teas, and for Somerset cider. It is now probably equally well known as the home of the Eden Project (in Cornwall), Aardman Animations, the Glastonbury festival (in Somerset), trip hop music, Cornwall's seafood restaurants, and surfing beaches. Two National Parks (Dartmoor and Exmoor) and four World Heritage Sites lie in this region.

Local government

The official region consists of the following geographic counties and local government areas:

Map	Ceremonial county	Shire county / unitary	Districts
	Somerset	1. Bath and North East Somerset
		2. North Somerset
		11. Somerset	South Somerset, Taunton Deane, West Somerset, Sedgemoor, Mendip
	3. Bristol
	Gloucestershire	4. South Gloucestershire
		5. Gloucestershire	Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Cotswold, Stroud, Forest of Dean
	Wiltshire	6. Swindon
		7. Wiltshire	Salisbury, West Wiltshire, Kennet, North Wiltshire
	Dorset	8. Dorset	Weymouth and Portland, West Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck, East Dorset, Christchurch
		9. Poole
		10. Bournemouth
	Devon	12. Devon	Exeter, East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, Torridge, West Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge
		13. Torbay
		14. Plymouth
	Cornwall	Isles of Scilly
		15. Cornwall	Penwith, Kerrier, Carrick, Restormel, Caradon, North Cornwall

Other websites

• Government Office for the South West Archived 2004-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
• South West Regional Assembly Archived 2005-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
• South West Regional Development Agency Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Government's list of councils in the South West Archived 2006-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
• Campaign for a Cornish Assembly
• Attractions South West Archived 2021-05-15 at the Wayback Machine

Photographs

• Bristol Archived 2006-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Cornwall: Archived 2007-03-22 at the Wayback Machine Archived 2006-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
• Devon: Archived 2006-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
• Dorset: Archived 2008-10-08 at the Wayback Machine
• Somerset: Archived 2008-02-27 at the Wayback Machine