South West England

South West England is an administrative region in the southwest of England, stretching across several counties from Gloucestershire to Cornwall with Bristol as its main city. The region includes long stretches of coastline along the Atlantic and the English Channel, as well as large rural areas with farmland and open moorland.

The area once formed the core of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, which ruled much of southern England during the early medieval period. In the far west, Celtic culture survived longest in Cornwall, shaping the region into modern times with its own language and identity.

Each county celebrates its own way of making food and drink, from cider brewing in Somerset to the pasty tradition in Cornwall. Large music festivals such as the one near Glastonbury draw visitors from around the world every summer, filling the fields with tents and crowds.

Two national parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor, offer access to wide expanses of moorland with walking trails that vary in accessibility depending on the season. Four World Heritage sites such as the Jurassic Coast and Stonehenge are spread across the territory and can be reached by car or public transport.

The northern edge of Gloucestershire lies almost as far from Land's End in Cornwall as it does from the Scottish border. This distance reveals how much ground the territory covers when you travel from one end to the other.

Location: England

Capital city: Bristol

Shares border with: South East England, West Midlands

Website: http://southwest-ra.gov.uk

GPS coordinates: 50.96000,-3.22000

Latest update: December 3, 2025 07:51