West Country

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The West Country is an informal term for the area of southwestern England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It encompasses the counties of Avon, Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset, while the counties of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire are usually included, and definitions sometimes include even wider areas. The area is mostly rural, with only a few notable cities, such as Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth, plus Swindon and Gloucester. Tourism and agriculture, especially dairy farming, play a significant role in the economy. The landscape is principally granite moorland in the west, and chalk and limestone downland and clay vales in the east. Historically, tin mining and the fishery were sources of income and employment, but less so today, although the latter still contributes to the economy. The region is most famous for its production of cider, clotted cream and pasties.

As with any informal area, its boundaries are difficult to define. For example, the further west one goes, the more the region becomes culturally distinct from neighbouring South East England. It is often difficult to define a county as being "West Country" when it is a popular destination for commuters, but it is important to look at the lifestyle and dialects of the true residents before making an informed decision.

The West Country is sometimes associated with the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and Wessex Regionalists seek to promote this as an alternative to the South-West region. Wessex includes the adjacent counties in central southern England; Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and the Isle of Wight. These movements, as they do not include Cornwall, are generally supported by Cornish nationalists. The Welsh county of Monmouthshire is also considered part of the region by some people.

Cornwall is considered by many not to be part of the West Country due to its historically distinct culture and identity.

The West Country Clothing District was an area that made woollen cloth, but only part of the region described above. It covered east Somerset and parts of the counties of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and at some periods extended into Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The clothing district around Tiverton and Exeter in Devonshire and west Somerset tended to make different kinds of cloth and is best regarded as distinct.