Somerset Then & Now

The landscape of Somerset has changed in many ways over the last century.

From Glastonbury to the Quantax, Somerset Then & Now provides a fascinating snapshot of the county in days gone by. The older photographs in this book were taken by local photographer Henry Montague Cooper between 1904 and 1906. Cooper owned one of the county’s first motorcars, and used it to tour extensively with his camera. His photographic record of Somerset surpasses that of every other local photographer. Comparing his Somerset to the modern county of today reveals many changes: the mechanisation of farming has resulted in the loss of hedgerows, and flail cutting in the loss of trees in hedges bordering roads. Somerset’s traditional industries have now gone, and many ways of life with them. However, much still remains unaltered in the heart of this sleepy rural county, and this book celebrates the unchanging beauty of ‘the land of summer’.