[edit] Local Government

Officially designated as a borough in 1854, the town continued to lend its name to the area with the creation of the local government district of Yeovil on 1 April 1974 with the merging several neighboring rural and urban districts which is today known as South Somerset.

Outlying villages include East Coker , Evershot, Halstock, Stoford, Sutton Bingham, Mudford and Yetminster. Other nearby villages include Bradford Abbas, Corscombe, Montacute (where one will find Montacute House), and Pendomer. The village of Brympton, now almost a suburb of Yeovil, contains the medieval manor of Brympton d'Evercy. Tintinhull is also a village close to Yeovil featuring the National Trust owned Tintinhull House and Gardens.

[edit] History

The name "Yeovil" comes via Anglo-Saxon from a corruption of the Celtic gifl, meaning "forked river".

Archaeological surveys have indicated signs of activity from the palaeolithic period, with burial and occupation sites located principally to the south of the modern town.

Yeovil was on the main Roman road from Dorchester to the Fosse Way at Ilchester. The route of the old road is aligned with the A37 from Dorchester, Hendford Hill, Rustywell, aross the Westland site, to Larkhill Road, and Vagg Lane, rejoining the A37 at the Halfway House pub on the Ilchester Road. The Westland site has evidence of a small Roman town <ref name="RomanWestland"> Somerset Historic Environment Record Westland </ref>. There were several Roman villas (estates) in the area, including finds at East Coker, West Coker and Lufton <ref name="MSS"> Museum of South Somerset </ref>.

First recorded in the Domesday Book as the town of Givle, it features as a thriving market community, with a population of c. 1000. In 1205 it was granted a charter by King John. By the 14th century, the town had gained the right to elect a portreeve. The Black Death exacted a heavy toll, killing approximately half the population. In 1499 a major fire broke out in the town, destroying many of the wooden, thatched roofed buildings. Yeovil suffered further serious fires, in 1620 and again in 1643.

At the time of the 1801 Census, the population of Yeovil was about 2,800. During the 1800's Yeovil was a centre of the glove making industry and by 1853 was connected to the rest of Britain via railway and soon after, in 1856, the town gained borough status and was given a mayor.

In the early 20th century Yeovil had around 11 000 inhabitants and was dominated by the defence industry, making it a target of German raids during World War II. Yeovil's reputation as a centre of the aircraft and defence industries lived on into the 21st century despite attempts at diversification, and the creation of numerous industrial estates, the principal employer is the aviation group AgustaWestland. This firm was created through the acquisition of Westland Helicopters by Augusta in 2000. In January 1986 the proposed sale of Westlands to the American Sikorski Fiat group led to a crisis in the Thatcher government, the resignation of Michael Heseltine as Defence Secretary and the resignation two weeks latter of the Trade and Industry Secretary Leon Brittan after his admission of leaking of a governmental law officer's letter which harshly criticised Mr Heseltine.

[edit] Education

Yeovil is home to a number of primary and secondary educational institutions and two higher education institutes: Bridgwater College and Yeovil College.

[edit] Sport

The local football team Yeovil Town F.C. famous for their green and white livery are known as the 'Giant-Killers' and recently gained promotion to the Football League, currently playing in League One. In a reference to the town's glove-making past, the team's nickname is The Glovers.

[edit] Transport links

The town has two railway stations; Yeovil Pen Mill serving the Bristol-Weymouth line, and Yeovil Junction on the London-Exeter line.

[edit] Current Issues

In April 2006 Yeovil became the first town in Britain to institute a somewhat controversial system of biometric fingerprint scanning in nightclubs. The scheme is being introduced in an attempt to control troublemakers, who have plagued Yeovil for some time. Everyone wishing to gain access to one of the town's nightclubs is being asked in the first instance to submit their personal details for inclusion in a central system. This includes a photograph and index fingerprint. Thereafter, each entry to one of the participating premises will require a fingerprint scan. If the system is proved successful at reducing crime and violence, it will be introduced in towns throughout the country. <ref>BBC - Clubs to begin finger scan pilot</ref><ref>Guardian - Fingerprint scanners call time on yobs in Britain's Wild West</ref>

[edit] Famous people

T.S.Eliot - Famous poet, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, buried in nearby East Coker.
Robert Harbin - born in 1526, was a mercer by profession, who lived and died in Yeovil. He is buried in St. John the Baptist Church. His house, located at the edge of town and named Newton Surmaville, was completed in 1612 Robert was granted his coat of arms in May 1612 and given the title "Gentleman". He was not knighted.
Michael T. Davies, Traditionalist Catholic writer and public figure (born in Yeovil in 1936)
William K. Everson - the film historian.
PJ Harvey - singer and songwriter.
Sarah Parish - actress.
Ian Botham - cricketer.
Sir William Dampier - 17th Century English explorer, the first man to circumnavigate the world twice, and to map Australia. Born in nearby East Coker.

[edit] Cultural References

"It ain't a fashion parade, it's only Yeovil" - Radio 1

Yeovil is the location for the School of Lifemanship in a series of novels by Stephen Potter: Gamesmanship (1947), Lifemanship (1950), One-Upmanship (1952), Supermanship (1958), Anti-Woo (1965) and The Complete Golf Gamesmanship (1968).

The books were adapted for the 1960 film School for Scoundrels, starring Alastair Sim, Terry Thomas, Ian Carmichael and Irene Handl <ref name="SFS">Internet Movie Database: School for Scoundrels</ref>.

Later they were adapted by Barry Took into a BBC TV comedy series called One-Upmanship (1974-78), starring Richard Briers and Peter Jones <ref name="OU"> BBC TV series: One-Upmanship </ref>

Yeovil is also one of the three principle locations in John Cowper Powys's 1929 novel, Wolf Solent. Powys's father, the Reverand C.F. Powys was vicar at nearby Montacute for 32 years.