Portal:Somerset/Did you know/1

From Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives:
 * ... that St Andrews Church, Chew Stoke (pictured) includes 156 statues of angels?
 * ... that in 1795 John Billingsley advocated straightening sections of the rivers Brue, Axe and Parrett, to increase reclamation of the Somerset Levels?
 * ... that on March 28th 1944, a Junkers Ju88 was brought down by cannon fire from a de Havilland Mosquito of the Royal Air Force, and crashed on the drive to the historic Hestercombe House?
 * ... that in the 18th and 19th centuries, members of Friendly Societies in the west of England would hold annual parades carrying poles topped by elaborate brass emblems?
 * ... that Dowlish Wake was the home of John Hanning Speke who explored Africa in the mid–19th century in search of the source of the Nile?