In the centre of the town is Ellenborough Park, which is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to the range of plant species found there.

[13][14][15] However, outside of the hillfort itself, a series of extremely important, rock-cut burials, and fragmentary remains, of this date have turned up intermittently during the course of progressive development on the southern slope of Worlebury Hill.

Finds included an extremely important burial of a male individual who had clearly led a very hard life, and had suffered multiple medical conditions which were expressed on his skeletal remains.

Historical evidence examined by one of Weston's foremost modern historians shows that it was definitely extant by June of that year (ie 1804),[24] and a construction date of by 1803 might therefore be distinctly possible.

Likewise, a recurrent tradition of an earlier building on the site, occupied by a man called Light, is also currently without any foundation whatsoever in terms of either historical or archaeological evidence.

It is perfectly possible that the story is entirely apocryphal - its provenance cannot be traced back any further than 1966, to an article in a local newspaper, in which the writer fails to note the exact source of his account.

[26] Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his family lived in Weston, at Swiss Villa (towards the north end of Trevelyan road), while he was supervising the construction of the Bristol and Exeter Railway in the area.

[29] Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of wireless telegraphy, successfully transmitted radio signals across the Bristol Channel in the spring of 1897, from Penarth (near Cardiff) to Brean Down (just south west of Weston, on the other side of the River Axe).

Many examples of his work are still to be seen: the Town Hall, the Mercury Office, the Constitutional Club (originally the Lodge of St Kew), villas and numerous other domestic dwellings.

[35] Further development occurred after World War I, with the Winter Gardens Pavilion in 1927,[36] the open air pool, with its arched concrete diving board,[37] and an airfield dating from the inter-war period.

[44] Residential areas outside the town centre include Ashcombe and the Oldmixon, Coronation, and Bournville housing estates, built in the mid to late 20th century.

[46] By 2009, Weston was home to around 11% of drug rehabilitation places in the UK, and North Somerset Council proposed an accreditation system examining the quality of counselling, staff training, transparency of referral arrangements, along with measures of the treatment's effectiveness and site inspections.

This was part of North Somerset Council's ongoing civic pride initiative that has sought to revitalise Weston-super-Mare's public spaces, which had suffered a period of decline.

[58] In November 2021, it was announced that North Somerset Council had agreed to purchase Birnbeck Pier from its owners and planned to restore it with additional funding from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Historic England, and others.

Municipal history began in 1842 when a Local Act was obtained for "paving, lighting, watching, cleansing and otherwise improving the Town of Weston-super-Mare in the County of Somerset and for establishing a Market therein" under the jurisdiction of eighteen appointed Commissioners.

The upper part is sandy, but the sea retreats a long way at low tide, exposing large areas of mud flats (hence the colloquial name of Weston-super-Mud).

[71] In the summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine.

[87] The Paddle Steamer Waverley and MV Balmoral offer day trips from Knightstone Island to various destinations along the Bristol Channel and Severn estuary.

[90] The Art Deco Tropicana, once a very popular lido on the beach, suffered years of neglect before closing to the public in 2000, and despite a number of attempts to reopen it, permission was given to demolish it in 2012.

[93][94] In July 2011, North Somerset Council gave planning approval to the £50 million Leisure Dome,[95] a 210-metre (690 ft) indoor ski slope to be built on the site of RAF Locking.

In 2015 the future of the project was in doubt because of the need for additional funding,[96] and no mention of the LeisureDome proposals appear on the information provided by St. Modwen Properties, the developers about their plans for Locking Parklands as the site is now known.

[102][103] Today, the station, which is on a short loop off the Bristol to Exeter line, is situated close to the town centre and less than ten minutes walk from the sea front.

It has direct services to London Paddington[104] operated by Great Western Railway, and also trains to stations such as Bristol Temple Meads, Taunton, Severn Beach and Cardiff Central.

[129] The Weston Arts Festival takes place each year during September and October using local venues including the Blakehay Theatre, Playhouse, All Saints, and galleries and offering a wide range of cultural events.

It houses funfair style attractions, a go-kart track, cafes, a fudge factory, and a host of arcade games, and underwent a £34 million re-development after a fire in 2008 destroyed the main pavilion.

Knightstone Island housed a theatre, swimming pool and sauna,[145] after having been purchased by the physician Edward Long Fox in 1830 to create a therapeutic spa with range of hot, cold and chemical baths.

[148] A private developer, Henry Boot, was selected to redevelop the site with a new Life Station leisure complex, which was planned to include a six lane, 25-metre (27 yd) swimming pool, water park, 96-bed hotel, restaurant, eight-screen cinema, 14 retail units, and a 20-lane bowling alley.

[153] In February 2013, North Somerset Council granted planning permission to a consortium of local businesses who intend to build a new swimming pool complex on the site.

[154][155] The Tropicana is occupied by an amusement park called Funland during summer months, featuring a wild mouse roller coaster and several thrill rides.

Somerset County Cricket Club played first class and one-day matches for one week a season on a pitch prepared at Clarence Park, near the sea front.