Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
and
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_ ...
in
South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...
, from its
source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
Chedington
Chedington is a small village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated near the A356 road southeast of Crewkerne in Somerset. Dorset County Council estimate that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 130. It is administered as ...
in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the
Somerset Levels
The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendip Hills, Mendips to the Blackdown Hills.
The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to ...
to its mouth at
Burnham-on-Sea
Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort.
...
, into the
Bridgwater Bay
Bridgwater Bay is on the Bristol Channel, north of Bridgwater in Somerset, England at the mouth of the River Parrett and the end of the River Parrett Trail. It stretches from Minehead at the southwestern end of the bay to Brean Down in the nor ...
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
on the
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...
, the Parrett and its tributaries drain an area of – about 50 per cent of Somerset's land area, with a population of 300,000.
The Parrett's main tributaries include the Rivers Tone, Isle, and
Yeo
Yeo is a Chinese, English, and Korean surname.
Origins
As an English surname, Yeo is a toponymic surname meaning "river", either for people who lived near one of the Rivers Yeo, or any river in general. The word comes from Old English , via sou ...
, and the
River Cary
The River Cary is a river in Somerset, England. It is sourced from the Park Pond in Castle Cary and flows towards the southwest.
Etymology
The origin of the name ''Cary'' is uncertain. It may be derived from pre-Celtic ''kar-'', meaning "stony, ...
via 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 ...
. The long river is tidal for up to
Oath
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...
. The fall of the river between
Langport
Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...
and
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...
is only , so it is prone to frequent flooding in winter and during high tides. Many approaches have been tried since at least the medieval period to reduce the incidence and effect of floods and to drain the surrounding fields.
In
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
times the river formed a boundary between
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
and
Dumnonia
Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...
. It later served the
Port of Bridgwater
The Port of Bridgwater is a port, originally located in the town of Bridgwater, Somerset, England. Created under an 1845 Act of Parliament, it extends from Brean Down to Hinkley Point in Bridgwater Bay, and parts of the rivers Parrett (to Bridg ...
, and enabled cargoes to be transported inland. The arrival of the railways led to a decline in commercial shipping, and the only working docks are at
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 a Sch ...
. Human influence on the river has left a legacy of bridges and industrial artefacts. The Parrett along with its connected waterways and network of drains supports an ecosystem that includes several rare species of flora and fauna. The
River Parrett Trail
The River Parrett Trail is a long-distance footpath that can be used for walking, jogging, or running, following the route of the River Parrett in Somerset, England. The trail, which is long, runs from Chedington in Dorset to the mouth of the ...
has been established along the banks of the river.
Course
The River Parrett is long, flowing roughly south to north from
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
through Somerset. Its
source
Source may refer to:
Research
* Historical document
* Historical source
* Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence
* Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
is in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around
Chedington
Chedington is a small village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated near the A356 road southeast of Crewkerne in Somerset. Dorset County Council estimate that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 130. It is administered as ...
Beaminster
Beaminster ( ) is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset Council administrative area approximately northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in a bowl-shaped valley near the source of the small River Br ...
, which runs in the opposite direction to the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
at
Axmouth
Axmouth is a village, civil parish and former manor in the East Devon district of Devon, England, near the mouth of the River Axe. The village itself is about inland, on the east bank of the Axe estuary. The parish extends along the estuary ...
in Devon. The two rivers give their names to Parrett and Axe Parish Council.
From its source, the Parrett runs north through
South Perrott
South Perrott is a village and civil parish in northwest Dorset, England, southeast of Crewkerne. In 2012 the estimated population of the parish was 220. Figures from the 2011 census have been published for South Perrott parish combined with th ...
North Perrott
North Perrott is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset.
History
The name Perrott comes from the River Parrett.
There is evidence of Ancient Rome, Roman and Iron Age settlement in the village ...
and
Haselbury Plucknett
Haselbury Plucknett is a village and civil parish on the River Parrett in Somerset, England, situated south west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 744.
It is the final resting place of 'Blessed' Wulfric, ...
.''The River Parrett Trail – Following a river from source to mouth'', (1997), Tourism and Marketing Unit, South Somerset District Council It then runs through fields between
Merriott
Merriott is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Crewkerne and west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 1,979.
On Church Street, there is a well-preserved tithe barn, which is u ...
Chiselborough
Chiselborough is a village in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. It is situated on the River Parrett, 5 miles (8 km) west of Yeovil, and has a population of 275.
The village consists largely of small cottages built in the loca ...
to the east. Passing under the
A303 road
The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a p ...
to the east of
South Petherton
South Petherton is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England, located east of Ilminster and north of Crewkerne. The parish had a population of 3,367 in 2011 and includes the smaller village of Over Stra ...
, the river flows between
East Lambrook
East Lambrook is an English village situated in the civil parish of Kingsbury Episcopi, within the South Somerset district of Somerset. It is noted particularly for its manor gardens.
Manor
East Lambrook Manor is a small 15th-century manor hous ...
and
Bower Hinton
Martock is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the Somerset Levels north west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The parish includes Hurst, approximately one mile south of the village, and Bow ...
west of
Martock
Martock is a large village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the Somerset Levels north west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The parish includes Hurst, approximately one mile south of the village, and Bow ...
and then towards
Kingsbury Episcopi
Kingsbury Episcopi is a village and civil parish on the River Parrett in Somerset, England, situated north west of Yeovil in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 1,307. The parish includes the villages of West Lambrook, ...
Muchelney
Muchelney () is a clustered village and civil parish in Somerset, England, extending for from the south bank of the River Parrett and that has a clustered centre. This is south of Huish and Langport and south west of Somerton in the South ...
, passing the remains of
Muchelney Abbey
Muchelney Abbey is an English Heritage property in the village of Muchelney in the Somerset Levels, England. The site consists of ruined walls showing the layout of the abbey buildings constructed from the 7th to 16th centuries, and the remaini ...
before entering
Langport
Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...
, which is about north of Chiselborough. Below Thorney Bridge the river's banks have been raised to mitigate flooding.
The Parrett then flows northwest for approximately another to Bridgwater through the
Somerset Levels
The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendip Hills, Mendips to the Blackdown Hills.
The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to ...
past
Aller
Aller may refer to:
Places Rivers
* Aller (Germany), a major river in North Germany
*Aller (Asturian river), a river in Asturias, Spain
*River Aller, a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England
Inhabited places in the United Kingdom
*Aller, Devo ...
, close to the
Aller and Beer Woods
Aller and Beer Woods () is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. off the A372 Othery to Langport road near Aller in Somerset. It was notified in 1952.
This Somerset Wildlife Trust reserve, which is about north-west of Langport an ...
and
Aller Hill
Aller Hill () is an 18.4 hectare (45.4 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Aller in Somerset, notified in 1988.
The site contains three species of plant which are nationally rare and a further three which are of restricted ...
biological Sites 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 o ...
(SSSI). The sluice gate (formerly a
lock
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
built in the late 1830s) at the
deserted medieval village
In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convent ...
of Oath marks the river's
tidal limit
Head of tide, tidal limit or tidehead is the farthest point upstream where a river is affected by tidal fluctuations, or where the fluctuations are less than a certain amount. This applies to rivers which flow into tidal bodies such as oceans, b ...
. The river then crosses
Southlake Moor
Southlake Moor () is a 196.1 hectare (484.6 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Burrow Mump and Burrowbridge in Somerset, notified in 1985.
Southlake Moor forms part of the extensive grazing marsh and ditch system of Somers ...
. The next major landmark along the river's course is
Burrow Mump
Burrow Mump is a hill and historic site overlooking Southlake Moor in the village of Burrowbridge within the English county of Somerset. It is a scheduled monument, with a never completed church on top of the hill a Grade II listed building.
T ...
, an ancient earthwork owned by the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
. The river then arrives in
Burrowbridge
Burrowbridge is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Parrett and A361 road in the Somerset West and Taunton district, on the edge of the Somerset Levels. It is located south east of Bridgwater, and has a popula ...
, where the old pumping station building was once a museum. Flowing north, it passes Langmead and Weston Level SSSI, and on past the land-drainage pumping station at
Westonzoyland
Westonzoyland is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated on the Somerset Levels, south east of Bridgwater.
History
The name of the parish derives from its location on the "island" of Sowy, an area of slightly higher groun ...
.
Further downstream the river passes the village of
Huntworth
Huntworth is a small hamlet and farming community (population approximately 50), within the civil parish of North Petherton east of the M5 motorway from Bridgwater, Somerset, England.
Huntworth was in the news on 5/12/19 as it was the epicent ...
before flowing under the
M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...
at Dunwear. As it enters Bridgwater it passes under Somerset and Hamp Bridges, and past Bridgwater Castle, which had a tidal
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
up to wide in places, fed by water from the river. From Bridgwater to the sea is approximately . 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 ...
empties into the River Parrett next to the wharf at Dunball; it enters via a clyce (or clyse), which is a local word for a sluice. The clyce has been moved about downstream from its original position and now obstructs the entrance to the small harbour next to the wharf.
The course of the river below Bridgwater is now somewhat straighter than in former times. The village of
Combwich
Combwich ( ) is a village in the parish of Otterhampton within the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, between Bridgwater and the Steart Peninsula.
The village lies on Combwich Reach as the River Parrett flows to the sea and was the site of an an ...
lies adjacent to a channel in the river known as "Combwich Reach"; from here the Parrett flows to the
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...
past the
Steart Peninsula
__NOTOC__
The Steart Peninsula () is a peninsula in Somerset, England. At its outermost tip is Fenning Island (now joined to the mainland), at the tip of which is Stert Point (sometimes spelt Steart Point) which is the eastern end of the West Some ...
.
Cartographic
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...
evidence indicates that in the early 18th century the peninsula was longer than at present. A "neck" started to form in the peninsula, and by 1802 the tip had broken off to form
Stert Island
Stert Island is a low-lying uninhabited island in the Bristol Channel, off the coast of Somerset, England. It lies opposite Burnham-on-Sea, and is part of the Bridgwater Bay Nature Reserve.
Stert Island was formed in about 1798, when it broke o ...
. Fenning Island also broke away but has rejoined the peninsula. Much of the peninsula's northern end eroded away or now exists as "islands" visible at low tide within an
intertidal
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of Marine habitat, habitats with var ...
area of mud known as the Stert Flats.
The mouth at
Burnham-on-Sea
Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort.
...
is a
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
where the river flows into
Bridgwater Bay
Bridgwater Bay is on the Bristol Channel, north of Bridgwater in Somerset, England at the mouth of the River Parrett and the end of the River Parrett Trail. It stretches from Minehead at the southwestern end of the bay to Brean Down in the nor ...
on the Bristol Channel. In addition to the rivers Parrett,
Brue
Brue ( gd, Brù) is a village on the Isle of Lewis in the West Side district, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. It is a crofting township and it is composed of two areas: Am Baile Staigh, which is nearer the coast, and Pàirc Bhrù, which runs to ...
and
Washford
Washford is a village on the Washford River in the civil parish of Old Cleeve, Somerset, England. The village is next to Cleeve Abbey, one of the best-preserved medieval monasteries in England. It centred in a valley close to the Bristol Channel ...
, several of the man-made drainage ditches, including the
River Huntspill
The River Huntspill (or Huntspill River) is an artificial river, in the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It was built in 1940 to supply process water to ROF Bridgwater, and has resulted in reduced flooding of the ...
from the Somerset Levels, and the Cannington Brook from the "
Pawlett
Pawlett is a small village north of Bridgwater, in the Sedgemoor district of the English county of Somerset.
The village has Roman or Saxon origins. It has a Norman church and expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries with the draining of the ...
Hams", also discharge into the bay.
Flow and tidal bore
The Parrett has only one gauging station, at Chiselborough, fairly close to the source. It measures flow from the first of the
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
, or about 4.3 per cent of the total. The mean flow measured by the
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
at Chiselborough was , with a peak of on 30 May 1979 and a minimum of over a seven-day period in August 1976. Tributaries of the Parrett with gauging stations include the Yeo, Isle, Cary, and Tone.
The lower Parrett has a fall of only between Langport and Bridgwater. To the northeast of the River Parrett's mouth, the Bristol Channel becomes the
Severn Estuary
The Severn Estuary ( cy, Aber Hafren) is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England and South Wales. Its high tidal range, approximately , means that it has been at the centre of discussions in t ...
, which has a
tidal range
Tidal range is the difference in height between high tide and low tide. Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and Sun and the rotation of Earth. Tidal range depends on time and location.
...
of . The rate and direction of flow of the Parrett is therefore dependent on the state of the tide on the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
. In common with the lower reaches of the River Severn, the Parrett experiences a
tidal bore
Tidal is the adjectival form of tide.
Tidal may also refer to:
* ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple
* Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim
* TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music
* Tidal (servic ...
. Certain combinations of the tides funnel the rising water into a wave that travels upstream at about , against the river's current.
Hydrology and water quality
Near the source at Chiselborough the typical level range for the depth of the river is to but has reached a maximum of . The mean flow rate is . By the time it reaches Gaw Bridge the normal level range is to and a highest reading of . At West Quay in Bridgwater where the river is tidal the highest astronomical tide level is above
ordnance datum
In the British Isles, an ordnance datum or OD is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as AOD for "above ordnance datum". Usually mean sea level (MSL) is used fo ...
(AOD).
For the purpose of water quality measurement the river is divided into five water body areas by the
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
. In 2015, both the area from the source to Broad River around Crewkerne and the area from Broad River to Lopen Brook are rated good for chemical quality and moderate for ecological quality. The area from Lopen Brook to the River Isle, around Martock and South Petherton, is rated good for chemical quality, poor for ecological quality and poor overall. From the River Isle to River Yeo around Muchelney, chemical quality is rated good, and ecology is rated moderate. The section around Langport to the West Sedgemoor Drain continues to rate good for chemical quality and moderate for ecological quality, as does the final area leading to Bridgwater Bay.
History
The origin of the name Parrett is unclear, but several derivations from the
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...
used in
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
have been suggested. Priestley-Evans suggests, "Parrett has been said to be a form of the
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 ...
''pared'', a partition, and that it was the name which the Welsh people of Somerset and Devon gave to that river because it was at one time the dividing line between themselves and the Saxons". Another spelling, ''parwydydd'', is also translated as `partition'. Another explanation from Welsh, ''Peraidd'', meaning ''the sweet or delicious river'', has also been suggested. An alternative explanation, based on Celtic, is a derivation from ''Pedair'' or ''Pedride'' from ''pedr'', meaning four and the
Old Cornish
Cornish ( Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, k ...
''Rit'' meaning `flow', which in this case would relate to the four flows or streams: the Tone, Yeo, Isle and Parrett. This is based on the explanation given in Ekwall's 1928 book ''English River-Names''. Whichever derivation is correct, the name Parrett and its spelling variations have been in use since the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
era, as evidenced by the addition of ''-tun'' onto river names as seen in the local towns
North Petherton
North Petherton is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks, and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels.
The town has a population of 6,730 as of 2014. The parish includ ...
and South Petherton. The spelling ''Pedred'' and ''Pedrida'' are also mentioned in connection with the Parrett. The Oxford Dictionary of British Place-Names states only that the name is a 'pre-English river-name of obscure origin'.
Landscape
The River Parrett, the Bristol Channel and the Severn Estuary are believed to have been used for riverine bulk transportation of people and supplies in Somerset under
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
and later Anglo-Saxon and
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
occupation. Roman Somerset, which lasted for over 250 years until around the beginning of the 5th century, had various settlements, including
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
(''
Aquae Sulis
Aquae Sulis (Latin for ''Waters of Sulis'') was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is the English city of Bath, Somerset. The Antonine Itinerary register of Roman roads lists the town as ''Aquis Sulis.'' Ptolemy records ...
''),
Ilchester
Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the English county of Somerset. Originally a Roman town, and later a market town, Ilchester has a rich medieval history and was a notable ...
(''
Lindinis
Lindinis or Lendiniae was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Ilchester, located in the English county of Somerset in the United Kingdom.
Name
The name "Lindinis" appears in the 7th-century ''Ravenna Cosmography ...
'') and lead mines at
Charterhouse
Charterhouse may refer to:
* Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order
Charterhouse may also refer to:
Places
* The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery
* Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey
London ...
; and four roads surrounding the Somerset Levels. There is evidence of two Roman ports on the Parrett. The port at Combwich, on the west bank, was ill-recorded before its destruction by quarrying and erosion. The other at Crandon Bridge on the east bank near where the current King's Sedgemoor Drain enters the Parrett, was in use between the first and the fourth centuries. Evidence of an extensive site with storehouses was found in the mid-1970s, during motorway construction works. The Crandon Bridge site may have been linked by a probable Roman road over 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 ...
to the
Fosse Way
The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bath), Corini ...
, at Ilchester. Ilchester, the largest Roman town in Somerset, was a port with large
granaries
A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...
, sited where the Fosse Way crossed the Ilchester Yeo by means of a paved ford. The Yeo was navigable by small craft all the way to the Parrett allowing military supplies to be brought by boat directly to Ilchester; however, disembarkation at Crandon Bridge and use of the Polden Hills roadway allowed more rapid movement to Ilchester. The Yeo may already have been straightened and
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
ised before Roman occupation.
The Parrett was established as the border between the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of
Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
and the
Brythonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
kingdom of
Dumnonia
Dumnonia is the Latinised name for a Brythonic kingdom that existed in Sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries CE in the more westerly parts of present-day South West England. It was centred in the area of modern Devon, ...
in 658, following the Dumnonians' defeat at the
Battle of Peonnum
The Battle of Peonnum was fought about AD 660 between the West Saxons under Cenwalh and the Britons of what is now Somerset in England. It was a decisive victory for the Saxons, who gained control of Somerset as far west as the River Parrett. The ...
that year. This natural border endured for almost a century until further fighting between the Anglo-Saxons and Britons in the mid-8th century, when the border shifted west to its current location between the modern
ceremonial counties
The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...
of Somerset and
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. It is thought a
ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
, usable only at low tide, crossed the river near its mouth, between Combwich and Pawlett (east bank). This crossing, at the western end of the Polden Hills, was known since Roman times and lay on the route of a Saxon ''
herepath
A herepath or herewag is a military road (literally, an army path) in England, typically dating from the ninth century AD.
This was a time of war between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England and Viking invaders from Denmark. The Engli ...
''. It was here, or in the immediate vicinity, that Hubba, the Danish raider, was defeated and killed by
Odda
Odda () is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality in Vestland county. It was located in southeastern Hordaland c ...
in 878. In the ''
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
'' Combwich was known as Comich, which means "the settlement by the water", from the Old English ''cumb'' and ''wic''. The ford was later replaced by a ferry, one of which was in operation from at least the 13th century. In the 15th century the ferry was regarded as part of the ''King's Highway'', and both passengers and cattle were carried in the 16th and 17th centuries. Records of the joint
Manorial
Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...
ownership and costs of the ferry exist for 1589 and 1810. The ''White House Inn'', a
licensed victualler
A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the te ...
and part-owner of the ferry, traded on the Pawlett bank from 1655 to 1897; the building was retained as a farm dwelling for another 20 years. The Combwich river crossing, which was a main route until the 18th century, fell out of use due to
turnpike trusts
Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal roads in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. At the peak, in the 1830s, o ...
A39 road
The A39 is an A road in south west England. It runs south-west from Bath in Somerset through Wells, Glastonbury, Street and Bridgwater. It then follows the north coast of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall through Williton, Minehead, Porlock, Lynm ...
s, and traffic went via Bridgwater; the former inn was demolished c. 1930.
After the departure of the Romans, the low-lying Somerset Levels appear to have been abandoned, as the
archaeological record
The archaeological record is the body of physical (not written) evidence about the past. It is one of the core concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record. Archaeological th ...
shows that they were flooded and the former Roman landscape covered with a thick layer of
alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
deposits. Recovery of the levels involved both the construction of sea walls and the containment of the Parrett.
Celtic Christianity
Celtic Christianity ( kw, Kristoneth; cy, Cristnogaeth; gd, Crìosdaidheachd; gv, Credjue Creestee/Creestiaght; ga, Críostaíocht/Críostúlacht; br, Kristeniezh; gl, Cristianismo celta) is a form of Christianity that was common, or held ...
came to the remoter areas of the Somerset Levels, making use of "island" sites.
Glastonbury Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction.
The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It wa ...
, possibly founded in the 7th century (or earlier), was nearby and had undertaken extensive water management to enable it to bring materials by boat to Glastonbury, albeit not via the Parrett. Muchelney Abbey, founded in the mid-8th century, was sited at the confluence of the Parrett and its tributaries, the rivers Isle and Yeo; and
Athelney Abbey
Athelney Abbey, established in the county of Somerset, England, was founded by King Alfred in 888, as a religious house for monks of the Order of St. Benedict. It was dedicated to "Our Blessed Saviour, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Egelwine".
...
lay on another tributary, the
River Tone
The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through ...
. These three abbeys together with the
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.
The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...
were major landowners with fishing and
riparian
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...
rights, often conflicting, on these rivers. They gained financially from improvements to land and waterways due to the resulting greater fertility of their lands and the increased rents that they were able to charge their tenants.
Continuing land reclamation and control of the Parrett was a long-running cycle of neglect followed by improvement. Work was carried out on the upper River Parrett basin in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
by Glastonbury Abbey. Abbot Michael's survey of 1234 showed of
meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...
recovered around the "island" of Sowy; from the accounts in the Abbey's rent books, this had increased to by 1240. Flooding of adjacent moor land was partially addressed in the 13th century by building a number of embankment walls to contain the Parrett. These included Southlake Wall, Burrow Wall and Lake Wall. The River Tone was also diverted by the Abbot of Athelney and other land owners into a new embanked channel, joining the Parrett upstream from its original confluence. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, much of the former abbey lands came under the control of the Crown, particularly
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 Inter ...
, which had been wholly owned by Glastonbury Abbey, with Henry VI's Courts of Sewers made responsible for maintaining existing drainage and various Commissions made responsible for land improvements. Further reclamation work was carried out over the next 500 years. In 1597, of land were recovered near the Parrett estuary; a few years later near Pawlett were recovered by means of embankments; three further reclamations, totalling , were undertaken downstream of Bridgwater by 1660. Kings
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
,
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
, and Charles II continued to improve King's Sedgemoor.
Attempts were also made to improve navigation on the lower river. Between 1677 and 1678, Sir John Moulton cut a new channel at "Vikings Creek" on the Horsey Levels to remove a large
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
; the old river bed soon silted up, providing of new land. A further scheme was proposed in 1723 to improve navigation, shorten the journey time for boats, and recover land by obtaining an
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
to make an artificial cut across the Steart Peninsula. Eventually, after much debate, the cut was not made due to lack of land owner support and concerns over costs and risks. The
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
put a stop to most reclamation work; however, in 1764 a
clyse
Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...
was built at
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 a Sch ...
to contain tidal influences on a run-off stream near King's Sedgemoor. Extensive land recovery was undertaken in the Somerset Levels by land owners between 1770 and the end of the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
in 1815, as part of a general scheme of agricultural improvements, including improvements to the Brue Valley and to King's Sedgemoor. The latter involved the connection of various drainage schemes into a new hand-dug channel connected to the clyse at Dunball – the King's Sedgemoor Drain. Further drainage improvements were needed in the 19th century, which involved the use of mechanical pumping engines, originally steam powered but later powered by electricity. In January 1940, further improvements were funded by the
Ministry of Supply
The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...
, during the Second World War, as "Priority War Work" during the construction of
Royal Ordnance Factory
Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs) was the collective name of the UK government's munitions factories during and after the Second World War. Until privatisation, in 1987, they were the responsibility of the Ministry of Supply, and later the Ministr ...
(ROF)
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...
. This involved doubling the width of the King's Sedgemoor Drain at its western end and the excavation of the
River Huntspill
The River Huntspill (or Huntspill River) is an artificial river, in the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It was built in 1940 to supply process water to ROF Bridgwater, and has resulted in reduced flooding of the ...
. In the longer-term this provided a drain for the Brue valley, but in war-time the scheme provided a guaranteed daily supply of of water for the ROF.
The town of
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...
, from ''Brigewaltier'' (place at) the bridge held by
Walter of Douai
Walter of Douai (Old Norman: ''Wautier de Douai'') (born c.1046, died: c.1107) was a Norman knight, probably at the Battle of Hastings, and a major landowner in South West England after the Norman Conquest, being feudal baron of Bampton in Devon an ...
, or alternatively "Brugie" from Old English ''brycg'' meaning gang plank between ships, or from
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''brygja'' meaning quay, was founded as a new
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
about 1200; it had a castle and a market and became a port in its own right. It was the major port for Somerset which, around the
Quantocks
The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956.
Natural England have desi ...
, the
Brendon Hills
The Brendon Hills are a range of hills in west Somerset, England. The hills merge level into the eastern side of Exmoor and are included within the Exmoor National Park. The highest point of the range is Lype Hill at above sea level with a secon ...
and the Tone valley, was mainly agricultural, producing arable crops and vegetables to supply the new industrial towns. Combwich was the traditional River Parrett pilots' harbour from at least the 14th century. It also served as a port for the export of local produce and, from the 15th century, the import of timber. Until the late 1930s, when the creek silted up, coastal shipping served Combwich's local brick and coal yard.
In the medieval era the river was used to transport
Hamstone
Hamstone is the name given to a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material w ...
from the quarry at Ham Hill for the construction of churches throughout the county. Later, in the 19th century, coal from south Wales, for heating, Bath bricks, bricks and
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
s would be carried. Brick making, which had been carried out intermittently in Bridgwater from the 17th century, by the late 18th century had expanded into an industry based on permanent brickyards in the Bridgwater area adjacent to the Parrett. The brick and tile industry made use of the local alluvial clays and the Parrett's coastal trade, using
ketch
A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...
es mostly based at Bridgwater to transport their products, which were heavy and bulky, and to bring in coal to heat the
kiln
A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects made from clay int ...
s. The 19th century
industrial revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
opened up mass markets leading to further expansion of the industry, particularly beginning in 1850 when the duty (tax) on bricks was abolished. Brick and tile works, making use of river transport, were opened in the 1840s and 1850s south of Bridgwater at North Petherton and Dunwear, in Bridgwater itself, and downstream at Chilton Trinity, Combwich,
Puriton
Puriton is a village and parish at the westerly end of the Polden Hills, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. The parish has a population of 1,968. The local parish church is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. A chapel on Woola ...
and Pawlett. Numerous brickworks were also opened elsewhere in Somerset, but many of them used the railways to transport their products; some 264 sites are listed in the Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society's ''Gazetteer of sites''. Silt was also dredged from the river over a stretch between Somerset Bridge and Castle Fields, Bridgwater, to make Bath bricks, an early abrasive cleaning material patented in 1827.
Port of Bridgwater
Bridgwater was part of the
Port of Bristol
The Port of Bristol comprises the commercial docks situated in and near the city of Bristol in England. They are now operated by the Bristol Port Company, which owns both Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Docks. Until 1991 the Port of Bristol Authori ...
until the Port of Bridgwater was created in 1348, covering of the Somerset coast line, from the Devon border to the mouth of the River Axe.Lawrence, J.F. (revised and completed by Lawrence, J.C.) (2005). ''A History of Bridgwater''. Chichester: Phillimore. . Chapter 8: "The Medieval Port of Bridgwater". Under an 1845 Act of Parliament the Port of Bridgwater extends from
Brean Down
Brean Down is a promontory off the coast of Somerset, England, standing high and extending into the Bristol Channel at the eastern end of Bridgwater Bay between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea.
Made of Carboniferous Limestone, it is a c ...
to
Hinkley Point
Hinkley Point is a headland on the Bristol Channel coast of Somerset, England, north of Bridgwater and west of Burnham-on-Sea, close to the mouth of the River Parrett.
Excavations in 2014 and 2015, carried out by Cotswold Archaeology and f ...
in Bridgwater Bay, and includes parts of the River Parrett (to Bridgwater), River Brue and the River Axe.
Historically, the main port on the river was at Bridgwater, where a span crossed the river from 1200 AD onwards.
Quay
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...
s were built at Bridgwater in 1424, with another quay, the ''Langport slip'', being built in 1488 upstream of the Town Bridge. A
custom house
A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting c ...
was sited at Bridgwater, on West Quay, and a
dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
, launching slips and a boat yard on East Quay. Bridgwater built some 167 ships, the last one being the ''Irene'' launched in 1907.
The river was navigable, with care, to Bridgwater Town Bridge by vessels. By trans-shipping goods into barges at the Town Bridge, the Parrett was navigable as far as Langport and (via the River Yeo) to Ilchester. After 1827, it was also possible to transport goods to
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
via the
Bridgwater and Taunton Canal
The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a canal in the south-west of England between Bridgwater and Taunton, opened in 1827 and linking the River Tone to the River Parrett. There were a number of abortive schemes to link the Bristol Channel ...
at Huntworth. A
floating harbour
Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out per ...
, known as the "docks", was constructed between 1837 and 1841, and the canal was extended through Bridgwater to the floating harbour. The dock area contained
flour mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...
s, timber yards and
chandlers
A ship chandler is a retail dealer who specializes in providing supplies or equipment for ships.
Synopsis
For traditional sailing ships, items that could be found in a chandlery
include sail-cloth, rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch, linseed oil, ...
.
Shipping to Bridgwater expanded with the construction of the docks, which opened on 25 March 1841, and reached a peak in the 19th century between 1880 and 1885, with an average of 3,600 ships per year entering the port. Peak
tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ref ...
occurred in 1857, with 142 vessels totaling . In the short term, the opening of the docks increased the profitability of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, which carried of cargo in 1840. This peaked in 1847 at of cargo; however, by the mid-1850s the canal was bankrupt due to competition from the railways.
Combwich Pill, a small creek near the mouth of the river, had been used for shipping since the 14th century. From the 1830s, with the development of the brick and tile industry in the Combwich area, the wharf was used by two local brickyards to import coal and export tiles to Wales and parts of Gloucestershire. This traffic ceased in the 1930s; in the late 1950s the wharf was taken over and upgraded by the
Central Electricity Generating Board
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s.
It was established on 1 Januar ...
(CEGB) to bring in heavy materials for the Hinkley Point nuclear power stations. Construction of
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station
Hinkley Point A nuclear power station is a Magnox nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning. It is located on a site in Somerset on the Bristol Channel coast, west of the River Parrett estuary. The ongoing decommissioning process is bei ...
was ordered in 1957, with a scheduled completion date of 1960, but was not completed until 1965. This was followed by
Hinkley Point B nuclear power station
Hinkley Point B nuclear power station is a nuclear power station near Bridgwater, Somerset, on the Bristol Channel coast of south west England. It was the first commercial Advanced Gas Cooled reactor to generate power to the National Grid i ...
, which began operation in 1976. It is proposed to use the wharf again for the construction of
Hinkley Point C
Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (HPC) is a two-unit, 3,200MWe EPR nuclear power station under construction in Somerset, England.
The site was one of eight announced by the British government in 2010, and in November 2012 a nuclear site ...
.
Dunball wharf was built in 1844 by Bridgwater coal merchants, and was linked to the
Bristol and Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied with ...
by a rail track which crossed the A38. The link was built in 1876, also by coal merchants, and was originally operated as a horse-drawn tramway. In 1875, the local landowner built The Dunball Steam Pottery & Brick & Tile Works adjacent to the wharf.
The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, which had been bought out by the Bristol and Exeter Railway in 1866 and later passed into the control of the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
had, by the beginning of the First World War, fallen into disrepair due to lack of trade. This trade, particularly the Wales-Somerset traffic after the opening of the
Severn Tunnel
The Severn Tunnel ( cy, Twnnel Hafren) is a railway tunnel in the United Kingdom, linking South Gloucestershire in the west of England to Monmouthshire in south Wales under the estuary of the River Severn. It was constructed by the Great Western ...
in 1886, had been lost to the railways; the canal continued to be used as a source of water. In the mid-1950s, the Port of Bridgwater was importing some of cargo, mainly sand and coal by tonnage, followed by timber and flour. It was also exporting some of bricks and tiles. By then, Bridgwater's brick and tile industry was in terminal decline. In the 1960s,
British Rail
British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
, the owner of the docks, which were limited by the size of its locks to boats of maximum size , decided that they were commercially non-viable. British Railways offered to sell the docks to any buyer; however, there were no takers, so the docks were closed to river traffic.
Although ships no longer dock in the town of Bridgwater, of cargo were handled within the port authority's area in 2006, most of which was stone products via the wharf at Dunball. It is no longer linked to the railway system. The link was removed in the 1960s as part of the railway closures following the
Beeching Report Beeching is an English surname. Either a derivative of the old English ''bece'', ''bæce'' "stream", hence "dweller by the stream" or of the old English ''bece'' "beech-tree" hence "dweller by the beech tree".''Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames' ...
.
Dunball railway station
There are 22 disused railway stations in the between and , 12 of which have structures that can still be seen from passing trains. Most were closed in the 1960s but four of them, especially around , were replaced by stations on new sites. 13 s ...
, which had opened in 1873, was closed to both passengers and goods in 1964. All traces of the station, other than "Station Road", have been removed. The wharf is now used for landing stone products, mainly marine sand and gravels dredged in the Bristol Channel. Marine sand and gravel accounted for of the total tonnage of using the Port facilities in 2006, with salt products accounting for in the same year, while the roll-on roll-off berth at Combwich is used occasionally for the transfer of heavy goods for the two existing Hinkley Point nuclear power stations. With the possible future construction of the two
Hinkley Point C nuclear power station
Hinkley Point C nuclear power station (HPC) is a two-unit, 3,200MWe EPR nuclear power station under construction in Somerset, England.
The site was one of eight announced by the British government in 2010, and in November 2012 a nuclear site ...
s by
EDF Energy
EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF (Électricité de France), with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses through ...
, it is proposed that Combwich wharf be employed to transfer heavy goods to the sites. Combwich Pill is the only site where recreational moorings are available in the estuary.
Sedgemoor District Council
Sedgemoor District Council was a local government district in Somerset, England covering the Sedgemoor district. It was Local Government Act 1972, established in 1974 by the merger of Bridgwater and Burnham-On-Sea Urban District Councils. It was r ...
acts as the Competent Harbour Authority for the port, and has provided pilotage services for all boats over using the river since 1998, when it took over the service from
Trinity House
"Three In One"
, formation =
, founding_location = Deptford, London, England
, status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity
, purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons
, he ...
. Pilotage is important because of the constant changes in the navigable channel resulting from the large tidal range, which can exceed on spring tides. Most commercial shipping travels upriver as far as Dunball wharf, which handles bulk cargoes.
Parrett Navigation
The Parrett Navigation was a series of improvements to the river to allow increased boat traffic between Burrowbridge and Thorney. The work, done in the 1830s and 1840s, was made mostly obsolete by the coming of railways in 1853, though some aspects survive to this day.
Background
Trade on the river upstream of Bridgwater had developed during the 18th century, with barges operating between Bridgwater and Langport, while smaller barges carrying operated on the upper reaches between Langport and Thorney, and along the River Yeo to Long Load Bridge and Ilchester. The channel below the junction with the
River Tone
The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through ...
had been improved as a result of Acts of Parliament passed in 1699 and 1707, "for making and keeping the River Tone navigable from Bridgewater to Taunton", and a third act with a similar purpose was passed in 1804. Traffic on the higher reaches was hindered by
shoal
In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...
s in the river and by the Great Bow Bridge at Langport, which consisted on nine small arches, none of them big enough for navigation. All cargoes heading upstream had to be off-loaded from the bigger barges, carried to the other side of the bridge, and reloaded into the smaller barges. Traffic above Langport was sporadic, as the water levels were often inadequate, forcing boats to wait several days for the right conditions before proceeding.
The abortive
Ivelchester and Langport Navigation
The Ivelchester and Langport Navigation was a scheme to make the River Ivel (now called the River Yeo) navigable from Langport to Ilchester, in Somerset, England. Work started in 1795, but the scheme was effectively bankrupt by 1797, and constr ...
scheme had sought to avoid the Great Bow Bridge by making the Portlake Rhine navigable, rebuilding Little Bow Bridge in the centre of Langport, and making a new cut to Bicknell's Bridge. Seven locks, each with a small rise, were planned, but the scheme foundered in 1797 due to financial difficulties. After the cessation of hostilities with France at the beginning of the 19th century, there was renewed interest in canal building in Somerset; the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal was authorised in 1824, the
Glastonbury Canal
The Glastonbury Canal ran for approximately through two locks from Glastonbury to Highbridge in Somerset, England, where it entered the River Parrett and from there the Bristol Channel. The canal was authorised by Parliament in 1827 and ope ...
in 1827, and the
Chard Canal
The Chard Canal was a tub boat canal in Somerset, England, that ran from the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal at Creech St. Michael, over four aqueducts, through three tunnels and four inclined planes to Chard. It was completed in 1842, was never ...
in 1834.
When the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal was opened in 1827, it joined the Parrett by a lock at Huntworth, where a basin was constructed, but in 1841 the canal was extended to the new floating harbour in Bridgwater, and the Huntworth link was filled in. The canal and river were not re-connected at this point when the canal was restored, because the tidal Parrett, at Huntworth, is a
salt water
Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...
river laden with silt whereas the canal contains
fresh water
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...
. Not only is there a risk of silt entering the canal, but the salt water cannot be allowed to contaminate the fresh, as the canal is still used for the transport of
drinking water
Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
for Bridgwater's population.
Construction
With the prospect of the Chard Canal in particular damaging trade on the Parrett, four traders from Langport including Vincent Stuckey and
Walter Bagehot
Walter Bagehot ( ; 3 February 1826 – 24 March 1877) was an English journalist, businessman, and essayist, who wrote extensively about government, economics, literature and race. He is known for co-founding the ''National Review'' in 1855 ...
, who together operated a river freight business, commissioned the engineer Joseph Jones to carry out a survey for the Parrett Navigation which was then put before Parliament. It was supported by
Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
and a large quantity of documentary evidence. Objections from local landowners were handled by including clauses in the Parrett Navigation Act to ensure that surplus water would be channelled to the Long Sutton Catchwater Drain by culverts, siphons, and sluices, and the Act of Parliament was passed on 4 July 1836.
The Parrett Navigation Act allowed the proprietors, of whom 25 were named, to raise £10,500 in shares and £3,300 by mortgage, with which to make improvements to the river from Burrow Bridge to Langport, to reconstruct the restrictive bridge at Langport, and to continue the improvements as far as Thorney. The River Isle, which joined the Parrett at Muchelney, was to be improved for its first mile, and then the
Westport Canal
The Westport Canal was built in the late 1830s to link Westport and Langport in Somerset, England. It was part of a larger scheme involving improvements to the River Parrett above Burrow Bridge. Langport is the point at which the River Yeo joi ...
was to be constructed from there to Westport. Locks were planned at Stanmoor, Langport, and Muchelney, with a half-lock at Thorney. An extra lock was added at
Oath
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to ...
, when tests revealed that the depth of water would not meet that specified in the Act without it. Costs were considerably higher than expected, and a second Act of Parliament was obtained in 1839, to allow an extra £20,000 to be raised. The lock at Oath has since been replaced by a sluice gate to control flooding.
The section below Langport opened on 28 October 1839; the section to Thorney and the Westport Canal were completed in August 1840. The Langport Bridge was not finished until March 1841; of the £3,749 cost of construction, £500 came from the Langport Corporation and the rest was raised by a bridge toll operated from March 1841 until January 1843. The total cost of the works was £38,876, and no dividends were paid until 1853, as all profits were used to repay the loans which had been taken out. There are no records of traffic, but it has been estimated at per year, based on the toll receipts and the knowledge that the Stuckey and Bagehot boats carried about three-quarters of the total tonnage.
Decline
The Bristol and Exeter Railway opened in late 1853, and the effects on the Parrett Navigation were immediate. Despite petitions from users of the Westport Canal to keep their section open for navigation, the Commissioners opted to abandon the entire navigation; however, the Westport Canal was maintained for drain purposes only. Some boats continued to use the river to reach Langport and beyond until the early years of the 20th century. There is still a public right of navigation as far as Oath Lock, but very few private boats use the river, largely due to the fierce tides in the estuary and a lack of moorings along its route.
In 2019, the town of Langport obtained a grant of £179,000 from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...
(Defra). With a contribution from the town council and other sources, over £200,000 was available to improve access to of the river from Oath Lock to Thorney Bridge. The grant funded the construction of pontoons and access ramps, and improvements to the riverside pathway between Langport and Huish Bridge. The project covered of the upper Parrett, together with of the River Yeo and a tiny section of the River Isle. Langport councillor Ian Macnab launched a former ferry from Devon onto the upper Parrett on 5 July 2017, with a view to running it as a community boat. The launch of ''The Duchess of Cocklemoor'' was witnessed by over 200 local people, and the vessel has since had its diesel engine replaced by a electric motor, powered by solar panels mounted on the roof.
Bridges and structures
Much of the history of the river is defined by its bridges, which are described from here mouth to source. The Drove Bridge, which marks the current extent of the Port of Bridgwater, is the nearest to the mouth and the newest road bridge to cross the river. With a span of , the bridge was constructed as part of the Bridgwater Northern Distributor road scheme (1992), and provides a navigable channel which is wide with headroom at normal spring high tides. Upstream of this is the retractable or Telescopic Bridge, built in 1871 to the design of
Sir Francis Fox
Sir Francis Fox (29 June 1844 – 7 January 1927) was an English civil engineer, who was responsible for the bridges over the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi and Sydney Harbour, the Mersey Railway Tunnel and the Liverpool Overhead Railway, and ...
, the engineer for the Bristol and Exeter Railway. It carried a
broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
(later
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
) railway siding over the river to the docks, and was movable, to allow boats to proceed up river. An section of railway track to the east of the bridge could be moved sideways, so that the main girders could be retracted, creating a navigable channel which was wide. It was manually operated for the first eight months, and then powered by a steam engine, reverting to manual operation in 1913, when the steam engine failed. The bridge was last opened in 1953, and the traverser section was demolished in 1974, but public outcry at this resulted in the bridge being listed as a
Scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
, and the rest of the bridge was kept. It was later used as a road crossing, until the construction of the Chandos road bridge alongside it, and is now only used by pedestrians. Parts of the steam engine were moved to Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum in 1977.
The next bridge is the Town Bridge. There has been a bridge here since the 13th century, when Bridgwater was granted a charter by
King John King John may refer to:
Rulers
* John, King of England (1166–1216)
* John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237)
* John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314)
* John I of France (15–20 November 1316)
* John II of France (1319–1364)
* John I o ...
. The present bridge was designed by R. C. Else and G. B. Laffan, and the
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
structure was completed in 1883. It replaced an earlier iron bridge, which was completed in 1797 and was the first cast iron bridge to be built 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_ ...
. The stone abutments of that bridge were reused for the later bridge, which was the only road crossing of the river in Bridgwater until 1958. Above the bridge there were two shoals, called The Coals and The Stones, which were a hazard to barge traffic on the river, and bargees had to navigate the river at high tide, when there was enough water to carry them over these obstructions. In March 1958 a new reinforced concrete road bridge, the Blake Bridge, was opened as part of a bypass to take traffic away from the centre of Bridgwater. It now carries the A38 and A39 roads. At the southern edge of Bridgwater is a bridge which carries the Bristol and Exeter Railway across the River Parrett. Isambard Kingdom Brunel designed a brick bridge, known as the Somerset Bridge, with a span but a rise of just . Work started in 1838 and was completed in 1841. Brunel left the centring scaffold in place, as the foundations were still settling, but had to remove it in 1843 to reopen the river for navigation. Brunel demolished the brick arch and replaced it with a timber arch within six months without interrupting the traffic on the railway. This was in turn replaced in 1904 by a steel girder bridge. Slightly further east is a modern concrete bridge which carries the M5 motorway over both the river and the railway line. It was started in 1971 and opened in 1973.
Before 1826, the bridge at Burrowbridge, just below the junction with the River Tone, consisted of three arches, each only a little wider than the barges that used the river. They restricted the flow of water in times of flood and made navigation difficult. The bridge was highlighted in a report made by William Armstrong in 1824, as a factor which would prevent the River Tone Navigation competing with the new Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, then being built. An Act of Parliament was obtained in 1824 by the Turnpike Commissioners, authorising the construction of a new bridge and the removal of the old. A design for a single-span bridge in cast iron was dropped because of the cost of cast iron at the time, and instead a stone bridge was built, which was completed in 1826. This is the longest single span masonry road bridge in the county, and was also the last
toll bridge
A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...
in Somerset until it was "freed" in 1946. It now carries the
A361 road
The A361 is an A class road in southern England, which at is the longest three-digit A road in the UK.
History
When first designated in 1922, the A361 ran from Taunton (Somerset) to Banbury (Oxfordshire). It was later extended west through ...
. Just below the bridge there was a shoal of rocks and stones, which was also mentioned in Armstrong's report, but no action was taken to remove it. Except at spring tides, Burrowbridge was the normal upper limit for barges riding the incoming tide. Above here, horses were used to pull the boats, either towards Langport or along the River Tone towards Taunton.
Stanmoor lock was constructed above the junction with the River Tone, but all traces of it have gone. Next to the pedestrian bridge at Stathe four living willow cones, which were woven in 1997 by Clare Wilks, have now rooted and sprouted. Oath lock no longer functions as a lock, but the sluice is used to regulate the river levels. Below Langport, the river is crossed by a lattice girder bridge, carrying the Taunton to Westbury railway line, which approaches the crossing on multi-arched viaducts. This is followed by the derelict remains of the Langport lock and sluice.
At Langport, the Great Bow Bridge, which now carries the A378, is a three-arched bridge, constructed under the terms of the Parrett Navigation Act of 1836. Completed in 1841 at a cost of £3,749, it replaced the previous medieval bridge, with its nine tiny arches, all too small to allow navigation. A bridge at this site was first mentioned in 1220. The medieval bridge consisted of a total of 31 arches, of which nine crossed the river, and 19 of the original arches were located by ground-penetrating radar in 1987, buried beneath the road which runs from Great Bow Bridge to Little Bow Bridge. The
Warehouse
A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
in Langport was built in the late 18th century of
English bond
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall.
Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...
red brick, with
Flemish bond
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall.
Bricks ...
extensions. It has clay plain tile roofs with hipped ends. It was built by the
Parrett Navigation Company
The Parrett Navigation Company was formed to improve river navigation on the River Parrett, Ivelchester and Langport Navigation and linked waterways. Tolls were introduced to pay for the improvements. It was a trading Company owned by Vincent Stu ...
, a trading company owned by Vincent Stuckey and
Walter Bagehot
Walter Bagehot ( ; 3 February 1826 – 24 March 1877) was an English journalist, businessman, and essayist, who wrote extensively about government, economics, literature and race. He is known for co-founding the ''National Review'' in 1855 ...
, on the banks of the River. When the river became unnavigable, the building was no longer needed, and it was eventually abandoned. The Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development, which became the Ecos Trust, purchased the site, designated as a brown field site, in February 2003, and worked with
Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust
The Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust (SBPT) works to save the architectural heritage of Somerset, England.
The Trust is an independent body and consists of up to 18 Trustees who hold Board meetings 3 times a year. It is a Building Preservati ...
,
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
and local councils to redevelop it into a craft, heritage learning and small business centre, with the surrounding land being used for an eco-friendly housing development. It is a grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
The newest bridge across the Parrett is Cocklemoor Bridge, a pedestrian footbridge close to the Great Bow Bridge. It was erected in 2006 and forms part of the
River Parrett Trail
The River Parrett Trail is a long-distance footpath that can be used for walking, jogging, or running, following the route of the River Parrett in Somerset, England. The trail, which is long, runs from Chedington in Dorset to the mouth of the ...
. The next bridge upstream is Bicknell's bridge, which was formerly known as Bickling bridge, which carries the road from
Huish Episcopi
Huish Episcopi is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the outskirts of Langport, south west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish has a population of 2,095, and includes the hamlets of Bowdens, Combe, P ...
to Muchelney. It replaced a footbridge in 1829 or 1830. At Muchelney the Westover Bridge carries a minor road over the river, and another minor road crosses on the Thorney Bridge close to the Thorney (or silent) Mill and a lock. The mill, with an iron overshot wheel, was built to grind corn in 1823. Another bridge and mill occur further upstream at Gawbridge west of Martock, where the mill has been the subject of a feasibility study by the
South Somerset Hydropower Group
The South Somerset Hydropower Group (SSHG) is a group of 10 owners of former watermills in the South Somerset area of England who are installing micro-hydro turbines for electricity generation. The Group was founded as a result of an initiative b ...
. Carey's Mill Bridge was built of
Ham stone
Hamstone is the name given to a honey-coloured building stone from Ham Hill, Somerset, England. It is a well-cemented medium to coarse grained limestone characterised by marked bedding planes of clay inclusions and less well-cemented material w ...
in the 18th century and named after Carey's Mill, which originally occupied the site. It is surrounded by a collection of buildings known as the
Parrett Iron Works
The Parrett Iron Works was a series of industrial buildings next to the River Parrett, near Martock, Somerset, England.
The site was originally named Carey's Mill, which had been used in the production of snuff, and the adjoining bridge is calle ...
, founded in 1855 on the site of a former
snuff
Snuff may refer to:
Tobacco
* Snuff (tobacco), fine-ground tobacco, sniffed into the nose
** Moist snuff or dipping tobacco
** Creamy snuff, an Indian tobacco paste
Media and entertainment
* Snuff film, a type of film that shows a murder
Literat ...
mill, which included a foundry, with a prominent chimney,
ropewalk
A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material are laid before being twisted into rope. Due to the length of some ropewalks, workers may use bicycles to get from one end to the other.
Many ropew ...
, workshops and several smaller workshops and cottages. The sluice which powered the waterwheel and sluice keeper's cottage still exist. Further south the river flows under the A303 near
Norton-sub-Hamdon
Norton-sub-Hamdon is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Somerset district of the English county of Somerset, situated five miles west of Yeovil. The village has a population of 743.
The village of Chiselborough i ...
The waters of the Severn Estuary, which are heavily laden with silt, flow into the lower reaches of the Parrett and the Tone on each tide. This silt can rapidly gather on the banks of the rivers, reducing the capacity and performance of the channel, and increasing the risk of flooding of surrounding land.
The river is a
highland carrier In the field of land drainage, a highland carrier is a watercourse that conveys drainage water coming from higher in the catchment across or around a lower, drained area of land, but has little or no connection with the drainage network of that dra ...
, as it is embanked and the water level is often higher than the land through which it flows. Water from the surrounding countryside does not therefore drain into the river naturally, and drainage schemes have relied on pumping to remove the water. The pumping station at
Westonzoyland
Westonzoyland is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated on the Somerset Levels, south east of Bridgwater.
History
The name of the parish derives from its location on the "island" of Sowy, an area of slightly higher groun ...
was built in 1830, the first mechanical pumping station on the Somerset Levels. It was designed to drain the area around Westonzoyland,
Middlezoy
Middlezoy is a village and civil parish on the Somerset Levels in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. Situated between the two other villages of Westonzoyland and Othery and is about six miles from the Town of Bridgwater which is on the ...
and
Othery
The parish and village of Othery, established in 1515, sits on a detached extension of Sowy island on the Somerset Levels. It is east of Bridgwater and north-west of Langport. It borders the hamlets and villages of Pathe, Burrowbridge, Middlez ...
, and the success of the drainage system led to the formation of
internal drainage board
An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management withi ...
s and the construction of other
pumping station
Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as well drilling, drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastru ...
s.
The pump at Westonzoyland originally comprised a beam engine and
scoop wheel Rim driven Scoop wheel of the Stretham Old Engine, Cambridgeshire
A scoop wheel or scoopwheel is a pump, usually used for land drainage.
A scoop wheel pump is similar in construction to a water wheel, but works in the opposite manner: a wate ...
, which is similar to a water wheel, except that it is driven round by the engine and lifts water up to a higher level. After 25 years, there were problems pumping the water away as the land surface had dropped as it dried out. A better method was sought, and in 1861 a replacement pump was installed. The engine was built by
Easton and Amos Easton may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Easton, Nova Scotia
United Kingdom
*Easton, Bristol
*Easton, Cambridgeshire
*Easton, Dorset
*Great Easton, Essex and Little Easton, Essex
*Easton, Hampshire
**Crux Easton, Hampshire
*Easton, Isle of Wight
*Gre ...
of London, to a design patented in 1858 by Charles Amos. It is a twin cylinder, vertical condensing engine, driving a
centrifugal pump
Centrifugal pumps are used to transport fluids by the conversion of rotational kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. The rotational energy typically comes from an engine or electric motor. They are a sub-class of dynamic ...
. A similar engine was on display at the
Great Exhibition of 1851
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...
and was shown to be able to lift 100 tons of water per minute (1,700 L/s), to a height of . The Westonzoyland pump lifts water from the
rhyne
A rhyne (Somerset), rhine/rhyne (Gloucestershire), or reen (South Wales) (all pronounced "reen"; from Old English ''ryne'' or Welsh ''rhewyn'' or ''rhewin'' "ditch") is a term used in parts of England and Wales for a drainage ditch, or canal ...
(pronounced "reen") into the River Parrett. The pump operated until 1951, when a new diesel-powered pumping station, capable of pumping 35 tons per minute (600 L/s) at any state of the tide, was built beside the old one. The pumping station is now an Industrial Heritage museum of steam powered machinery and land drainage, and houses most of the equipment from the disused Burrowbridge pumping station.
The Somerset River Authority was established in the 1960s, and later became part of
Wessex Water
Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply and sewerage utility company serving an area of South West England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Bristol, most of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire and parts of ...
. Tidal models were used to explore the effects of any improvements to the river, and the likelihood of adverse consequences, i.e. flooding and subsequent silting. Engineering works were undertaken at the Parrett, King's Sedgemoor Drain, and River Brue systems, to try to ensure that the agricultural land benefited from a potable water supply in the groundwaters from the Quantock Hills to the coastline.
Various measures including
sluice gates
Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...
, known locally as "clyce", have been deployed to try to control flooding. Completed in 1972, the
Sowy River
The Sowy River is an artificial drainage channel in Somerset, England, designed to act as a flood relief channel for the River Parrett. Water from the Parrett can be diverted into it just below Langport, and is conveyed to the King's Sedgemoor ...
is a embanked channel which starts at Monks Leaze clyce below Langport, and carries excess water from the river to the Kings Sedgemoor Drain, from where it flows to the estuary by gravity, rejoining the Parrett near Dunball wharf. Construction of the channel, together with improvements to the Kings Sedgemoor Drain and the rebuilding of the clyce at Dunball, to create a fresh water seal which prevents salt water entering the drain from the river, cost £1.4 million. The scheme has resulted in less flooding on Aller Moor.
In the 1970s a study was commissioned by Wessex Water to investigate the likely effects of constructing a tide-excluding barrier, aimed at stopping the silt, just upriver of Dunball Wharf on the hydraulic, sedimentary and pollutant regime of the estuary. Results showed that a site further upriver could be viable.
The area around the estuary, known as Parrett Reach, around the Steart Peninsula has flooded many times during the last millennium. As a result, the
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
produced the
Stolford
Stogursey is the name of a small village and civil parish in the Quantock Hills in Somerset, England. It is situated from Nether Stowey, and west of Bridgwater. The village is situated near the Bristol Channel, which bounds the parish on the no ...
to Combwich Coastal Defence Strategy Study in 2002, to examine options for the future. In July 2010 the Environment Agency presented plans to convert the peninsula into wetland habitat. It was claimed to be the largest wetland habitat creation scheme in England. The old sea-wall has been breached to let
salt marsh
A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...
develop.
Following summer floods of 1997 and the prolonged flooding of 1999–2000 the Parrett Catchment Project was formed, partly funded by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
Regional Development Fund
The Regional Development Fund ( no, Distriktenes utbyggingsfond, DU) was a national development bank in Norway tasked with promoting regional development by counselling, loans and subsidies. The fund was established in 1961 and existed until 1993 ...
, by 30 organisations, including
British Waterways
British Waterways, often shortened to BW, was a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom. It served as the navigation authority for the majority of canals and a number of rivers and docks in England, Scotland ...
,
Campaign to Protect Rural England
CPRE, The Countryside Charity, formerly known by names such as the ''Council for the Preservation of Rural England'' and the ''Council for the Protection of Rural England'', is a charity in England with over 40,000 members and supporters. Forme ...
,
Countryside Agency
The Countryside Agency was a statutory body set up in England in 1999 with the task of improving the quality of the rural environment and the lives of those living in it. The agency was dissolved in 2006 and its functions dispersed among other bod ...
,
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...
, Environment Agency, Kings Sedgemoor and Cary Vale Internal Drainage Board (now part of Parrett Internal Drainage Board), Levels and Moors Partnership, National Farmers Union, Sedgemoor,
Somerset County Council
Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county.
On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...
,
South Somerset District Council
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
,
Taunton Deane
Taunton Deane was a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council was based in Taunton.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the Municipal Borough of Ta ...
and Wessex Water. They aim to tackle twelve areas, which, when combined, will make a significant contribution to reducing the adverse effects of flooding. These include the conversion of arable land, adoption of the Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) approach to controlling rainwater runoff from developed areas, dredging, raising riverbanks and improving pumping facilities. Further studies of the possible beneficial effects of woodland in reducing flooding have also been undertaken.
During the
winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels
From December 2013 onwards the Somerset Levels suffered severe flooding as part of the wider 2013–2014 Atlantic winter storms in Europe and subsequent 2013–2014 United Kingdom winter floods. The Somerset Levels, or the Somerset Levels and ...
the River Parrett overflowed at new year, during the rain and storms from
Storm Dirk
A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...
, with many residents asking for the Environment Agency to resume river dredging. On 24 January 2014, in light of the continued flooded extent of the Somerset Moors and forecast new rainfall as part of the
winter storms of 2013–14 in the United Kingdom
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures de ...
, both Somerset County Council and Sedgemoor District Council declared a
major incident
Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...
, as defined under the
Civil Contingencies Act 2004
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (c. 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that makes provision about civil contingencies. It also replaces former Civil Defence and Emergency Powers legislation of the 20th century.
Background to ...
. At this time, with of agricultural land having been under water for over a month, the village of Thorney was abandoned and Muchelney was cut off by flood waters for almost a month.
Northmoor Green
Northmoor Green is a village in south central Somerset, England, that is more commonly known as Moorland, and sometimes mistakenly called Fordgate even though it is a separate hamlet. These places being hamlets of Moorland in the civil parish of N ...
, which is more commonly known as Moorland, was also severely affected. By the end of January, agricultural land under water included
North Moor
North Moor () is a 676.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Lyng in Somerset, England. It was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1986.
North Moor is a nationally important grazing marsh and ditch syst ...
,
Curry and Hay Moors
Curry and Hay Moors () is a 472.8 hectare (1168.1 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, notified in 1992.
Curry and Hay Moors form part of the complex of grazing marshes known as the Somerset Levels and Moors. The low ...
and
Greylake
Greylake () is a 9.3 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Middlezoy in Somerset, SSSI notification, notified in 1987.
This site, on the Somerset Levels, consists of 20 low-lying fields in the north west corner of King's Se ...
. Bridgwater was partly flooded on 10 February 2014. Over 600 houses were flooded, and both flooding and groundwater disrupted services including trains on the
Bristol to Exeter line
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...
between Bridgwater and Taunton.
As a result of the extensive flooding, more funds were allocated to dredge the Parrett, although there are doubts as to whether this is an effective solution to the problem of flooding. Also, earlier proposals for a
tidal barrage
A tidal barrage is a dam-like structure used to capture the energy from masses of water moving in and out of a bay or river due to tidal forces.
Instead of damming water on one side like a conventional dam, a tidal barrage allows water to flow ...
across the Parrett were reviewed, and new proposals were suggested to construct the barrage at an estimated cost of between £26,000 and £100,000. Further planning and construction could take up to ten years. The
Inland Waterways Association
The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and was formed in 1946 to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations.
Not ...
has suggested that the barrage should include a
lock
Lock(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
*Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance
*Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal
Arts and entertainment
* ''Lock ...
to enable boats to travel to Bridgwater and potentially to reopen the link to the harbour and the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal.
In January 2022 a £100m scheme to construct a tidal barrier at Bridgwater was announced, planned to be in place by 2027.
Geology
Close to the source of the river the underlying geology is a thin layer of
Fuller's earth
Fuller's earth is any clay material that has the capability to decolorize oil or other liquids without the use of harsh chemical treatment. Fuller's earth typically consists of palygorskite (attapulgite) or bentonite.
Modern uses of fuller's ea ...
clay over
Yeovil Sands
The Bridport Sand Formation is a geological formation, formation of Toarcian (Early Jurassic) age found in the Worcester Basin, Worcester and Wessex Basins of central and southern England. It forms one of the reservoir (geology), reservoir units in ...
. The resulting light soil made the area important for the production of
flax
Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...
and for market gardening in the past.
Burrow Mump
Burrow Mump is a hill and historic site overlooking Southlake Moor in the village of Burrowbridge within the English county of Somerset. It is a scheduled monument, with a never completed church on top of the hill a Grade II listed building.
T ...
, an ancient earthwork owned by the National Trust, is a natural hill of
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
capped by
Keuper marl Keuper marl is a former and now deprecated term for multiple layers of mudstone and siltstone of Triassic age which occur beneath parts of the English Midlands and neighbouring areas e.g. Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, Devon, eastern Worcestershire ...
, standing at a strategic point where the
River Tone
The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through ...
and the old course of the
River Cary
The River Cary is a river in Somerset, England. It is sourced from the Park Pond in Castle Cary and flows towards the southwest.
Etymology
The origin of the name ''Cary'' is uncertain. It may be derived from pre-Celtic ''kar-'', meaning "stony, ...
join the River Parrett. It probably served as a natural outwork to the defended royal island of
Athelney
Athelney is a village located between the villages of Burrowbridge and East Lyng in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. The name is believed to be derived from the Old English '' æþeling'' meaning "prince" + -''ey'' meaning "isle". Th ...
at the end of the 9th century.
The Levels and Moors are a largely flat area in which there are some slightly raised parts, called "burtles" as well as higher ridges and hills. It is an agricultural region typically with open fields of
permanent
Permanent may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* ''Permanent'' (film), a 2017 American film
* ''Permanent'' (Joy Division album)
* "Permanent" (song), by David Cook
Other uses
* Permanent (mathematics), a concept in linear algebra
* Permanent (cy ...
grass, surrounded by ditches lined with
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...
trees. Access to the Levels and Moors is by "droves", i.e. green lanes. The Levels are a coastal sand and clay barrier about above mean sea level (roughly west of the M5 motorway) whereas the inland Moors can be below peak tides and have large areas of
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
. The geology of the area is that of two basins mainly surrounded by hills, the runoff from which forms rivers that originally meandered across the plain but have now been controlled by embanking and clyces. The area is prone to winter floods of fresh water and occasional salt water inundations, the worst of which in recorded history was the Bristol Channel floods of 1607, which resulted in the drowning of an estimated 2,000 or more people, with houses and villages swept away, an estimated of farmland inundated and livestock destroyed. A further severe flood occurred in 1872–1873 when over were under water from October to March.
The extraction of peat from the Moors is known to have taken place during
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
times, and has been an ongoing practice since the levels were first drained. The introduction of plastic packaging in the 1950s allowed the peat to be packed without rotting. This led to the industrialisation of peat extraction during the 1960s as a major market in horticultural peat was developed. The reduction in water levels that resulted put local
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s at risk; peat wastage in pasture fields was occurring at rates of over 100 years.
Ecology
The river flows through several areas of ecological interest and supports a variety of rare and endangered species.
From January until May, the Parrett provides a source of
European eel
The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They are normally around and rarely reach more than , but can reach a length of up to in exceptional cases.
Eels have been important sources of fo ...
s (''Anguilla anguilla'') and young elvers, which are caught by hand netting as this is the only legal means of catching them. A series of eel passes have been built on the Parrett at the King's Sedgemoor Drain to help this endangered species; cameras have shown 10,000 eels migrating upstream in a single night. The 2003
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
play ''
Glass Eels
The eel is a long, thin bony fish of the order Anguilliformes. The species has a catadromous life cycle, that is: at different stages of development migrating between inland waterways and the deep ocean. Because fishermen never caught anything the ...
'' by
Nell Leyshon
Nell Leyshon is a British writer whose work alternates between prose, stage and radio drama. She was born and grew up in Somerset, and spent half of her childhood in Glastonbury, and the other half in a small farming village on the edge of the So ...
was set on the Parrett.
To the north of the river bank northwest of Langport are the Aller and Beer Woods and Aller Hill biological Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Aller and Beer Woods is a
Somerset Wildlife Trust
Somerset Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Somerset, England.
The trust, which was established in 1964, aims to safeguard the county's wildlife and wild places for this and future generations and manages almost 80 nature ...
reserve. It consists of large blocks of semi-natural
ancient woodland
In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...
along the west-facing slope of Aller Hill, overlooking King's Sedgemoor. The reserve is about and the underlying geology of most of it is
Lias
Lias may refer to:
Geology
* Lias Formation, a geologic formation in France
*Lias Group, a lithostratigraphic unit in western Europe
* Early Jurassic, an epoch
People
* Godfrey Lias, British author
* Mohd Shamsudin Lias (born 1953), Malaysian ...
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
. Prior to the 20th century it appears to have been managed for centuries as traditional
coppice
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...
woodland, and it provides an outstanding example of ancient escarpment woodland. The woodland is a variant of the calcareous
ash
Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...
/
wych elm
''Ulmus glabra'' Hudson, the wych elm or Scots elm, has the widest range of the European elm species, from Ireland eastwards to the Urals, and from the Arctic Circle south to the mountains of the Peloponnese and Sicily, where the species reaches i ...
stand-type, with
pedunculate oak
''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...
(''Quercus robur''), and ash (''Fraxinus excelsior'') the dominant canopy trees throughout, and with scattered concentrations of wych elm (''Ulmus glabra''). Ancient woodland indicators include
small-leaved lime
''Tilia cordata'', the small-leaved lime or small-leaved linden, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to much of Europe. Other common names include little-leaf or littleleaf linden, or traditionally in South East England, pry or p ...
(''Tilia cordata''), and
wild service tree
''Sorbus torminalis'', with common names wild service tree, chequers, and checker tree, is a species of tree in the mountain ash or rowan genus (''Sorbus'') of the rose family (Rosaceae), that is native to Europe, parts of northern Africa and we ...
(''Sorbus torminalis''), both of which are locally common. Plants of particular interest include
bird's nest orchid
''Neottia nidus-avis'', the bird's-nest orchid, is a non- photosynthetic orchid, native to Europe, Russia and some parts of the Middle East.
Description
''Neottia nidus-avis'' grows to tall and each shoot can carry up to 60 flowers. Plants a ...
(''Neottia nidus-avis''),
greater butterfly orchid
''Platanthera chlorantha'', commonly known as greater butterfly-orchid, is a species of orchid in the genus ''Platanthera''. It can be found throughout Europe and Morocco. The name ''Platanthera'' is derived from Greek, meaning "broad anthers", ...
(''Platanthera chlorantha'') and the very rare Red Data Book species purple gromwell (''Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum''). Aller Hill contains three species of plant which are nationally rare and a further three which are of restricted distribution in Somerset. The central area contains a sward dominated by
sheep's fescue
''Festuca ovina'', sheep's fescue or sheep fescue, is a species of grass. It is sometimes confused with hard fescue (''Festuca trachyphylla'').
General description
It is a perennial plant sometimes found in acidic ground, and in mountain pastur ...
(''Festuca ovina'') in combination with yellow oat-grass (''Trisetum flavescens'') and
quaking-grass
''Briza'' is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family, native to northern temperate regions of Eurasia, North Africa, and certain islands in the Atlantic.
The group is generally referred to as the quaking grasses because the ...
(''Briza media'').
Salad burnet
''Sanguisorba minor'', the salad burnet, garden burnet, small burnet, burnet (also used for ''Sanguisorba'' generally), pimpernelle, Toper's plant, and burnet-bloodwort, is an edible perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae. It has fe ...
(''Sanguisorba minor'') forms a major component of the sward with the two nationally rare species
rough marsh-mallow
Rough may refer to:
* Roughness (disambiguation)
* Rough (golf), the area outside the fairway on a golf course Geography
* Rough (facility), former gas field now gas storage facility, off the Yorkshire coast of England People
* Alan Rough (born 1 ...
(''Althaea hirsuta'') and
nit-grass
''Gastridium ventricosum'' is a species of Poaceae, grass known by the common name nit-grass (British Isles) or nit grass (USA). This is an annual grass bearing a long, thin, smooth inflorescence of spikelets. It is native to Europe, North Africa ...
(''Gastridium ventricosum''), also present.
Southlake Moor is another SSSI. The marshes and ditches provide grazing. At certain times of the year sluice gates can be opended to flood the moor.Greater water-parsnip (''Sium latifolium'') is among the 96 aquatic and vascular plant species on the moor. Numerous wildfowl visit the flooded moor; up to 22,000
wigeon
The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species.
Biology
There are t ...
(''Anas penelope''), 250
Bewick's swan
The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and the w ...
(''Cygnus bewickii'') and significant populations of
pochard
Pochard is a common name used for several species of diving ducks:
*Four species in the genus ''Aythya'':
** Common pochard, ''Aythya ferina''
** Baer's pochard, ''Aythya baeri''
** Ferruginous pochard, ''Aythya nyroca''
** Madagascar pochard, '' ...
(''Aythya ferina''),
teal
alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male)
Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is ofte ...
(''Anas crecca'') and
tufted duck
The tufted duck or tufted pochard (''Aythya fuligula'') is a small diving duck with a population of close to one million birds, found in northern Eurasia. The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek '' aithuia'', an unidentified seabird ment ...
(''Aythya fuligula''). Signs of
European otter
The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of th ...
s (''Lutra lutra'') have also been seen on the river banks.
Palmate newt
The palmate newt (''Lissotriton helveticus'') is a species of newt found in Western Europe, from Great Britain to the northern Iberian peninsula. It is long and olive or brown with some dark spots. The underside is yellow to orange, and the thr ...
s (''Triturus helveticus'') have been found in surrounding ditches.Langmead and Weston Level is nationally important for its species-rich neutral
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
and the
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
community found in the ditches and rhynes. The terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates recorded on the site include four nationally
rare species: the great silver diving beetle (''Hydrophilus piceus''), the soldier fly ''
Odontomyia ornata
''Odontomyia ornata'', also called the ornate brigadier, is a European species of soldier fly.
Distribution
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Netherla ...
'', which is now called the ornate brigadier, and two other
flies
Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...
, ''
Lonchoptera scutellata
''Lonchoptera'' is a genus of spear-winged flies ( Lonchopteridae). Their common name refers to their subacute (pointed) wings, which have a distinct and sexually dimorphic venation.
Description
Species in ''Lonchoptera'' are tiny to small, at ...
'' and ''
Stenomicra cogani
''Stenomicra cogani'' is a species of fly belonging to the family Periscelididae.
It is native to Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept ...
''.
The Parrett then flows through the Somerset Levels National Nature Reserve, which contains a rich
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
of national and international importance. It supports a vast variety of plant species, including common plants such as
marsh marigold
''Caltha palustris'', known as marsh-marigold and kingcup, is a small to medium size perennial herbaceous plant of the buttercup family, native to marshes, fens, ditches and wet woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It flower ...
(''Caltha palustris''), meadowsweet (''Filipendula ulmaria'') and
ragged robin
''Silene flos-cuculi'' (syn. ''Lychnis flos-cuculi''), commonly called ragged-robin, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. This species is native to Europe and Asia, where it is found along roads and in wet meadows and p ...
(''Lychnis flos-cuculi''). The area is an important feeding ground for birds including Bewick's swan (''Cygnus columbianus bewickii''),
Eurasian curlew
The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (''Numenius arquata'') is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred t ...
(''Numenius arquata''),
common redshank
The common redshank or simply redshank (''Tringa totanus'') is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae.
Taxonomy
The common redshank was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ...
(''Tringa totanus''),
skylark
''Alauda'' is a genus of larks found across much of Europe, Asia and in the mountains of north Africa, and one of the species (the Raso lark) endemic to the islet of Raso in the Cape Verde Islands. Further, at least two additional species are ...
(''Alauda arvensis''),
common snipe
The common snipe (''Gallinago gallinago'') is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World.
The breeding habitats are marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout the Palearctic. In the north, the distribution limit extends from Iceland ...
(''Gallinago gallinago''), common teal (''Anas crecca''), Eurasian wigeon (''Anas penelope'') and
Eurasian whimbrel
The Eurasian whimbrel or common whimbrel (''Numenius phaeopus'') is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland. This specie ...
(''Numenius phaeopus''), as well as birds of prey including the
western marsh harrier
The western marsh harrier (''Circus aeruginosus'') is a large harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian marsh harrier. Formerly, a number of relatives were includ ...
(''Circus aeruginosus'') and
peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
(''Falco peregrinus''). A wide range of invertebrate species is also present including rare insects, particularly the
hairy click beetle
''Synaptus filiformis'' (colloquially hairy click beetle) is a species of beetle belonging to the family Elateridae.
It is native to Europe and Western Asia
Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the large ...
(''Synaptus filiformis''), which until recently was only known in Britain from the Parrett, and other insects, including the
lesser silver water beetle
The lesser silver water beetle (''Hydrochara caraboides'') is a species of water scavenger beetle (family Hydrophilidae).
Description
The beetle is about long and, despite the name, is actually black in color. It traps air with the hairs on th ...
(''Hydrochara caraboides''), ''
Bagous nodulosus
''Bagous nodulosus'' is a species of beetle belonging to the family Curculionidae.
It is native to Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weigh ...
'', ''
Hydrophilus piceus
''Hydrophilus piceus'' is a species of beetles in the family Hydrophilidae, the water scavenger beetles. This very large aquatic beetle is found in the Palearctic and is known by the common name great silver water beetle.Karaouzas, I., et al. (2 ...
'', ''
Odontomyia angulata
''Odontomyia angulata'', also called the orange-horned green colonel, is a European species of soldier fly.
Distribution
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finla ...
Valvata macrostoma
''Valvata macrostoma'', also known as the large mouthed valve snail, is a species of minute freshwater snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Valvatidae, the valve snails.
Distribution
This species occurs in the ...
''. In addition, the area supports an important European otter (''Lutra lutra'') population. 282
American mink
The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink i ...
(''Mustela vison'') have been captured after their escape from breeding farms, which is encouraging water voles (''Arvicola amphibius'') to recolonise areas of the Levels where they have been absent for 10 years. The Levels and Moors include 32 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (twelve of them also
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...
s), the Huntspill River and Bridgwater Bay National Nature Reserves, the Somerset Levels and Moors
Ramsar Site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
conservation designation
A conservation designation is a name and/or acronym which explains the status of an area of land in terms of conservation or protection.
Examples United Kingdom
*Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
* Environmentally sensitive area
* Local n ...
covering the entire area of the Levels and Moors.
On the outskirts of Bridgwater at Huntworth the river passes several local nature reserves which provide roosts for thousands of
common starling
The common starling or European starling (''Sturnus vulgaris''), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about long and has glossy black plumage ...
s (''Sturnus vulgaris'') each winter. The mouth of the river is where it flows into the National Nature Reserve at Bridgwater Bay on the Bristol Channel. It consists of large areas of
mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...
s, saltmarsh, sandflats and shingle ridges, some of which are vegetated. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1989, and is designated as a wetland of international importance under the
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...
. The risks to wildlife are highlighted in the local Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
Tourism
The River Parrett Trail is a
long-distance footpath
A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exce ...
following the Parrett from its source to the sea. The river passes many landmarks and places of interest including:
Burrow Hill Cider Farm
Burrow Hill Cider Farm is a cider farm in Somerset, England at the base of Burrow Hill overlooking the Somerset Levels.
It has views of most of South Somerset on clear days. The cider is made in traditional vats and uses age old traditional meth ...
, Muchelney Abbey,
West Sedgemoor
West Sedgemoor or West Sedge Moor () is an area of the Somerset Levels, in Somerset, England, around 8 miles (13 km) east of Taunton, which approximately coincides with the West Sedgemoor biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, a 1,016 he ...
(a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the
Blake Museum
The Blake Museum is in Bridgwater, Somerset, England at what is believed to be the birthplace of Robert Blake, General at Sea (1598–1657). Since April 2009 it has been run by Bridgwater Town Council with help from the Friends of Blake Museum ...
, Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum, the site of the
Battle of Sedgemoor
The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between the Kingdom of England and rebels led by the Duke of Monmouth during the Monmouth rebellion, fought on 6 July 1685, and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerse ...
, and finally discharges into Bridgwater Bay (another SSSI). The Langport and River Parrett Visitor Centre located at Langport details local life, history and wildlife.
Since 2000, attempts have been made to clarify the legal status and organisational responsibilities for the maintenance of the river and explore issues involving the sustainability and safe use of the waterway for a public trip boat and recreational craft. The work has identified economic and social benefits from the development of the Parrett navigation.
Route and points of interest
See also
*
Rivers of the United Kingdom
For details of rivers of the United Kingdom, see
* List of rivers of England
* List of rivers of Scotland
* List of rivers of Wales
* Northern Ireland: see List of rivers of Ireland and Rivers of Ireland
* Longest rivers of the United Kingdom
Ov ...
*
Taunton Stop Line
The Taunton Stop Line was a World War II defensive line in southwest England. It was designed "to stop an enemy's advance from the west and in particular a rapid advance supported by armoured fighting vehicles (up to the size of a German medium ...
*
North Petherton
North Petherton is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the edge of the eastern foothills of the Quantocks, and close to the edge of the Somerset Levels.
The town has a population of 6,730 as of 2014. The parish includ ...
and
South Petherton
South Petherton is a village and civil parish in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England, located east of Ilminster and north of Crewkerne. The parish had a population of 3,367 in 2011 and includes the smaller village of Over Stra ...
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 ...