Somerton is a community and also civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It gave its name to the county and also was briefly, around the start of the 14th century, the county town, and around 900 was potentially the funding of Wessex. It has actually held a regular market because the Middle Ages, and also the primary square with its market cross is today an eye-catching area for visitors. Positioned on the River Cary, about 8.8 miles (14.2 km) north-west of Yeovil, Somerton has its own community council offering a population of 4,697 as of 2011. Locals are frequently described in your area as Somertonians. The civil parish consists of the districts of Etsome, Hurcot, Catsgore, and also Catcombe. The background of Somerton dates back to the Anglo-Saxon era, when it was a vital political and also industrial centre. After the Norman conquest of England the value of the town declined, regardless of being the county town of Somerset in the late thirteenth century and also early fourteenth century. Having lost county town standing, Somerton after that ended up being a market town in the Middle Ages, whose economic situation was supported by transportation systems using the River Parrett, and also later on rail transport via the Great Western Railway, as well as by light markets consisting of handwear cover making and gypsum mining. In the centre of Somerton the large market square, with its octagonal roofed market cross, is surrounded by old residences, while nearby is the 13th century Church of St Michael and All Angels. Somerton also had relate to Muchelney Abbey between Ages. The BBC drama The Monocled Mutineer was shot in Somerton from 1985 to 1986.