Course
The River Brue originates in the same hills as King Alfred's Tower and the sources of the River Wylye and the Dorset Stour. It falls quickly in a narrow valley to a point just beyond Bruton where it is joined by the River Pitt. Here is takes a meandering route through a broad, flat-bottomed valley between Castle Cary and Alhampton. By the time it reaches Baltonsborough it is only some 10m 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 Bristol Channel at Highbridge. 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 tidal below the sluices at New Clyce Bridge in Highbridge.
Bow Bridge is a 15th century Packhorse bridge over the River Brue in Plox, Bruton. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building, and Scheduled Ancient Monument. The bridge may have been built as a link between the former Bruton Abbey, and its Court House in the High Street. The bridge was restored after floods on July 12, 1982.
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 km2 into a steep and narrow valley. In 1768 the river rose very rapidly and destroyed a stone bridge in Bruton. In 1984 a protective dam was built 1 km upstream from the town.
The valley includes several Sites of Special Scientific Interest including Westhay Moor.
Read more about this topic: River Brue