Somerton is a community as well as civil parish in the English area of Somerset. It offered its name to the county and was quickly, around the beginning of the 14th century, the county town, and around 900 was possibly the funding of Wessex. It has held a regular market given that the Middle Ages, and the main square with its market cross is today an eye-catching area for visitors. Located on the River Cary, approximately 8.8 miles (14.2 km) north-west of Yeovil, Somerton has its own town council serving a population of 4,697 since 2011. Residents are often referred to locally as Somertonians. The civil parish includes the districts of Etsome, Hurcot, Catsgore, and also Catcombe. The background of Somerton dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period, when it was an important political and commercial centre. After the Norman occupation of England the importance of the town declined, regardless of being the county town of Somerset in the late thirteenth century as well as very early fourteenth century. Having actually lost county town standing, Somerton then ended up being a market community in the Middle Ages, whose economic situation was sustained by transport systems using the River Parrett, and also later rail transportation using the Great Western Railway, and by light markets consisting of glove production as well as plaster mining. In the centre of Somerton the vast market square, with its octagonal roofed market cross, is bordered by old homes, while close by is the 13th century Church of St Michael and All Angels. Somerton additionally had relate to Muchelney Abbey in the Middle Ages. The BBC drama The Monocled Mutineer was shot in Somerton from 1985 to 1986.