River Brue

Coordinates: 51°13′32″N 3°00′13″W / 51.22556°N 3.00361°W / 51.22556; -3.00361
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River Brue
River Brue and Glastonbury Tor
Location
CountryEngland
CountySomerset
DistrictSomerset Levels
TownsBruton, Glastonbury, Highbridge
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationBrewham, South Somerset, Somerset, England
 • coordinates51°07′49″N 2°22′43″W / 51.13028°N 2.37861°W / 51.13028; -2.37861
MouthBristol Channel
 • location
Highbridge, Somerset, Somerset, England
 • coordinates
51°13′32″N 3°00′13″W / 51.22556°N 3.00361°W / 51.22556; -3.00361
Length61 km (38 mi)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftRiver Pitt
 • rightRiver Alham, Whitelake River

The River Brue originates in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, England, and reaches the sea some 50 kilometres (31 mi) west at Burnham-on-Sea. It originally took a different route from Glastonbury to the sea, but this was changed by Glastonbury Abbey in the twelfth century. The river provides an important drainage route for water from a low-lying area which is prone to flooding which man has tried to manage through rhynes, canals, artificial rivers and sluices for centuries.

The Brue Valley Living Landscape is an ecological

landscape scale conservation
projects in the UK.

Course

The River Brue originates in hills to the southwest of the

Alhampton. By the time it reaches Baltonsborough it is only some 10 metres (33 ft) above sea level and the surrounding countryside is drained into it by way of numerous rhynes. It passes Glastonbury, where it acts as a natural boundary with nearby village of Street, before flowing in a largely artificial channel across the Somerset Levels and into the River Parrett at Burnham-on-Sea. It is joined by the North Drain, White's River (which takes the water of the River Sheppey, Cripps River (an artificial channel that connects it to the River Huntspill) and many drainage rhynes). It is connect to the River Axe through several of these channels which are controlled by sluices.[2] It is tidal below the sluices at New Clyce Bridge in Highbridge.[3]

Bow Bridge

Bow Bridge is a 15th-century Packhorse bridge over the River Brue in Plox, Bruton. It is a Grade I listed building,[4] and scheduled monument.[5] The bridge may have been built as a link between the former Bruton Abbey, and its courthouse in the High Street.[4] The bridge was restored after floods in 1982.[6]

The River Brue has a long history of flooding. Its lower reaches are close to sea level, and the river above Bruton drains an area of 31 square kilometres (12 sq mi) into a steep and narrow valley. In 1984 a protective dam was built 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) upstream from the town.[7]

The valley includes several Sites of Special Scientific Interest including Westhay Moor,[8] Shapwick Heath[9] and Shapwick Moor. Much of the area has been at the centre of peat extraction on the Somerset Levels. Large areas of peat were laid down on the Somerset Levels, particularly in the River Brue Valley, during the Quaternary period after the ice sheets melted.[10] The extraction of peat from the Moors is known to have taken place during Roman times, and has been carried out since the Levels were first drained. Peat extraction on the Somerset Moors continues today, although much reduced.[10][11]

History

Three arch stone bridge over water.
Tootal Bridge at Barton St David over the River Brue

The area is known to have been occupied since the

timber trackway, once thought to be the world's oldest engineered roadway.[12] The track was built between what was in the early 4th millennium BC an island at Westhay and a ridge of high ground at Shapwick, close to the River Brue. The remains of similar tracks have been uncovered nearby, connecting settlements on the peat bog including the Honeygore, Abbotts Way, Bells, Bakers, Westhay and Nidons trackways.[13]

The Levels contain the best-preserved prehistoric village in the UK,[14] Glastonbury Lake Village, as well as two others at Meare Lake Village.[15] Discovered in 1892 by Arthur Bulleid,[16] it was inhabited by about 200 people living in 14 roundhouses,[14] and was built on a morass on an artificial foundation of timber filled with brushwood, bracken, rubble and clay.[17]

The valley was used during

Romano-British period when it was the site of salt extraction.[18] At that time, the Brue formed a lake just south of the hilly ground on which Glastonbury stands. According to legend this lake is one of the locations suggested by Arthurian legend as the home of the Lady of the Lake. Pomparles Bridge stood at the western end of this lake, guarding Glastonbury from the south, and it is suggested that it was here that Sir Bedivere threw Excalibur into the waters after King Arthur fell at the Battle of Camlann.[19] John Leland noted in the 16th century that the bridge had four arches, while W. Phelps in an 1839 illustration as having only two arches, one pointed, probably from the 14th or 15th century, and the other round. Excavations in 1912 found the remains of a second round arch regarded as 12th century work. The current concrete arch bridge was built in 1911 and extended in 1972.[20] It carries the A39 road over the Brue.[21][22]

Alteration of route

Before the 13th century the direct route to the sea at Highbridge was blocked by gravel banks and peat near Westhay.

Edingworth, and the other directly west to the sea at Highbridge.[26] During monastic times, there were several fish weirs along the lower reaches of the river. They used either nets or baskets, the fishing rights belonging to the Bishop of Bath and Wells and the Abbot of Glastonbury.[27]

Drainage improvements

Flooded fields near Glastonbury in 2008

Between 1774 and 1797 a series of enclosures took place in the Brue valley between the Poldens and Wedmore.[28] In 1794 the annual floods filled the whole of the Brue valley. Work by the Commissioners of Sewers led to the 1801 Brue Drainage Act which enabled sections at Highbridge and Cripp's Bridge to be straightened, and new feeder channels such as the North and South Drains to be constructed.[29] In 1803 the clyse at Highbridge, which had been built before 1485, was replaced and moved further downstream.[30]

The area around Bruton has suffered over the centuries. The earliest recorded damage was in 1768 when a stone bridge was destroyed after the river rose very rapidly.[7] On 28 June 1917, 242.8 millimetres (9.56 in) of rain fell in 24 hours at Bruton,[31] leaving a water mark on one pub 20 feet (6.1 m) above the normal level of the river.[32] In 1982 extensive flooding occurred in the town, and as a result in 1984 a protective dam was built 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) upstream from the town.[33]

19th, 20th and 21st centuries

The mouth of the river

The mouth of the River Brue had an extensive harbour in Roman and Saxon times, before silting up in the medieval period. It was used again as a small harbour in the 17th and 18th centuries, and in 1833 the port of Highbridge was formally opened on the river. A new wharf, known as Clyce Wharf, was built on the Huntspill side of the river mouth by 1904, and was used for the import of coal and the export of bricks and tiles and agricultural products. The port closed in 1949.[34]

Both

locks from Glastonbury to Highbridge, where it entered the River Parrett and from there the Bristol Channel. The canal was authorised by Parliament in 1827 and opened in 1834.[37] It was operated by The Glastonbury Navigation & Canal Company.[38]
Most of it was abandoned as a navigation in 1854, when a railway was built along the towpath.

During the

Second World War the Brue was incorporated into GHQ Line and many pillboxes were constructed along the river.[39] Gants Mill at Pitcombe, near Bruton, is a watermill which is still used to mill cattle feed. A 12 kilowatts (16 hp) hydroelectric turbine was recently installed at the site. There has been a mill here since the 13th century, but the current building was built in 1810.[40]

Following summer floods of 1997 and the prolonged flooding of 1999–2000 the Parrett Catchment Project was formed, partly funded by the

Somerset County Council, South Somerset District Council, Taunton Deane and Wessex Water.[41] 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.[42] Further studies of the possible beneficial effects of woodland in reducing flooding have also been undertaken.[43]

During the

Bristol to Exeter line between Bridgwater and Taunton.[44] Further preventative work under the title of the "Brue Catchment River Maintenance Pilot Project" has led to controversy about the need for dredging and maintenance of the river.[50][51]

Hydrology and water quality

At Bruton Dam, the nearest measuring station to the source of the river, the normal level of the river is between 0.6 metres (2 ft 0 in) and 2.08 metres (6 ft 10 in) with the highest level ever recorded being 10.7 metres (35 ft) in 2007.[52] Within the town of Bruton at Bruton Surgery the normal level is between 0.17 metres (6.7 in) and 0.69 metres (2 ft 3 in).[53] Further downstream at Lovington the normal level is between 0.08 metres (3.1 in) and 0.56 metres (1 ft 10 in).[54] The furthest downstream monitoring station at Clyse Hole near Street records a normal range of 0.15 metres (5.9 in) and 0.49 metres (1 ft 7 in).[55]

For the purposes of monitoring of water quality the Brue and Axe are considered together. In 2013 19 water bodies within the area were considered to have moderate water quality with two being poor and four good quality. Agriculture and rural land management is the largest factor affecting water quality followed by the water industry. Transport, industry and manufacturing also have an effect.[56]

Ecology

The River Brue crossing Westhay Moor

The Brue Valley Living Landscape is a UK

landscape scale conservation projects in the UK.[58][59]

The project covers an area of approximately 12,500 hectares (31,000 acres) encompassing the floodplain of the River Brue from a little east of

Historic Environment Records in the project area including internationally important sites such at the Glastonbury Lake Village and Sweet Track. Research on the Somerset Levels and Moors has been crucial to the understanding of the natural and human history of wetlands.[60] The project is based solely on the peat-based soils of the Somerset Moors. It does not extend on to the marine clay soils of the more westerly Levels.[61]

The headwaters of the river

The project has set out their major objectives. These include mapping and research on the Brue Valley, engagement with local government, farmers, the conservation sector and other interest community members, to produce a shared local vision.

Viridor Credits
scheme.

One of the project's goals is to protect, restore and create areas of

Hydrochara caraboides) and one-grooved diving beetle (Bidessus unistriatus).[65] There are also shining ram's-horn snails (Segmentina nitida) and shrill carder bees (Bombus sylvarum).[66]

The river at West Lydford

The River Brue and its tributaries support a population of

teal (Anas cracca), willow tit (Poecile montanus) and yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella).[69]

Mammalian species of interest include the

European otter (Lutra lutra) and water vole (Arvicola terrestris).[70]

Recreation

rudd, and gudgeon. There are trout in the upper reaches.[71] There are several access points along the river suitable for canoeing, and the river has been paddled as far up as Bruton, but above West Lydford only after recent rain.[72] There are public footpaths alongside many stretches of the river.[73] There are also areas of the river that serve as desirable spots for wild swimming.[74][75]

Rail access

Highbridge and Burnham railway station provides access. There is further 2 miles (3.2 km)[76] walk or cycle westwards mainly alongside the River Brue, following the approximate flat path way of the former S&DJR extension route, takes the traveller into Burnham-on-Sea.

References

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External links

Media related to River Brue at Wikimedia Commons

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