Somerset Photography: 8 Locations To Explore With Your Camera

In the southwest of England, just south of Bristol, is Somerset. Lying somewhat in the shadows of its more famous neighbours, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall, Somerset is often overlooked for photography locations.

However, Somerset photography should by no means be overlooked – it's just that large parts of the region are perhaps not as 'in-your-face' as other nearby areas.

Somerset reveals its beauty slowly, as one fellow photographer once told me.

This blog will provide tips on where to find both Somerset's more famous places and some of its hidden gems, too. In doing so, we’ll cover not just today's county of Somerset, but the neighbouring North Somerset, Bath, and North East Somerset, too – regions that once all belonged to the same county.

Photography locations are both man-made and natural, ranging from architecture and street life to rural and coastal landscapes with wildlife.

As far as architecture is concerned, the beautiful Georgian city of Bath is undoubtedly number one on the list of photography locations in Somerset, closely followed by the much smaller, older cathedral city of Wells.

Natural landscapes worth photographing in Somerset include Exmoor National Park – the region’s leading wild area – but also the Quantock and Mendips Hills and the marshy, low-lying Somerset Levels.

Wildlife photography revolves around much of Exmoor, too, alongside several well-protected nature reserves in the Levels.

 

Table of contents

1. Bath
2. Wells
3. Cheddar Gorge
4. Avalon Marshes
5. Glastonbury
6. Dunster
7. Tarr Steps
8. Bossington Village and Hill

 

We’ll begin our tour in the great city of Bath.

 

The Georgian city of Bath

One of the UK's most famous cities, and the most visited location in Somerset, Bath is an architectural photographer's dream. Admittedly, there's not much in the way of modern architecture (at least, not that I’ve found), but for a lover of fine Georgian sandstone buildings, Bath is hugely inspiring.

At the city's heart sits the Abbey, alongside which stands the Roman Baths, both of which are among the city's most photographed structures – the former medieval, the latter mostly Georgian, though with Roman structures beneath.

All around Bath are streets, avenues and cobbled squares lined with refined Georgian buildings. Just wander at will to search out the most photogenic buildings, details and angles. To the northwest of the city centre is the famous Royal Crescent, a long curving three-storey terrace fronted by open parkland. Almost impossible to photograph well in its entirety, except perhaps as a panoramic, the Crescent is generally best tackled as a series of details, picking on the curves, columns, railings and doorways as photogenic elements.

The River Avon runs to the east of the city, itself quite attractive but made even more so by the stunning 18^th century Pulteney Bridge; the lower half a series of graceful arches and the upper level lined with shops. It’s said to be one of only a very few shop-lined bridges remaining in the world.

 

The cathedral city of Wells

Nestling at the southern foot of the Mendip Hills, southwest of Bath, Wells is a lovely historic gem. It is classed as a city, not in the sense of being a large urban area, but in the more traditional sense of having a cathedral. And what a cathedral it is, too: one of Britain's oldest and biggest, its western facade is both spectacular and imposing. Internally, its nave is truly magnificent, while its grounds still have an intact cloister. All of it makes for some fantastic photography.

Immediately around the cathedral, medieval almshouses make for gorgeous photo subjects, while just to the south, you’ll find the atmospheric, moat-ringed, ruined Bishop's Palace. The latter is arguably Well's most photogenic spot – for me, anyway.

In the adjoining city – separated from the cathedral simply by a high medieval wall – are many more examples of historic architecture, particularly around the Market Square. From here, the city's streets – though quite historic themselves – can become rather crowded and cluttered, resulting in fewer workable photographic opportunities.

If you’re photographing in Wells, instead concentrate your energy mostly on the area immediately in and around the cathedral and Bishop's Palace.

 

Cheddar Gorge

Arguably Somerset's premier natural landscape feature, Cheddar Gorge is an 11-mile gash in the southern flanks of the Mendip Hills, not too far from Wells. The gorge is usually accessed from the south, where both its mouth and the whole of the Mendip range fall away to meet the Somerset Levels.

The village of Cheddar sits just to the south of the gorge's mouth, while right in the mouth itself is the entrance to Cheddar Caves, a labyrinth of tunnels filled with stalactites and stalagmites, sadly closed at present.

From here, the narrow road twists and turns among towering cliffs before entering the gorge itself, after which it snakes its way steadily uphill towards the gorge's northern limit. Limestone cliffs tower all around to create some excellent photo opportunities. Those with an eye for macro photography will want to check out some of the wildflowers in spring and early summer, including the Cheddar Pink, a rare flower almost unique to the gorge.

The chasm peters out at the gorge’s northern limit, with the road passing through woodland before coming out onto open fields and moorland. The woodland area is a good place to stop, too, with footpaths heading south to give way to clifftop walks.

The clifftop walks provide truly stunning views across and along the gorge, and the photography on offer is significantly more dramatic than that possible from the gorge floor. In early summer, in particular, the grassland is littered with orchids, among other flowers, along with a smattering of a rare species of whitebeam tree.

The woodland walks and their beech trees are beautifully photogenic and are littered with wild garlic and bluebells in spring.

 

Avalon Marshes

Lying west of Glastonbury and in the heart of the Somerset Levels, Avalon Marshes is the collective name for six important marshland nature reserves, the most well-known of which are Shapwick Heath, Westhay Moor and Ham Wall.

All of the above are the flooded remains of old peat workings, whose marshy landscape gives us the closest window possible onto how the Levels must have looked 1000 years and more ago.

Generally speaking, landscape photography consists of lakeland, reed beds and marshy grassland against a backdrop of low hills. Vast skies and regular early morning mists also add timeless moods. Ham Wall Nature Reserve is particularly photogenic in this regard due to its backdrop views of Glastonbury Tor. This makes for beautiful compositions at any time of year.

All the reserves in Somerset are renowned for their wildlife, especially birds, and most especially in winter when thousands of migrants overwinter here. Birdwatchers and photographers themselves form flocks, particularly at Ham Wall, keen to spot and photograph a host of both common and rarer birds.

The former consist of a great array of ducks, such as wigeon, teal, pintail and tufted, while rarer birds include beauties like the Great White Egret, Marsh Harrier and the Eurasian Bittern, all of which are not commonly seen in the southwest.

Roe deer are sometimes seen in and around the woods and pastures at the Catcott Complex Nature Reserve, too.

 

Glastonbury

No Somerset list would be complete without a mention of Glastonbury. Sitting in the heart of the Somerset Levels, it’d be a rather unremarkable market town were it not for its associations with the legendary kingdom of Avalon and King Arthur, coupled with the atmospheric ruins of its Abbey and the omnipresent Glastonbury Tor.

And then there's that rather large music festival, held (almost) every June.

Photographically, of course, the Abbey and Tor are the ever-present attractions. The ruins are generally best photographed in low sunlight when warm colours and long shadows add to the drama and mystery of the buildings. The Tor is often photographed at dawn/sunrise and sunset/dusk – typically times of the day when the light can be either quite dramatic or very soft. At these times, the Tor's steep conical, church tower-topped slopes dominate the surrounding low-lying Levels, making for some dramatic landscape photography that shines a light on Glastonbury’s historic associations.

Not surprisingly, the views from the Tor's summit are rather magnificent, reaching across the Levels into the far distance, towards the Bristol Channel. Unfortunately, such a distant, low-lying view doesn't make for great photography, so successful photography here does entail including a strong foreground element, usually the summit tower, most often photographed at sunrise or sunset.

 

Dunster

On the north-eastern edge of Exmoor National Park and close to the seaside town of Minehead, Dunster heads the category of 'beautifully preserved historic village'.

There’s nothing modern here. In fact, every street is lined with historic buildings ranging from medieval to the 18^th century.

Dunster Castle is located over the village on a small hilltop at the main street’s southern end, with its origins dating back more than 1000 years, though today's building dates mostly to the 17^th century. There are several vantage points around this hilly village, providing good photogenic views of the castle and village, while down at street level, there are any number of buildings and street scenes worth shooting, along with a preserved watermill.

The surrounding hills and wooded countryside marks the real start of Exmoor, providing wonderful landscape photography opportunities with moorland views and woodland details. It’s also possible to find Red and Fallow Deer in this area, which is good for wildlife photography (if you can get close enough, that is!)

 

Tarr Steps

Nestled in a deep valley on Exmoor's southern slopes, Tarr Steps is the region's most well-known prehistoric remain, consisting of a long and rough stone footbridge across the fast-flowing, boulder-strewn River Barle. Both bridge and river are enveloped in dense ancient woodland, and with footpaths heading upstream from the bridge on both banks, there’s good access to both forest and river scenes.

The Steps themselves are quite photogenic, with views of the whole bridge and close details of its stones all worthy photo subjects. However, with it being a popular visitor attraction, it can get quite busy, making people-free bridge photography rather problematic at times.

For me, at least, the main photographic draw here is the woodland, especially where the trees crowd in along the river bank on both shores, leaning out over the water. Within easy walking distance of the bridge, there are multiple good compositions: a mix of water flowing around and over rocks, with verdant trees hanging over or standing close by. This is an ideal place to practise some woodland and river landscape photography at just about any time of year. The trees are a vibrant green through much of the spring and summer, while in October, beech trees (of which there are many) generate a superb array of colours.

 

Bossington Village and Hill

The village of Bossington is a highly scenic place, just inland from Exmoor's Bristol Channel coast, and backed by the huge rounded outline of Bossington Hill.

The village itself consists almost entirely of quaint, photogenic cottages, some thatched, many of them with distinctive tall, robust chimneys. Footpaths from here lead down to the pebbly shore, to nearby Porlock Marsh and the exposed and rugged Hurlstone Point – all good photography locations.

For me, the main attraction besides the village itself is the enormous coastal Bossington Hill. There’s a footpath from the village to the summit, but it's a long, steep climb, and there's a perfectly good road to the top. However, to take it, you have to backtrack by car to Minehead and take the hill road there, climbing Bossington Hill from the east.

The views from the westernmost of the hill's several summits are stupendous; out across the Bristol Channel towards Wales and westwards along Exmoor's hilly coastline. To the south, views reach across the village of Porlock to the hills of Exmoor, including Dunkery Beacon, the national park's highest point. The view is spectacular at any time of year, but even more so when the hill's heather and gorse bushes are in flower.

 

Getting the best out of Somerset photography

Hopefully, this introduction to Somerset photography gives you some inspiration to get out there and look around the county yourself.

Use these eight places as a starting point, and expand from there, adding some of your own favourite locations.

Happy shooting!

 

This blog was written by Nigel Hicks, a hugely experienced Devon-based professional photographer. Nigel works with the USA's prestigious National Geographic Image Collection, among many other bodies, and is a Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photography.

Nigel runs regular photography workshops in southwest England. To find out more about these, go to https://www.nigelhicks.com/photography-workshops-courses/.

To find out more about Nigel's work in general, feel free to take a tour of his website at www.nigelhicks.com.

 

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