Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. The county town is Taunton. The ceremonial county of Somerset borders the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is also partly bounded to the north and west by the coast of the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the River Severn. The traditional northern border of the county was the River Avon, but the administrative boundary has crept southwards, with the creation and expansion of the City of Bristol. Somerset is a rural county of rolling hills such as the Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park, and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset Levels. There is evidence of occupation from Neolithic times, with subsequent Roman and Saxon occupation. Later the county played a significant part in the English Civil War and Monmouth Rebellion.