Mere (lake)
A mere is a shallow lake, pond, or wetland, particularly in Great Britain and other parts of western Europe.
Derivation of the word
Etymology
The word mere is recorded in Old English as mere ″sea, lake″, corresponding to
- Old Saxon meri,
- Old Low Franconian *meri (Dutch meer ″lake, pool″, Picard mer ″pool, lake″, Northern French toponymic element -mer),
- Old High German mari / meri (German Meer ″sea″),
- Goth. mari-, marei,
- Old Norse marr ″sea″ (Norwegian mar ″sea″, Shetland Norn mar ″mer, deep water fishing qarea″, Faroese marrur ″mud, sludge″, Swedish place name element mar-, French mare ″pool, pond″).
They derive from reconstituted
Signification
The word once included the sea or an
- the sea: Old English to 1530: 7 quotations
- standing water: Old English to 1998: 22 quotations
- arm of the sea: 1573 to 1676: 4 quotations
- marsh or fen: 1609 to 1995: 7 quotations
Characteristics
Where land similar to that of Martin Mere, gently undulating
Even quite shallow lake water can develop a thermocline in the short term but where there is a moderately windy climate, the circulation caused by wind drift is sufficient to break this up. (The surface is blown down-wind in a
At first sight, the defining feature of a mere is its breadth in relation to its shallow depth. This means that it has a large surface in proportion to the volume of water it contains. However, there is a limiting depth beyond which a lake does not behave as a mere since the sun does not warm the deeper water and the wind does not mix it. Here, a thermocline develops but where the limiting dimensions lie is influenced by the sunniness and windiness of the site and the murkiness of the water. This last usually depends on how eutrophic (rich in plant nutrients) the water is. Nonetheless, in general, with the enlargement of the extent of a mere, the depth has to become proportionately less if it is to behave as a mere.
English meres
- Aqualate Mere, Staffordshire
- Cop Mere, Staffordshire
- Bomere Pool, Shropshire
- Buttermere, Cumbria (Lake District)
- Diss Mere, Norfolk
- Brooke Mere, Norfolk
- Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire
- Grasmere, Cumbria (Lake District)
- Hornsea Mere, East Riding of Yorkshire
- Horsey Mere, Norfolk
- Martin Mere, Lancashire
- The Meres, south and east of Ellesmere, Shropshire (see below)
- Orton Mere, Cambridgeshire
- Quidenham Mere, Norfolk
- Raby Mere, Merseyside
- Scarborough Mere, North Yorkshire
- Scoulton Mere, Norfolk
- Sea Mere, Norfolk
- Thirlmere, Cumbria (Lake District)
- Thorpeness Meare (Suffolk)
- Windermere, Cumbria (Lake District)
- Marton Mere, Blackpool(Lancashire)
There are many examples in Cheshire, including:
- Alsager Mere
- Budworth Mere
- Comber Mere
- Hatch Mere
- Mere
- Oak Mere
- Pick Mere
- Radnor Mere
- Redes Mere
- Rostherne Mere
- Shakerley Mere
- Tatton Mere
Many examples also occur in north Shropshire, especially around the town of Ellesmere, which is sometimes known as 'the Shropshire lake district', such as:
- Blakemere
- Colemere
- Crosemere
- Ellesmere (The Mere)
- Kettlemere
- Newtonmere
- Sweatmere
- Whitemere
Fenland
Apart from those drained in the medieval period, they are shown in Saxton's map of the counties (as they were in his time) of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. The following is a list of known meres of the eastern English Fenland with their
Saxton's meres are named as:
- Trundle Mere TL2091
- Whittlesey Mere TL2291
- Stretham Mere TL5272
- Soham Mere. TL5773
- Ug Mere TL2487
- Ramsey Mere TL3189
In Jonas Moor's "map of the Great Levell of the Fenns" of 1720, though Trundle Mere is not named, the above are all named but one, included with the addition of:
- Benwick Mere TL3489
In the interval, Stretham Mere had gone and the main features of the modern drainage pattern had appeared.
Ugg, Ramsey and Benwick meres do not show in the soil map. Others which do but which appear to have been drained before Saxton's mapping in 1576 are at:
- TL630875
- TL6884
- TL5375
- TL5898
The last appears to be the "mare 'Wide' vocatum" of Robert of Swaffham's version of the Hereward story (Chapter XXVI). If it is, it will have been in existence in the 1070s, when the events of the story took place.
Meres in Wales
Meres in the Netherlands
Meres similar to those of the English Fens but more numerous and extensive used to exist in the Netherlands, particularly in Holland. See Haarlemmermeer, for example. However, the Dutch word meer is used more generally than the English mere. It means "lake", as also seen in the names of lakes containing meer in Northern Germany, e.g. Steinhuder Meer. When the Zuiderzee was enclosed by a dam and its saltwater became fresh, it changed its status from a sea (zee) to being known as the IJsselmeer, the lake into which the River IJssel flows.
Australian meres
- Beachmere, Queensland
- Austinmer, New South Wales
Citations
General sources
- Crossley-Holland, K. (1987). The Poetry of Legend: Classics of the Medieval World Beowulf. ISBN 0-85115-456-5(C-H)
- Macan, T. T. and Worthington, E. B. (1972). Life in Lakes and Rivers Fontana. (M&W)
- Moor, J. (c1980s). A Map of the Great Levell of the Fenns Extending into ye Countyes of Norfolk, Suffolke, Northampton, Lincoln, Cambridge, Huntingdon and the Isle of Ely facsimile edition by Cambridgeshire Library Service
- Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Sheets 142 & 143
- Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
- Saxton, C. (1992)[1576]. Christopher Saxton's 16th Century Maps. The counties of England & Wales. With Introduction by William Ravenhill. ISBN 1-85310-354-3. Cambridgeshire map.
- Soils of England and Wales, Sheet 4 Eastern England. Soil Survey of England and Wales (1983). (Soil Map)
- Swaffham, R. (1895-7)[c. 1260]. Gesta Herwardi. Transcribed by S. H. Miller and translated by W. D. Sweeting.