The River Cary is a river in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England. It is sourced from the Park Pond in

Castle Cary Castle Cary () is a market town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, north west of Wincanton and south of Shepton Mallet, at the foot of Lodge Hill and on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett. History The word Cary derives fr ...

and flows towards the southwest.

Etymology

The origin of the name ''Cary'' is uncertain. It may be derived from

pre-Celtic The pre-Celtic period in the prehistory of Central Europe and Western Europe occurred before the expansion of the Celts or their culture in Iron Age Europe and Anatolia (9th to 6th centuries BC), but after the emergence of the Proto-Celtic languag ...

''kar-'', meaning "stony, hard",Victor Watts, 'Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names', Cambridge University Press, 2004 or the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

element ''car'' meaning ''dear, pleasant'' (c.f.

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''cari'', "love"). from Hanks P. 'Dictionary of American Family Names' (O.U.P.) 2003

Course

The River Cary has its source at Park Pond in

, and then flows southwest through Cary Moor to

Babcary Babcary is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, about east of Somerton and southwest of Castle Cary, in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 248. It lies close to the River Cary and the A37. The parish in ...

, where there is a

biological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

Babcary Meadows Babcary Meadows () is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Babcary in Somerset, notified in 1988. Babcary Meadows is one of the last remaining areas of traditionally managed unimproved neutral grassland in south Somerset a ...

and Cary Fitzpaine. It then flows northwest through

Charlton Mackrell Charlton Mackrell is a village in civil parish of The Charltons, in the county of Somerset, England, situated east of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 1,020. The parish consists of two villages, Charlton ...

to the north of

Somerton Somerton may refer to: Places Australia * Somerton, New South Wales * Somerton Park, South Australia, a seaside Adelaide suburb ** Somerton Man, unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead in 1948 on the Somerton Park beach * Somerton, Victoria ...

, passing under the Somerton Viaduct. Here the river channel has been straightened and drains the surrounding wetland as it heads north to Kings Sedge Moor. The Cary passes through

King's Sedgemoor King's Sedgemoor is a piece of rich animal habitat and farming land, that forms part of the Somerset Levels and Moors in South West England. The area of King's Sedgemoor fell within the Whitley Hundred, It is a Site of Special Scientific Inte ...

continuing west across the moors south of the

Polden Hills Polden may refer to: * Chilton Polden, rural village and civil parish near Edington, north of the Polden Hills in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England * East Polden Grasslands, Site of Special Scientific Interest on the Polden Hills in Somer ...

. At Henley it joins the artificial channels of the Sutton Moor Rhyne and the

King's Sedgemoor Drain King's Sedgemoor Drain is an artificial drainage channel which diverts the River Cary in Somerset, England along the southern flank of the Polden Hills, to discharge into the River Parrett at Dunball near Bridgwater. As the name suggests, the ...

, both of which drain the wetland. Much of the water is now diverted into King's Sedgemoor Drain, which continues across the moors to join the estuary of the

River Parrett The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to it ...

Dunball Dunball is a small hamlet west of the village of Puriton and close to the town of Bridgwater, Somerset, England. Just north of Dunball is Down End which is the site of Down End Castle a motte-and-bailey castle, which has been designated as ...

Pollution

In 1995 a major pollution incident occurred when

lindane Lindane, also known as ''gamma''-hexachlorocyclohexane (γ-HCH), gammaxene, Gammallin and benzene hexachloride (BHC), is an organochlorine chemical and an isomer of hexachlorocyclohexane that has been used both as an agricultural insecticide and ...

and

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

seed dressing In agriculture and horticulture, a seed treatment is any additional material added to the seed. By the amount of material added, it can be divided into: * A seed dressing, typically containing a "protectant" ( pesticide) applied to the seed and po ...

were poured down a drain which leads into the river near Somerton.

References

{{authority control

Cary Cary may refer to: Places ;United States * Cary, Illinois, part of the Chicago metropolitan area * Cary, Indiana, part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area * Cary, Miami County, Indiana * Cary, Maine * Cary, Mississippi * Cary, North Carolina ...

Somerset Levels 2Cary