A county of remarkable variety and contrast, Somerset possesses a sea coast along the Bristol Channel, as well as the high lands of the Mendip Hills, stretching westward from the cathedral city of Wells, and of the Quantock Hills rising above Taunton. There are moors and forests, combes, gorges, orchard-filled valleys, fens, lakes and sandy beaches. With its fine medieval churches, splendid houses and magnificent architecture, it is also the county of St Paul, St Joseph of Arimathea, King Arthur and Glastonbury. Legend and history are intimately intertwined and there are constant reminders and recurring echoes of a distant past.