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{{Short description|Southwestern area of England}}
{{About|the area in England|the region in Norway translated as "West Country"|Vestlandet}}
{{redirect|Westcountry|the former ITV station|Westcountry Television}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
[[File:westcountrymap.png|thumb|right|upright=1.15|One interpretation of the West Country, shown on this map as identical to the [[South West England|South West]] region of England, incorporating the counties of [[Bristol]], [[Cornwall]], [[Devon]], [[Dorset]], [[Gloucestershire]], [[Somerset]] and [[Wiltshire]]]]

The '''West Country''' is a loosely defined area within southwest England,<ref>{{Cite web |title=the West Country |url=http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/west-country |access-date=2 May 2017 |website=Dictionary.cambridge.org}}</ref> usually taken to include the counties of [[Cornwall]], [[Devon]], [[Dorset]], [[Somerset]] and [[Bristol]], with some considering it to extend to all or parts of [[Wiltshire]], [[Gloucestershire]] and [[Herefordshire]].<ref name=yougov>[https://yougov.co.uk/topics/arts/articles-reports/2019/10/23/which-counties-make-west-country "Which counties make up the West Country?", ''YouGov.co.uk'', 23 October 2019]. Retrieved 22 June 2021</ref> The West Country has a distinctive regional English [[West Country English|dialect and accent]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=THE DEVON DIALECT CHALLENGE |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series7/devon-dialect.shtml |access-date=20 November 2019}}</ref> and is also home to the [[Cornish language]].

==Extent==
[[Image:Bessie Ellen (one of the last surviving West Country trading ketchs) (6818651297).jpg|thumb|A West Country trading ketch, a term widely used by the 18th century]]
The West Country is bounded by the [[English Channel]] to the south and the [[Atlantic Ocean]], [[Bristol Channel]] and [[Severn Estuary]] to the north. The eastern limit is less clearly defined.<ref>{{Cite news |date=30 September 2008 |title=BBC - "ITV West Country staff to be axed"|publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7644254.stm |access-date=20 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Blue Badge Tourist Guides - The West Country |url=http://www.blue-badge-guides.com/WestCountry.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708073356/http://www.blue-badge-guides.com/WestCountry.html |archive-date=8 July 2011 |access-date=22 May 2010 |website=Blue-badge-guides.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 August 2007 |title=The West Country |url=https://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/south-west-map.html |access-date=20 November 2019 |publisher=Pictures of England |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917192920/https://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/south-west-map.html |archive-date=17 September 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Latest local news from Thisisthewestcountry.co.uk covering Cornwall, Devon and Somerset |url=https://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/ |access-date=8 November 2018 |website=Thisisthewestcountry.co.uk}}</ref>

Some definitions match that of the official [[South West England]] region. In a 2019 [[YouGov]] survey, 72% of respondents considered Cornwall and Devon to be in the West Country, while 70% included Somerset, 69% included Bristol, and 55% included Dorset. Other counties received less than 50% agreement, with 28% including Wiltshire, 27% including Gloucestershire, 12% including Herefordshire and 9% including Worcestershire, though those last two counties are officially part of the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] region.<ref name=yougov/>

==Specific uses==
During [[Jack Cade's Rebellion]] in 1450, English chroniclers described an uprising in [[Wiltshire]] being carried out by: ''"the comenys of the weste contre"'', indicating that in the late medieval period the county was certainly considered by contemporaries to be part of the West Country.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol28/pp58-78 | title=A Short English Chronicle: London under Henry VI (1422-71) | British History Online }}</ref>

[[West Country Carnival]]s are held in many towns in and around Somerset.

A map of the West Country was produced for motorists by [[Esso]] in 1932. [[Bristol]] and [[Salisbury]] form the most northerly and easterly cities on the map respectively, marking the one interpretation of the region at that time.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.petrolmaps.co.uk/essomaps/pratpict.htm | title=Pratts and Esso Pictorial plans from the UK }}</ref>

West Country Lamb and West Country Beef are [[Geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European Union|EU Protected Geographical Indication]]s (PGI) covering products from animals born and reared in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire or Gloucestershire.<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 November 2018 |title=West Country meat wins EU protection |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-25733368 |access-date=8 November 2018}}</ref> "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) limited to [[cheddar cheese]] made in the traditional way in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset or Somerset.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PDO - our provenance |url=https://www.farmhousecheesemakers.com/pdo-our-provenance/ |access-date=20 November 2019 |publisher=West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118091247/https://www.farmhousecheesemakers.com/pdo-our-provenance/ |archive-date=18 November 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=February 2024|reason=Were these replaced following the UK's withdrawal from the EU? Are they in the UK's replacement scheme?}}

[[ITV West Country]] is an [[ITV (TV network)|ITV franchise]] which broadcasts local news, weather and current affairs programmes over two regions; ITV West Country West covering the [[Isles of Scilly]], Cornwall, Devon and parts of Dorset and Somerset with ITV West Country East covering the remainder of Somerset and Dorset together with Bristol, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

A [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport|government]]-supported museum, galleries, and major attractions atlas<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Country - Icons of England |url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-atlas/west-country |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827225622/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-atlas/west-country |archive-date=27 August 2010 |access-date=22 May 2010 |website=Icons.org.uk}}</ref> matched the South West Region, save for Gloucestershire.

The term [[West Country derby]] is used to refer to sports matches between such cities as Bristol and Bath<ref>{{Cite news |date=4 July 2008 |title=Derby match excites Hill & Meehan |publisher=BBC News |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/english/7490456.stm |access-date=20 November 2019}}</ref> or Gloucester and Bath.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Gloucester rough and ready for West Country derby |work=Thetimes.co.uk |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/rugby_union/article3904452.ece | date=10 May 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517140058/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/rugby_union/article3904452.ece | archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>

A former brewery in [[Cheltenham]] traded as West Country Ales; their ceramic plaques can still be seen built into pub walls around Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and parts of Wales.<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Country Ales Ceramic Plaques |url=http://www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk/west_country_plaques.php |access-date=20 November 2019 |publisher=CAMRA Gloucestershire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023212727/http://www.gloucestershirepubs.co.uk/west_country_plaques.php |archive-date=23 October 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Dumnonia]]
*[[Durotriges]]
*[[Scrumpy and Western]] music
*[[South West Peninsula]]
*[[Thomas Hardy's Wessex]]
*[[Wessex]]
*[[SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes|West Country–class locomotives]]
*[[West of England]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Jenner, Michael (1996) ''Traveller's Companion to the West Country''. Claremont Books (Godfrey Cave Associates) {{ISBN|1854718266}} (first published by Michael Joseph, 1990)
*Weir, John (1993) ''The West Country''. (Great Walks.) London: Ward Lock {{ISBN|0-7063-6943-2}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:West Country| ]]
[[Category:South West England]]
[[Category:Southern England]]

West Country - Revision history

imported>Steinsky: Undid revision 1322167884 by ~2025-33641-83 (talk)