River Parrett

The River Parrett winds through the flat, open landscapes of Somerset and Dorset in south-west England. It begins at Thorney Mills springs near Chedington in Dorset and flows north-west for 37 miles to meet the Bristol Channel at Burnham-on-Sea. Along its route it drains half of Somerset’s land, covering 660 square miles and supporting a population of 300,000. The river’s main tributaries are the Tone, Isle, Yeo and Cary, which join via the King’s Sedgemoor Drain. Tidal for 19 miles up to Oath, the Parrett falls only one foot per mile between Langport and Bridgwater, making it prone to winter flooding. Attempts to control these floods have continued since at least the medieval period. The Parrett once formed the border between Wessex and Dumnonia in Anglo-Saxon times. It later enabled trade through the Port of Bridgwater until railways reduced commercial shipping to a single dock at Dunball. The river carries traces of human activity in bridges, sluices and old pumping stations. Its network of waterways supports rare plants and animals, and the River Parrett Trail follows its banks for walkers. The tidal bore on the lower reaches can send a wave upstream at six miles per hour when Severn estuary tides are high. From its source in Dorset the Parrett passes quiet villages such as Merriott and Muchelney, where the ruins of Muchelney Abbey stand beside the water. Near Langport it flows past Burrow Mump, an ancient earthwork owned by the National Trust. Further downstream the river skirts Bridgwater, where it once fed a wide tidal moat around the castle. Beyond the town the Parrett widens into the Stert Flats, a shifting intertidal area of mud and sandbanks. Finally it reaches Bridgwater Bay nature reserve, where it joins the Bristol Channel alongside the Brue and Washford rivers.