COUNCILLORS have marked Somerset County Council’s 125th anniversary by posing for a commemorative photo outside County Hall, in Taunton.

The very first meeting of the authority was chaired by Sir Richard Horner Paget in Highbridge Town Hall back in 1889.

Before then, unelected Justices of the Peace had been responsible for providing Somerset’s justice and administration.

However, the authority’s remit swiftly developed, with Somerset’s roads making the greatest demand on resources as the council acted to modernise routes used by pony and trap for the age of the motor car.

Today, the council’s highways team maintains 6,640km of roads – the equivalent straight line distance from County Hall to the centre of Alaska.

In 2013-14 the team repaired 25,000 safety defects and took 25,000 enquiries from customers.

The 1881 Census show that at that time around 510,000 people lived in Somerset, which included Bath and North Somerset and reached as far as the borders of Bristol.

That compares to almost 530,000 people recorded in the 2011 Census living in the current five Somerset districts.

In 1881 the county was also divided into Poor Law Unions and registration districts rather than wards, with an average of five people per household – twice as many as today.

The current chairman of Somerset County Council, David Fothergill, said: “For 125 years the county council has been supporting the people of Somerset in all aspects of their lives, from their roads, rights of way and school services, to social care and libraries.

“The contribution made by so many officers and members over this time has been enormous, and despite current challenges I am confident about the supportive strength of the council in the future.”