Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/507

SOMERSETSHIRE. 495 SOMERSETSHIRE. northern, central, and south-western. The northern generally consists of extensive levels, which are in some parts liable to inundation by the sea, and presents a variety of meadows, relieved by hills of considerable altitude, intersected by fertile and well-cultivated val- leys. Over 3,000 acres on the S. border of this district are drained into the river Yeo, and are 5 feet below the level of spring tide at high- water within the embankment through which the river flows ; and another tract o) 4,000 acres are protected from inundation by a wall oi masonry 10 J feet above the level of the land. The Mendip hills extend from the coast in a south-easterly direction to the neighbourhood of Frome, being from 25 to 30 miles in length, and at one place, between Stoke Rodney and West Harptree, from 6 to 7 miles broad, with an altitude of 1,000 feet above the sea. The Poldeu hills are a long, low ridge, extending for 20 miles, and separated from the Mendips, to which they are nearly parallel, by a marshy tract, through which the Brue winds slowly, and which includes East Sedg- moor and the adjacent moors. In the central district, the Brent marshes or fens, lying N. of the Polden hills, are drained by the Brue by means of a barrier, provided with a flood-gate at Highbridge to resist the tides. It is cut into sections by ditches, which are provided in some places with sluices for damming up the water in times of drought. Upwards of 20,000 acres have thus been reclaimed, but a large extent of bog yet remains, and supplies excellent peat fuel to the inhabitants. The south-western district comprises the Vale of Taunton, a fertile tract of diversified uplands, to the N. of which the Quantock hills rise, extending, in a north-westerly direction, to the Bristol Channel, a distance of 14 miles. They flank the fens, and have an extreme breadth of 5 to 6 miles. Their general elevation is about 1,020 to 1,060 feet ; but Bagborough Station, or Will's Neck, rises to 1,270 feet. Most of the county 'V. of this range consists of an irregular hilly district, called Exmoor, a tract of considerable extent, which reaches into the adjoining county of Devon. It measures about 20 miles from E. to W., and about 12 from N. to S. ; the higher portions contain peat swamps of considerable size, and the entire district is almost destitute of trees, except on the banks of the streams by which it is drained. Dunkerry Beacon, the highest point in the county, belongs to this tract, and is 1,668 feet above the level of the sea. The only harbours of importance in the county are formed by the mouths of the Avon on the N.E. corner, and the Parret. The general direction of the coast is W.S.W. In the eastern portion it is for the most part low and marshy, with occasional inter- ruptions of limestone cliffs. About 9 miles from the Avon lies Clevedon, beyond which the Yeo makes its way through fens and marshes to the sea. Farther on the character of the ground changes, and between St. Thomas's Head and Sand Point, a range of limestone clifls line the shore for about a mile. A little south of Anchor Head is the favourite walering-place of Weston- super-Mare. Then the coast trends southwards to Brean Down, which is lofty and precipitous on every side, and almost surrounded by the sea. Government works for fortifications are here in progress. Bridg- wator Bay, the principal harbour in the county, lies 7 miles farther W., and receives the waters of the Parret, the intervening shore being low and sandy. The bay is about 8 miles broad, and the land bordering on it is in many places marshy. Towards the western extremity the mountain range of the Quantock hills extends down to the coast, and appears in the form of lias clifls, which a little farther on rise to the height of 100 feet, and in some places even higher. A marshy district succeeds to these, and is followed by a reappearance of lofty cliffs composed of slate to the V. of Minehead, and they again line the coast from Portlock Bay to the western extremity of the county. The principal river of Somerset is the Avon, which rises in the N. of Wilt- shire, but has a course of 30 miles in this county. It is navigable for barges to Bath, and large ships can use it as far as Bristol. At its mouth the spring tides generally rise 40 feet, and occasionally even more. Its most im- portant affluents are the Frome, 20 miles long, from tho Mendip hills ; the Midford Brook, 10 miles in length ; and the Chew. The Yeo rises at Compton Martin, on the skirts of the Mendip hills, and takes a N.N.W. course of 13 miles to the Bristol Channel. The Axe issues in a little torrent from the Wooky Cavern, near Wells, on the S. of the Mendips, and flows for 21 miles W.N.W. along the upper edge of the fen country before reaching the Channel. The Brue, rising in Selwood Forest, has a course of 36 miles along the marshes between Mendip and Polden hills, and then N.W. to the N. side of the estuary of the Parret. The Parret, which is 42 miles long, is navigable for vessels of 200 tons up to Bridgwater, 16 miles from its mouth. It rises on the borders of Dorsetshire, and through its entire course is sluggish, and in many places canal-like. Its principal tributaries are the Isle, the Yeo or Ivel, the Tone, and the Carey. Tho Exe rises on the southern side of the Quantock hills, near the N.W. corner of the county, and flows along the borders of Exmoor for 16 miles before entering Devonshire, where it empties itself below Exeter into the English Channel. The Kennet and Avon canal connects the Avon at Bath with the Thames, following the course of the former river to the borders of Wiltshire, where it crosses it through the Dundas aqueduct, and passes through the counties of Dorset, Wilts, and Berks to the Kennet. The Somersetshire canal, 9J miles long, connects the collieries in the neighbourhood of Taunton with the Kennet and Avon canal. The Glastonbury canal fol- lows the course of the river Brue from Glastonbury to Bridgwater Bay. The Bridgwater and Taunton canal, 12J miles long, opens into the Parret at the former town. There is also a short canal between Chard and Ilminster. The county is well provided with railway communication, the principal line being the Bristol and Exeter, which is connected at the former town with the Great Western line, and runs past Nailsea, Highbridge, Bridgwater, Taunton, and Wel- lington, with branch lines to Clevedon and Weston- super-Mare on the one side, and to Yeovil, on the other ; a branch is also projected to Axbridge and Wells. The Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth railway runs into the Great Western near Chippenham, in Wiltshire, passing through Frome and Yeovil. These lines are all on the broad-gauge system, and communicate with tho N. of England by means of the Bristol and Birmingham line. The central Somerset railway, which is narrow gauge, runs from Burnham to Glastonbury and Wells, joining at Glastonbury a line which passes Wincanton to Temple- combe, and across Dorsetshire to the east of England, and at Wells a line running by Shepton Mallot to Witham on tho Weymouth lino. The roads are numerous, well laid off, and generally kept in good order. In the north-eastern part of the county the prevailing strata belong to the oolite formation, and contain many quarries of the famous Bath stone. Most of the eminences in the neighbourhood of Bath belong to this system. The inferior oolite, being the highest of the formations of the district, except those of tho diluvium and alluvium, extends over the Bristol coal basins. Broadfield and Leigh Downs, near Bristol, consist of carboniferous limestone, which, crossing the valley of the Avon, again appears in the precipitous rocks of Clifton. Millstone grit, the lowest of the coal measures, forms the S.E. escarpment of Leigh Down. In Broad- field Down are Cleve and Brockley, two precipitous combes or valleys, well wooded, and presenting many attractions. Magnesian limestone is largely developed on the N.E. side of the Mendip hills, and extends from near Frome towards Keynsham. Wookey Cavern and the Cheddar Cliffs belong to this formation. The higher portions of the Mendips are of Old Red sandstone, which is in some places covered by calcareous strata ; and in others lias, consisting of strata of blue slaty clay, upon which rest tho marshy lands along the 8. of the Mendips, are found above the New Red sandstone. In the western parts of tho county, the