1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Weston-super-Mare

WESTON-SUPER-MARE, a seaside resort in the Wells parliamentary division of Somersetshire, England, on the Bristol Channel, 137 1/2 m. W. by S. of London by the Great Western railway. Pop. of urban district (1901), 19,048. It is built partly on level ground near the shore, and partly on the slopes of Worlebury Hill, which aids in giving shelter from the north and east. Among the fir-clad slopes of the neighbourhood, which command a fine view of the Welsh hills across the Channel, there are many beautiful walks and drives. An esplanade extends for about 3 m., and public gardens have been laid out on Worlebury Hill, from the far end of which a long pier projects, linking the rocky islet of Birnbeck to the town. Grove Park, once the manor house, is owned by the council, and is used as a free library, its grounds being open. Other institutions include a museum opened in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and the West of England Sanatorium, to which two large conservatories are attached, as a winter-garden for invalids. The town has long been famous for its potteries, and there are mineral water-works and fisheries. Large quantities of sprats are caught. Intermittent springs exist in Weston, which are affected by the ebb and flow of the tide.