View source for Somerset Levels

{{short description|Coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Designation list
 | designation1 = Ramsar
 | designation1_offname = Somerset Levels and Moors
 | designation1_date = 26 June 1997
 | designation1_number = 914<ref>{{Cite web|title=Somerset Levels and Moors|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/914|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
}}
[[File:somerset levels from glastonbury tor arp.jpg|thumb|300px|The Somerset Levels, seen from [[Glastonbury Tor]]]]
[[File:Map of Somerset Levels.png|thumb|300px|Map showing the Somerset Levels and the surrounding area. The major hill ranges and rivers are shown.
<br />
'''Height (m)'''
{{colbegin|colwidth=6em}}
{{legend|#acd0a5|0–20}}
{{legend|#94bf8b|20–40}}
{{legend|#a8c68f|40–60}}
{{legend|#bdcc96|60–80}}
{{legend|#d1d7ab|80–100}}
{{legend|#e1e4b5|100–120}}
{{legend|#efebc0|120–140}}
{{legend|#e8e1b6|140–160}}
{{legend|#ded6a3|160–180}}
{{legend|#d3ca9d|180–200}}
{{legend|#cab982|200–230}}
{{legend|#c3a76b|230–260}}
{{legend|#b9985a|260–300}}
{{legend|#aa8753|300–384}}
{{colend}}
Source: [[Ordnance Survey]]
[https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendatadownload/products.html OpenData]
]]

The '''Somerset Levels''' are a [[coastal plain]] and [[wetland]] area of [[Somerset]], England, running south from the [[Mendip Hills|Mendips]] to the [[Blackdown Hills National Landscape|Blackdown Hills]].

The Somerset Levels have an area of about {{convert|160000|acre|km2|-1}} and are bisected by the [[Polden Hills]]; the areas to the south are drained by the [[River Parrett]], and the areas to the north by the rivers [[River Axe (Bristol Channel)|Axe]] and [[River Brue|Brue]]. The Mendip Hills separate the Somerset Levels from the [[North Somerset Levels]]. The Somerset Levels consist of marine clay "levels" along the coast and inland peat-based "moors"; agriculturally, about 70&nbsp;per cent is used as grassland and the rest is arable. Willow and [[Dipsacus fullonum|teazel]] are grown commercially and peat is extracted.

A [[Palaeolithic]] flint tool found in West Sedgemoor is the earliest indication of human presence in the area. The [[Neolithic]] people exploited the reed swamps for their natural resources and started to construct wooden [[trackway]]s, including the world's oldest known [[timber trackway]], the [[Post Track]], dating from about 3800 BC. The Levels were the location of the [[Glastonbury Lake Village]] as well as two Lake villages at [[Meare Lake Village|Meare Lake]]. Several settlements and hill forts were built on the natural "islands" of slightly raised land, including [[Brent Knoll Camp|Brent Knoll]] and [[Glastonbury]]. In the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] period [[sea salt]] was extracted and a string of settlements were set up along the Polden Hills. The discovery at [[Shapwick, Somerset|Shapwick]] of 9,238 silver [[Roman currency|Roman coins]], known as the [[Shapwick Hoard]], was the second-largest ever found from the time of the [[Roman Empire]]. A number of [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] charters document the incorporation of areas of moor in estates. In 1685, the [[Battle of Sedgemoor]] was fought in the Bussex area of [[Westonzoyland]] at the conclusion of the [[Monmouth Rebellion]].

As a result of the wetland nature of the Levels, the area contains a rich [[biodiversity]] of national and international importance. It supports a vast variety of plant and bird species and is an important feeding ground for birds and includes 32&nbsp;[[Site of Special Scientific Interest|Sites of Special Scientific Interest]], of which 12 are also [[Special Protection Area]]s. The area has been extensively studied for its biodiversity and heritage, and has a growing tourism industry.

People have been draining the area since before [[Domesday Book]]. In the Middle Ages, the monasteries of [[Glastonbury Abbey|Glastonbury]], [[Athelney]] and [[Muchelney Abbey|Muchelney]] were responsible for much of the drainage. The artificial [[River Huntspill|Huntspill River]] was constructed during the [[Second World War]] as a reservoir, although it also serves as a drainage channel. The [[Sowy River]] between the River Parrett and King's Sedgemoor Drain was completed in 1972; water levels are managed by the Levels [[internal drainage board]]s. During 2009 and 2010 proposals to build a series of electricity pylons by one of two routes between [[Hinkley Point]] and [[Avonmouth]], to transmit electricity from the proposed [[Hinkley Point C nuclear power station]], attracted local opposition. Discussions have taken place concerning the possibility of obtaining [[World Heritage Site]] status for the Somerset Levels as a "cultural landscape".<ref>{{cite web |last=Norman |first=Kirsty |title=World Heritage for the Nation: Analysis of responses |url=http://www.ukotcf.org/pdf/news/World_Heritage_for_the_Nation_2010_CAA_Analysis.pdf |publisher=UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum |access-date=17 June 2010 |date=December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719043604/http://www.ukotcf.org/pdf/news/World_Heritage_for_the_Nation_2010_CAA_Analysis.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2011}}</ref> It was suggested that if this bid were successful it could improve flood control, but only if wetland [[fen]]s were created again; the plans were abandoned in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cabinet member decision record |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/council/portfolio%2010/Cabinet%20Member%20Decision%20World%20Heritage%20Site%20100610.pdf |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=5 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111014123704/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/council/portfolio%2010/Cabinet%20Member%20Decision%20World%20Heritage%20Site%20100610.pdf |archive-date=14 October 2011}}</ref>

==Natural character area==
The Somerset Levels form a natural region that has been designated as a [[national character area]] – No. 142 – by [[Natural England]], the public body responsible for England's natural environment. Neighbouring natural regions are: the [[Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes]] to the west, the [[Blackdown Hills National Landscape|Blackdowns]] to the southwest, the [[Mid Somerset Hills]] and [[Yeovil Scarplands]] to the southeast, the [[Mendip Hills]] to the east and the Bristol, Avon Valleys and Ridges to the northeast.<ref>[http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/nca/southwest.aspx ''South West National Character Area map''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006210806/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/publications/nca/southwest.aspx |date=6 October 2013}} at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 5 October 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/jca142%2B143_tcm6-5566.pdf ''Somerset Levels and Moors/Mid Somerset Hills''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006214919/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/jca142%2B143_tcm6-5566.pdf |date=6 October 2013}} at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 5 October 2013</ref><ref>[http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/12320274?category=587130 ''NCA 142 Somerset Levels and Moors (NE 451)''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006214746/http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/12320274?category=587130 |date=6 October 2013}} at www.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 5 October 2013</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Glastonbury Tor.jpg|alt=A mound surmounted by a tower in the distance. In the foreground are fields with cows and small trees and bushes.|thumb|left|[[Glastonbury Tor]]]]
The Levels are mainly flat areas of inland plains and a coastal sand and clay barrier, east and west of the [[M5 motorway]]. There are some slightly raised parts, called "burtles",<ref name="natengsom"/> as well as higher ridges and hills. The Levels are about {{convert|20|ft|m|0}} above mean sea level ([[Ordnance Datum|O.D.]]). The general elevation inland is {{convert|10|to|12|ft|m|0}} O.D. with peak tides of {{convert|25|to|26|ft|m|0}} O.D. recorded at Bridgwater and Burnham-on-Sea.<ref name="williams-8-9">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Michael |title=The Draining of the Somerset Levels |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1970 |isbn=0-521-07486-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/8 8–9] |url=https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/8}}</ref> Large areas of [[peat]] were laid down in the Brue Valley during the [[Quaternary]] period after the ice sheets melted.<ref name="natengsom">{{cite web |title=Somerset |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/geodiversity/englands/counties/area_ID30.aspx |publisher=[[Natural England]] |access-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140329003609/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/geodiversity/englands/counties/area_ID30.aspx |archive-date=29 March 2014}}</ref> The area's [[topography]] consists of two basins mainly surrounded by hills, the runoff from which forms rivers that originally meandered across the plain but have now been controlled by embanking and [[clyse]]s (the local name for a sluice).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2= Williams|first2= Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |page=72}}</ref> The area is prone to winter floods of fresh water and occasional salt water inundations. The worst in recorded history was the [[Bristol Channel floods, 1607|Bristol Channel floods of 1607]], which resulted in the drowning of an estimated 2,000 or more people, houses and villages swept away, an estimated {{convert|200|sqmi|km2|-2}} of farmland inundated, and livestock killed.<ref name="bbcsom">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2007/01/30/somerset_flood_1607_anniversary_feature.shtml |title=The great flood of 1607: could it happen again? |access-date=20 February 2008 |work=BBC Somerset |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403082713/http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2007/01/30/somerset_flood_1607_anniversary_feature.shtml |archive-date= 3 April 2008 }}</ref> Another severe flood occurred in 1872–1873, when over {{convert|107|sqmi|km2|-2}} were under water from October to March.<ref name="havinden">{{cite book|last=Havinden|first=Michael|title=The Somerset Landscape|year=1982|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|series=The making of the English landscape|pages=149–170|isbn=0-340-20116-9}}</ref>

Although underlain by much older [[Triassic]] age<ref name="natengsom"/><ref name="ncprofile">{{cite web|url=http://www.naturalareas.naturalengland.org.uk/Science/natural/profiles/naProfile85.pdf |title=Somerset Levels and Moors Natural Area&nbsp;– A nature conservation profile July 1997 |access-date=30 November 2011 |work=English Nature |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184747/http://www.naturalareas.naturalengland.org.uk/Science/natural/profiles/naProfile85.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013 }}</ref> formations that protrude to form what would once have been islands—such as [[Athelney]], [[Brent Knoll Camp|Brent Knoll]], [[Burrow Mump]] and [[Glastonbury Tor]]—the lowland landscape was formed only during the last 10,000&nbsp;years, following the end of the last [[ice age]]. Glastonbury Tor is composed of [[Bridport Sand Formation|Upper Lias Sand]]. The [[Polden Hills|Poldens]] and the Isle of [[Wedmore]] are composed of [[Blue Lias]] and [[Marl]], while the [[Mendip Hills|Mendips]] are largely [[Carboniferous limestone]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hardy |first=Peter |title=The Geology of Somerset |year=1999 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |page=45 |isbn=0-948578-42-4}}</ref> Although sea level changes since the [[Pliocene]] led to changes in sea level and the laying down of vegetation,<ref name="hawkins">{{cite book |last=Hawkins |first=Desmond |title=Avalon and Sedgemoor |url=https://archive.org/details/avalonsedgemoor0000hawk/page/23 |publisher=Alan Sutton Publishing |year=1982 |page=[https://archive.org/details/avalonsedgemoor0000hawk/page/23 23] |isbn=0-86299-016-5}}</ref> the peak of the peat formation took place in [[swamp]] conditions around 6,000&nbsp;years ago, although in some areas it continued into medieval times.<ref>{{cite web |last=Prudden |first=Hugh |title=Somerset Geology |url=http://www.heleigh.eclipse.co.uk/Somerset_Good_Rock_Guide.pdf |url-status=dead |work=Good Rock Guide |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608093541/http://www.heleigh.eclipse.co.uk/Somerset_Good_Rock_Guide.pdf |archive-date=8 June 2013 |access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Storer |first=Bernard |title=The Natural History of the Somerset Levels |publisher=Dovecote Press |year=1985 |pages=14–17 |isbn=978-0-946159-28-4}}</ref>

It is a mainly agricultural region, typically with open fields of permanent grass surrounded by ditches with [[willow]] trees. Access to individual areas, especially for cattle, was provided by means of "[[Drovers' road|droves]]", i.e. green lanes, leading off the public highways. Some of the old roads, in contrast to the old [[Sunken lane|hollow ways]] found in other areas of England, are [[causeway]]s raised above the level of the surrounding land, with a drainage ditch running along each side.<ref name="wright">{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Geoffrey N. |title=Roads and Trackways of Wessex |url=https://archive.org/details/roadstrackwaysof0000wrig/page/87 |publisher=Moorland Publishing Co. |year=1988 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/roadstrackwaysof0000wrig/page/87 87–89] |isbn=0-86190-248-3}}</ref>

===Settlements===
{{Location map+|United Kingdom Somerset Levels
  |caption = Settlements and places of interest on the Levels
  |float   =
  |width   = 400
  |places =

<!-- First four have population over 10,000 according to their articles, listed in descending order-->
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels|lat=51.128|long=-2.993|label=[[Bridgwater]]|label_size=90|marksize=11|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels|lat=51.237|long=-2.994|label='''[[Burnham-on-Sea]]'''|label_size=90|marksize=11|position=left}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels|lat=51.1235|long=-2.7381|label='''[[Street, Somerset|Street]]'''|label_size=90|marksize=11|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels|lat=51.207|long=-2.652|label=[[Wells, Somerset|Wells]]|label_size=95|marksize=12|position=right}}
<!-- Below all have population over 5,000 according to their articles, listed in descending order-->
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.148|long=-2.714|label=[[Glastonbury]]|label_size=85|marksize=11|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.278|long=-2.778|label=[[Cheddar, Somerset|Cheddar]]|label_size=85|marksize=11|position=right}}
<!-- Below all have population over 2,000 according to their articles, listed in descending order-->
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.219|long=-2.973|label='''[[Highbridge, Somerset|Highbridge]]'''|label_size=80|marksize=10|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.205|long=-2.982|label=[[Huntspill]]|label_size=80|marksize=10|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.170|long=-2.934|label=[[Woolavington]]|label_size=80|marksize=10|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.169|long=-2.973|label=[[Puriton]]|label_size=80|marksize=10|position=left}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.287|long=-2.815|label=[[Axbridge]]|label_size=80|marksize=10|position=right}}
<!-- Below all have population over 1,000 according to their articles-->
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.035|long=-2.810|label='''[[Huish Episcopi]]'''|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.106|long=-2.923|label=[[Westonzoyland]]|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.267|long=-3.012|label='''[[Berrow, Somerset|Berrow]]'''|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.308|long=-2.945|label=[[Bleadon]]|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.226|long=-2.8099|label=[[Wedmore]]|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.2252|long=-2.8938|label='''[[Mark, Somerset|Mark]]'''|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.170|long=-2.7789|label=[[Meare]]|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.1789|long=-2.8096|label=[[Westhay]]|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
<!-- Below are other landmarks and places of interest mentioned in the article-->
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.1605|long=-2.987|label=[[Dunball]]|label_size=70|marksize=9|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.254|long=-2.946|label='''[[Brent Knoll]]'''|label_size=70|mark=Black triangle2.svg|position=right}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.115556|long=-2.928333|label=[[Battle of Sedgemoor]]|label_size=70|mark=Battle icon gladii.svg|marksize=9|position=left}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.208|long=-3.129|label=[[Hinkley Point]]|label_size=70|mark=Icone Centrale Nucleaire.svg|marksize=9|position=left}}
{{Location map~|United Kingdom Somerset Levels |lat=51.0555|long=-2.9310|label=[[Athelney]]|label_size=70|mark=Black triangle2.svg|marksize=9|position=left}}
}}

Most of the settlements on the Levels are small villages. In the south, [[Aller, Somerset|Aller]], which has a population of 374,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/030D1/S_Som02%20mye.pdf |title=South Somerset population estimates for 2002 |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=18 December 2009 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710233052/http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/030D1/S_Som02%20mye.pdf |archive-date=10 July 2007}}</ref> includes the [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of Beer (sometimes ''Bere'') and the [[deserted medieval village]] of Oath on the opposite bank of the River Parrett. The area known as the Isle of [[Athelney]] was once a very low isolated island linked by a causeway to [[Lyng, Somerset|East Lyng]], each end of which was protected by a semi-circular [[stockade]] and ditch. The ditch on the island is now known to date from the [[Iron Age]], and was used by [[Alfred the Great]] as a fort before the [[Battle of Ethandun]] in May 878; in gratitude for his victory Alfred founded a monastery, [[Athelney Abbey]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Havinden |first=Michael |title=The Somerset Landscape |series=The making of the English landscape |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |year=1982 |page=94 |isbn=0-340-20116-9}}</ref> on the Isle in 888, which survived until the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] in 1539. [[Bawdrip]] is a small village which has a population of 498.<ref name="sedgecensus">{{cite web |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/030D9/Sedg02_mye.pdf |title=Parish Population Statistics for Sedgemoor |work=Office for National Statistics (ONS) Census 2001 |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=16 January 2011 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5lRyCSu4c?url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/030D9/Sedg02_mye.pdf |archive-date=21 November 2009}}</ref> [[Brent Knoll]] is a large village at the foot of {{convert|449|ft|adj=on}} [[Brent Knoll Camp]] that dominates the surrounding landscape; the name means ''Beacon Hill'' in [[Old English]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Somerset Place Names |publisher=Dovecote Press |year=1992 |page=33 |isbn=1-874336-03-2}}</ref> Brent Knoll has been inhabited since at least the [[Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |last2=Adkins |first2=Roy |title=A field guide to Somerset archaeology |year=1992 |publisher=Dovecote Press |isbn=978-0-946159-94-9 |pages=29–30}}</ref> Before the Somerset Levels were drained, Brent Knoll was an island known as the Isle (or Mount) of Frogs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mendip Hills |url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-mendip_hills |publisher=National Trust |access-date=28 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101002034346/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-mendip_hills |archive-date=2 October 2010}}</ref>

[[Glastonbury]] (population 8,784)<ref name="mendipcensus">{{cite web |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/58A/F5/Mendip_Parishes_01.pdf |title=Parish Population Statistics for Mendip |work=ONS Census 2001 |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=14 December 2009 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5lRyC5ccr?url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/media/58A/F5/Mendip_Parishes_01.pdf |archive-date=21 November 2009}}</ref> and [[Street, Somerset|Street]] (11,066)<ref name="mendipcensus"/> lie on opposite sides of the [[River Brue]], and provide a central point for trade and commerce. Larger centres are generally on slightly higher ground around the edges of the Levels. [[Bridgwater]] is a [[market town]], the administrative centre of the [[Sedgemoor]] district, and a major industrial centre. With a population of 33,698,<ref name="sedgecensus"/> it straddles the major communication routes through [[South West England]]. Situated on the edge of the Somerset Levels, along both banks of the River Parrett and {{convert|10|mi|km|0}} from its mouth, it was at one time a major port and trading centre. The hamlet of [[Dunball]] forms part of the port on the river. [[Burrowbridge]] lies on the River Parrett further inland. The name probably comes from the [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|buruh}} (fortified hill) and {{lang|ang|bryċġ}} (bridge).<ref>{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Stephen |title=Somerset Place Names |publisher=Dovecote Press |year=1992 |page=37 |isbn=1-874336-03-2}}</ref> In the village is [[Burrow Mump]], an ancient earthwork now owned by the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]]. Burrow Mump is also known as St Michael's Borough or Tutteyate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |last2=Adkins |first2=Roy |title=A field guide to Somerset archaeology |year=1992 |publisher=Dovecote Press |isbn=978-0-946159-94-9 |pages=32–33}}</ref> It is a natural hill of [[Triassic]] [[sandstone]] capped by [[Keuper marl]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hawkins |first=Desmond |title=Avalon and Sedgemoor |url=https://archive.org/details/avalonsedgemoor0000hawk/page/16 |publisher=Tabb House |year=1989 |page=[https://archive.org/details/avalonsedgemoor0000hawk/page/16 16] |isbn=0-86299-016-5}}</ref> Excavations showed evidence of a medieval masonry building on the top of the hill.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Remains of church on Burrow Mump |num=1344609 |access-date=23 February 2011}}</ref>

Along the coast, settlements such as [[Berrow, Somerset|Berrow]] are built on the line of sand dunes separating the low-lying marshes from the Bristol Channel. At the northern end [[Bleadon]] lies on the [[River Axe (Bristol Channel)|River Axe]]; and there was for many years a small harbour, sometimes known as Lympsham Wharf.<ref name="farr-88-90">{{cite book |title=Somerset Harbours |last=Farr |first=Grahame |year=1954 |publisher=Christopher Johnson |pages=89–90}}</ref> The arrival of the [[Bristol and Exeter Railway]] in 1841, which crossed the Axe on a bridge, obstructed river traffic beyond the wharf, making it the limit of navigation for coastal vessels.<ref name="farr-88-90"/> An [[Act of Parliament|Act]] of 1915 authorised the drainage of the river and installation of a flood gate at Bleadon,<ref>{{cite book |last=Toulson |first=Shirley |title=The Mendip Hills: A Threatened Landscape |year=1984 |page=59 |publisher=Victor Gollancz|isbn=0-575-03453-X}}</ref> although attempts to control the water had occurred on Bleadon Level since medieval times, including an early [[windmill]], in 1613, to pump water into the sea from behind a sea wall.<ref>{{cite book |last=Havinden |first=Michael |title=The Somerset Landscape |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |year=1982 |series=The making of the English landscape |pages=150–155 |isbn=0-340-20116-9}}</ref> [[Burnham-on-Sea]] (population 18,401)<ref>{{cite web |title=Neighbourhood statistics for Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge CP (Parish) |work=National Statistics |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=799132&c=Burnham-on-sea&d=16&e=15&g=483298&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 |access-date=24 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525191908/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=799132&c=Burnham-on-sea&d=16&e=15&g=483298&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 |archive-date=25 May 2011 }}</ref> is at the mouth of the River Parrett where it enters [[Bridgwater Bay]].<ref name="OS182">{{cite map|publisher=Ordnance Survey |title=182 Weston-super-Mare, Bridgwater and Wells |url=http://leisure.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/paper-maps/paper-maps-ordnance-survey-great-britain/paper-maps-ordnance-survey-great-britain-os-landranger-map/weston-super-mare/pid-9780319228609 |edition=C2 |year=2002 |scale=1:50000 |series=Landranger |access-date=24 February 2011 |isbn=0-319-22782-0 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110210142633/http://leisure.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/paper-maps/paper-maps-ordnance-survey-great-britain/paper-maps-ordnance-survey-great-britain-os-landranger-map/weston-super-mare/pid-9780319228609 |archive-date=10 February 2011 }}</ref> The position of the town on the edge of the Somerset Levels has resulted in a history dominated by land reclamation and sea defences since [[Roman Britain|Roman]] times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_BurnhamText.pdf |title=Burnham and Highbridge&nbsp;– Archeological Assessment |last=Gathercole |first=Clare |publisher=Somerset County Council |access-date=23 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717061728/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_BurnhamText.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2011 }}</ref> Burnham was seriously affected by the [[Bristol Channel floods, 1607|Bristol Channel floods of 1607]], and various flood defences have been installed since then.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somersetguide.co.uk/Burnham-on-Sea/ |title=Burnham on Sea |publisher=Somerset Guide |access-date=23 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110101154948/http://www.somersetguide.co.uk/Burnham-on-Sea/ |archive-date=1 January 2011  }}</ref> A concrete sea wall was built in 1911, and after the Second World War further additions to the defences were made, using the remains of a [[Mulberry harbour]]; the present curved concrete wall was completed in 1988.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Morris|first=Rod|date=March 2010|title=Burnham-on-Sea The Place to Be|journal=Somerset Time|volume=4|pages=24–25}}</ref> [[Highbridge, Somerset|Highbridge]], which neighbours Burnham, is near the mouth of the River Brue and the villages of East and West [[Huntspill]].<ref name="OS182"/>

===Climate===
Along with the rest of [[South West England]] the Somerset Levels have a temperate climate, which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country.<ref name="weather">{{cite web|title=South West England: climate |work=Met Office |url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/sw/ |access-date=14 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605003222/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/sw/ |archive-date= 5 June 2011 }}  Note: the information cited can be found on the tabs within the page.</ref> The annual mean temperature is approximately {{convert|10|°C|°F|1|lk=on}}. [[Temperateness|Seasonal temperature variation]] is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea. The summer months of July and August are the warmest, with mean daily maxima of approximately {{convert|21|°C|°F|1}}. In winter, mean minimum temperatures of {{convert|1|or|2|°C|°F|1}} are common.<ref name="weather"/> The [[Azores High|Azores high pressure area]] influences the southwest of England's summer weather, but [[convection|convective]] cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine. Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1,600&nbsp;hours.<ref name="weather"/> In December 1998, there were 20&nbsp;days without sun recorded at [[Yeovilton]]. Most rainfall in the southwest is caused by [[convection]] or [[Low-pressure area|Atlantic depressions]], which are most active in autumn and winter, when they are the chief cause of rain. In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by the Sun heating the land, leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around {{convert|700|mm|abbr=on}}, and about 8–15 days of snowfall is typical. November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, and June to August have the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the southwest.<ref name="weather"/> It was devastated by the [[UK storms of January–February 2014]].
{{#section:Yeovilton|weatherbox}}

==Water management==
[[File:The Map of Sedgemoor, with adjacent Parts (1662).jpg|thumb|"The Map of Sedgemoor, with adjacent Parts" from "The history of imbanking and drayning" by [[William Dugdale]] (1662).]]
[[File:Uk som brue.jpg|alt=A straight water filled channel surrounded by an avenue of trees and grassy banks.|thumb|right|The [[River Brue]] in an artificial channel draining farmland near [[Glastonbury]]]]
The Moors and Levels, formed from a submerged and reclaimed landscape, consist of a coastal clay belt only slightly above mean sea level, with an inland peat belt at a lower level behind it.<ref name="williams-3-4">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Michael |year=1970 |title=The Draining of the Somerset Levels |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-07486-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/3 3–4] |url=https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/3 }}</ref>

Early attempts to control the water levels were possibly made by the Romans (although records only date from the 13th&nbsp;century), but were not widespread.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/cbaresrep/pdf/007/00707001.pdf|title=The Somerset Levels in the Roman Period|last=Cunliffe|first=Barry |publisher=Archaeology Data Service (ADS)|access-date=30 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209191416/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/cbaresrep/pdf/007/00707001.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=9 December 2009}}</ref>

There was a port at [[Bleadney]] on the River Axe in the 8th&nbsp;century which allowed goods to be brought to within {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} of [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]]. In 1200, a wharf was constructed at [[Rackley]] near [[Axbridge]]. The Parrett was navigable up as far as [[Langport]] in 1600, with 15 to 20&nbsp;ton barges. The ''[[Domesday Book]]'' recorded that drainage of the higher grounds was under way, although the moors at Wedmoor were said to be useless.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams|first2= Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |page=71}}</ref>

In the Middle Ages, the monasteries of [[Glastonbury Abbey|Glastonbury]], [[Athelney]], and [[Muchelney Abbey|Muchelney]] were responsible for much of the drainage. In 1129, the Abbot of Glastonbury was recorded as inspecting enclosed land at [[Lympsham]]. Efforts to control flooding on the [[River Parrett|Parrett]] were recorded around the same date. In 1234, {{convert|722|acre|km2|1}} were reclaimed near [[Westonzoyland]] and, from the accounts in the abbey's rent books, this had increased to {{convert|972|acre}} by 1240.<ref name="williams">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Michael |title=Draining Somerset Levels |year=1970 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/50 50] |isbn=0-521-07486-X |url=https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/50 }}</ref>

===Drains===
[[File:Greylakesluice.jpg|alt=Straight watercourse, surrounded by fields and crossed by metal and concrete structure.|thumb|left|Greylake sluice on [[King's Sedgemoor Drain]]]]
Flooding of adjacent moor land was partially addressed during the 13th&nbsp;century by the construction of a number of embankment walls to contain the Parrett. They included Southlake Wall, Burrow Wall, and Lake Wall.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams|first2=Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |pages=72–73 }}</ref> The River Tone was also diverted by the Abbot of Athelney and other land owners into a new embanked channel, joining the Parrett upstream from its original confluence.<ref name="hollinrakes">{{cite book |editor-last=Blair |editor-first=John |title=Waterways and Canal-Building in Medieval England |url=https://archive.org/details/waterwayscanalbu00blai |url-access=limited |last1=Hollinrake |first1=Charles |last2=Hollinrake |first2=Nancy |chapter=Chapter 9: The Water Roads of Somerset |year=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-921715-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/waterwayscanalbu00blai/page/n242 228]–234}}</ref>

The main drainage outlets flowing through the Moors and Levels are the rivers [[River Axe (Bristol Channel)|Axe]], [[River Brue|Brue]], [[River Huntspill|Huntspill]], [[River Parrett|Parrett]], [[River Tone|Tone]], and [[River Yeo (South Somerset)|Yeo]], together with the [[King's Sedgemoor Drain]], an artificial channel into which the [[River Cary]] now runs. Previously, the Cary ran into the Tone while the Brue ran through [[Meare Pool]] (now drained) and the Panborough Gap, and then into the Axe. Another accomplishment in the Middle Ages was the construction of the tidal Pillrow Cut, joining the Brue and Axe.

In 1500, there was said to be {{convert|70000|acre|km2|0}} of floodable land of which only {{convert|20000|acre|km2|0}} had been reclaimed. In 1597, {{convert|50|acre}} of land were recovered near the Parrett estuary; a few years later, {{convert|140|acre}} near Pawlett were recovered by means of embankments; and three further reclamations, totalling {{convert|110|acre}}, had been undertaken downstream of Bridgwater by 1660.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams|first2=Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press  |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |page=77 }}</ref>

In the early 17th century, during the time of [[James VI and I|King James I]], abortive plans were made to drain and enclose much of [[Sedgemoor]], which the local Lords supported but opposed by the Commoners who would have lost grazing rights.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hawkins|first=Desmond|title=Avalon and Sedgemoor|year=1982|publisher=Alan Sutton Publishing|isbn=0-86299-016-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/avalonsedgemoor0000hawk/page/45 45]|url=https://archive.org/details/avalonsedgemoor0000hawk/page/45}}</ref> In 1632, [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] sold the Crown's interest in the scheme, and it was taken over by a consortium that included Sir [[Cornelius Vermuyden]], a [[Dutch people|Dutch]] drainage engineer. However, the work was delayed by the [[English Civil War]] and later defeated in parliament after local opposition.<ref name="havinden"/> In 1638, it was reported that nearly {{convert|2600|acre|km2|0}} of [[Tealham and Tadham Moors]] were not reclaimed, with a total of {{convert|30500|acre|km2|2}} being undrained. Between 1785 and 1791, much of the lowest part of the peat moors was enclosed. In 1795, [[John Billingsley (agriculturist)|John Billingsley]] advocated [[enclosure]] and the digging of [[rhyne]]s (a local name for drainage channels, pronounced "reens" in the east and rhyne to the west) between plots,<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite book|last=Havinden|first=Michael|title=The Somerset Landscape|year=1982|publisher=Hodder and Stoughton|series=The making of the English landscape|pages=133–135|isbn=0-340-20116-9}}</ref> and wrote in his ''Agriculture of the County of Somerset'' that {{convert|4400|acre|km2|0}} had been enclosed in the last 20 years in [[Wedmore]] and [[Meare]], {{convert|350|acre|km2|1}} at Nyland, {{convert|900|acre|km2|2}} at Blackford, {{convert|2000|acre|km2|0}} at [[Mark, Somerset|Mark]], {{convert|100|acre|km2|1}} in [[Shapwick, Somerset|Shapwick]], and {{convert|1700|acre|km2|0}} at [[Westhay]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams|first2=Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |pages=77–78 }}</ref>

At [[Westhay Moor]] in the early 19th&nbsp;century, it was shown how peat bogs could be successfully drained and top-dressed with silt deposited via flooding, creating a very rich soil.<ref name="JRASoE">{{cite journal | title=An Account of Improvement of a Shaking Bog at Meare in Somersetshire| first=Erasmus | last=Galton | journal= Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England | publisher= [[Royal Agricultural Society of England|Royal Agricultural Society]]| year=1845| volume= 6 | pages= 182–187 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mqEEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA183| access-date=27 October 2008}}</ref> The character of the soil was also changed by the spreading of clay and silt from the digging of King's Sedgemoor Drain.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dunning|first=Robert|title=Somerset & Avon|year=1980|publisher=Bartholomew|isbn=0-7028-8380-8|pages=126–127}}</ref>

===Pumps===
[[File:Curry Moor Pumping Station.jpg|alt=Brick building with large door and chimney.|thumb|Curry Moor pumping station]]
Little attempt was made during the 17th and 18th centuries to pump water, possibly because the coal-driven [[Newcomen steam engine]]s would have been uneconomical. It is unclear why [[windmill]]s were not employed, as they were on [[the Fens]] of [[East Anglia]], but only two examples have been recorded on the Levels: one at [[Bleadon]] at the mouth of the River Axe, where a sea wall had been built, and the other at Common Moor north of Glastonbury, which was being drained following a private act of Parliament in 1721, the [[Glastonbury Inclosure Act 1721]] ([[8 Geo. 1]]. c. ''16'' {{small|Pr.}}).<ref name="havinden"/> The first steam pumping station was [[Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum|Westonzoyland Pumping Station]] in 1830, followed by more effective ones from 1860. Automatic electric pumps are used today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=15118#s22 |last=Dunning |first=Robert |title=Westonzoyland |work=A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 8: The Poldens and the Levels |year=2004 |pages=190–210 |publisher=British History Online |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223419/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=15118 |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref>

The human-made [[River Huntspill|Huntspill River]] was constructed during [[World War II]] with sluices at both ends to provide a guaranteed daily supply of {{convert|4500000|impgal}} of "process water".<ref name="williams-238-240">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Michael |title=The Draining of the Somerset Levels |publisher=Cambridge University |year=1970 |isbn=0-521-07486-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/238 238–239] |url=https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/238 }}</ref> It was intended that in the summer, when water supply was lower, it would serve as a reservoir with water pumped from the moors; and in winter serve as a drainage channel, via gravity drainage.<ref name="williams-238-240"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams|first2=Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press  |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |page=82 }}</ref> [[Geotechnical engineering|Geotechnical]] problems prevented it from being dug as deep as originally intended and so gravity-drainage of the moors was not possible: thus, water is pumped up into the river throughout the year.<ref name="williams-238-240"/>

The [[Sowy River]] between the River Parrett and King's Sedgemoor Drain was completed in 1972.<ref name="parrettcatchment">{{cite web|url=http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/G3-02-BGNW-e-e.pdf |title=The Parrett Catchment Water Management Strategy Action Plan |year=2002 |publisher=Environment Agency |page=15 |access-date=28 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090319222658/http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/G3-02-BGNW-e-e.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2009 }}</ref><ref name="otter">{{cite book|last=Otter|first=R. A.|title=Civil Engineering Heritage: Southern England|publisher=Thomas Telford|year=1994 | page=100|isbn=0-7277-1971-8}}</ref> The Levels and Moors are now artificially drained by a network of rhynes which are pumped up into "drains". Water levels are managed by the Levels [[internal drainage board]]s (IDBs); the Levels are not as intensively drained or farmed as the [[East Anglia]]n [[fen]]s, historically a similar area of low marsh. They are still liable to widespread fresh water flooding in winter. One of the approaches to reducing the risk of flooding within the catchment area of the Parrett is the planting of new woodlands.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sustainability appraisal case study|url=http://www.forumforthefuture.org/files/parrett4.pdf|work=The Parrett Catchment Project |publisher=South West Sustainable Land Use Initiative|access-date=17 June 2010|page=28|date=September 2005|archive-url  =https://www.webcitation.org/5qYtpFvOV?url=http://www.forumforthefuture.org/files/parrett4.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date =17 June 2010 }}</ref>

Controversy about the management of the drainage and flood protection has previously involved the activities of IDBs.<ref>{{cite news|first=Paul |last=Kingsnorth |title=Patchwork guilt |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/1999/jul/07/guardiansocietysupplement3 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=7 July 1999 |access-date=10 June 2007 |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228181809/http://www.theguardian.com/society/1999/jul/07/guardiansocietysupplement3 |archive-date=28 February 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.floodplains.org.uk/pdf/area_case_studies/SomersetLevelsCaseStudy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060214000108/http://www.floodplains.org.uk/pdf/area_case_studies/SomersetLevelsCaseStudy.pdf |title=Somerset Levels and Moors Parrett Catchment |archive-date=14 February 2006 |url-status=dead |access-date=14 February 2011 |work=floodplains.org }}</ref> However, IDBs have been actively participating with the Parrett Catchment Partnership, a partnership of 30 organisations that aims to create a consensus on how water is to be managed, in particular, looking at new ways to achieve sustainable benefits for all local stakeholders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parrettcatchment.info/ |title=Parrett Catchment project |publisher=Parrett Catchment project |access-date=22 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090801052726/http://www.parrettcatchment.info/ |archive-date=1 August 2009 }}</ref>

During 2009 and 2010, work was undertaken to upgrade sluice gates, watercourses, and culverts to enable seasonal flooding of [[Southlake Moor]] during the winter diverting water from the [[Sowy River]] onto the moor. It has the capacity to hold 1.2 million cubic metres as part of a scheme by the Parrett Internal Drainage Board to restore ten floodplains in Somerset. In spring, the water is drained away to enable the land to be used as pasture during the summer.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_9364000/9364140.stm |title=Southlake Moor restored to floodplain by drainage board |publisher=BBC |access-date=19 January 2011 |date=17 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126223225/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_9364000/9364140.stm |archive-date=26 January 2011 }}</ref> The scheme is also used to encourage water birds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk/Southlake_FC_IDB_newsletter_2_Autumn_2010.pdf |title=Southlake Moor Favourable Condition Project Newsletter 2: Autumn 2010 |publisher=Parrett Drainage Board |access-date=19 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428174940/http://www.somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk/Southlake_FC_IDB_newsletter_2_Autumn_2010.pdf |archive-date=28 April 2011 }}</ref>

===Sea defences===
[[File:The sea wall at Burnham-On-Sea - geograph.org.uk - 1386841.jpg|thumb|left|The sea wall and defences at [[Burnham-on-Sea]]]]
The Levels were frequently flooded by the sea during high tides, a problem that was not resolved until the [[Coastal management|sea defences]] were enhanced in the early 20th&nbsp;century. In addition, the problems of high fresh water floods are aggravated by the unrestricted entry of the tide along the [[River Parrett|Parrett]],<ref name="williams-246-247">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Michael |year=1970 |title=The Draining of the Somerset Levels |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-07486-X |pages=[https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/246 246–247] |url=https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/246 }}</ref> which is the only river in the Levels and Moors that does not have a [[clyse]] on it. Discussions on whether a clyse is needed for the Parrett and whether it should be sited at Bridgwater or nearer the mouth of the river date back to 1939, at the start of World War II, and have not been resolved.<ref name="williams-246-247"/>

On 13 December 1981, a [[December 1981 windstorm|large Atlantic storm hit the North Somerset coast]].<ref name=SatSea/> Meteorological conditions caused a large storm surge which coincided with high astronomical tides  in the [[Bristol Channel]] and [[Severn Estuary]]. Wind speeds were measured at {{convert|40|knots}}. Overtopping of the sea defences along a {{convert|7|mi}} stretch of the Somerset coast at 22 locations from [[Clevedon]] to [[Porlock]] began after 19:30. Although there was no loss of life, the resultant flooding covered {{convert|12500|acre}} of land, affecting 1,072 houses and commercial properties, with £150,000 worth of livestock killed and £50,000 of feed and grain destroyed. [[Wessex Water|Wessex Water Authority]] estimated the total cost of the damage caused at £6M. This resulted in a three-year programme of sea defence assessment, repair and improvement.<ref name=SatSea>{{cite web|url=http://a0768b4a8a31e106d8b0-50dc802554eb38a24458b98ff72d550b.r19.cf3.rackcdn.com/gesw1206blpp-e-e.pdf |title=Somerset and the sea |publisher=[[Environment Agency]] |access-date=5 December 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304232110/http://a0768b4a8a31e106d8b0-50dc802554eb38a24458b98ff72d550b.r19.cf3.rackcdn.com/gesw1206blpp-e-e.pdf |archive-date= 4 March 2016 }}</ref> With 400 properties affected in [[Burnham-on-Sea]], after emergency repairs, Wessex Water Authority began planning new sea defences. Construction work started in 1983 on a £7M scheme, creating what was then Britain's biggest [[Sea wall#Types|wave return wall]].<ref name=SatSea/>

The [[Environment Agency]]'s current "Parrett Catchment Flood Management Plan", published in December 2009, divides the Parrett catchment area into eight sub-areas, with the Somerset Levels and Moors falling into sub-area 6 and Bridgwater falling into sub-area 7.<ref name="EA-dec2007">{{Cite report|title=Parrett Catchment Flood Management Plan: Summary Report |publisher=Environment Agency |url=http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GESW1109BOUT-e-e.pdf |date=December 2009 |docket=GESW1109BOUT-E-P |pages=18–19&nbsp;&&nbsp;20–21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140328084622/http://cdn.environment-agency.gov.uk/gesw1109bout_e_e_13aeb8.pdf |archive-date=28 March 2014 }}</ref> As part of the published flood risk assessments for both these sub-areas, it is recognised that: at a future date a tidal clyse may be needed on the Parrett; this causes a funding dilemma; and, [[geomorphology]] studies of the Parrett and the [[River Tone|Tone]] are needed to help address many of the uncertainties associated with a tidal exclusion project.<ref name="EA-dec2007"/>

===Flooding===
[[File:Southlakemoor.jpg|alt=Photograph from elevation of flooded river flowing between snow-covered fields. Hills in the distance.|thumb|[[Southlake Moor]] during a winter flood]]
The Levels are at risk from both tidal and land-based flood waters.<ref name="williams-3-4"/>

During the [[Great Storm of 1703|great storm of 1703]], waves came four feet (1.2&nbsp;m) over the sea walls. The sea wall was again breached in 1799, filling the Axe valley with sea water. In 1872, another flood covered {{convert|7000|acre|km2|0}} and in 1919, {{convert|70000|acre|km2|0}} were inundated with sea water, poisoning the land for up to 7&nbsp;years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams|first2=Romey|title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |pages=83–85 }}</ref>

Since 1990, the drainage boards have been charged with watching the [[rhyne]]s and keeping them clear, under the overall responsibility of the Environment Agency. With rising sea levels, the work required to maintain the sea defences is likely to become more expensive, and it has been proposed that two inland seas be created.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020515/halltext/20515h04.htm |title=Somerset Levels |access-date=10 June 2007 |work=House of Commons Debates&nbsp;– Hansard |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014828/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020515/halltext/20515h04.htm |archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref> Other studies have recommended maintaining the current defences for five years while undertaking further studies of available options.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/80793.aspx |title=The Steart Peninsular Project |access-date=30 November 2011 |publisher=Environment Agency |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203134722/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/80793.aspx |archive-date=3 December 2012}}</ref>

Although the Environment Agency have made plans for the regular winter flooding, still in recent years this has resulted in a number of villages&nbsp;— including [[Muchelney]] and [[Westonzoyland]] — being cut off. In November 2012, during the [[2012 Great Britain and Ireland floods]], after six days [[Somerset County Council]]-funded [[Burnham Area Rescue Boat|BARB]] rescue boats reached Muchelney on 29 November, rescuing nearly 100 people.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-20524682 |title=UK floods: Rescue boat take villagers to buy supplies |date=28 November 2012 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=25 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609064822/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-20524682 |archive-date= 9 June 2013}}</ref>

Rescue boats were again required during the rain and storms from [[Cyclone Dirk]] in the turn of the year 2014,<ref>{{cite news |title=UK storms: Further flooding risk as heavy rain forecast |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25633693 |url-status=live |publisher=BBC News |date=7 January 2014 |access-date=7 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107135451/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25633693 |archive-date=7 January 2014}}</ref> and subsequently during the [[Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels]]. On 24 January 2014, in light of the continued flooded extent of the Somerset Moors and forecast new rainfall as part of the [[Winter storms of 2013–14 in the United Kingdom]], both Somerset County Council and Sedgemoor District Council declared a [[Emergency management#United Kingdom|major incident]].<ref name=BBC25876309/><ref name=GuardMajIncid/> At this time, with {{convert|17000|acre}} of agricultural land having been under water for over a month,<ref name=GuardMajIncid>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/24/uk-floods-major-incident-somerset-levels |title=UK floods: council declares major incident on Somerset Levels |author=Steven Morris |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 January 2014 |access-date=24 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203161413/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/24/uk-floods-major-incident-somerset-levels |archive-date= 3 February 2014}}</ref> the village of [[Thorney, Somerset|Thorney]] had been abandoned and Muchelney had been cut off by flood waters for almost a month.<ref name=BBC25876309>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-25876309 |title=Somerset floods: 'Major incident' declared |publisher=BBC News |date=24 January 2014 |access-date=24 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125212823/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-25876309 |archive-date=25 January 2014}}</ref> [[Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs|Environment Minister]] [[Owen Paterson]] visited the area on 27 January 2014, and after meeting local MPs, the Environment Agency and various community representatives the night before in Taunton, promised at a media-only press conference at [[North Moor]] pumping station that if a local water management plan could be developed over the next six weeks, he would approve it. Such plan would likely include the dredging of the rivers Tone and Parrett, and possibly a later sluice near Bridgwater.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25908098 |title=Environment Minister Owen Paterson orders action plan |publisher=BBC News |date=27 January 2014 |access-date=27 January 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127022543/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25908098 |archive-date=27 January 2014}}</ref> There have been public protests about the river Parrett not being [[dredging|dredged]] in recent years. In mid-February 2014 the Environment Agency began installing giant pumps imported from the [[Netherlands]] to alleviate the continuing flooding.<ref name="guardian 140213">{{cite news|last=Morris |first=Steven |title=Somerset Levels receive giant Dutch pumps to funnel flood water to sea |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/13/somerset-levels-dutch-pumps-funnel-floods |access-date=15 February 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=13 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223013639/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/13/somerset-levels-dutch-pumps-funnel-floods |archive-date=23 February 2014 }}</ref>
{{clear}}

==Human habitation==
[[File:Sweet Track replica.jpg|alt=Two wooden posts set in the ground and crossing at an angle support a wooden board which disappears into tall green reeds|thumb|A replica of the [[Sweet Track]]]]

A [[Palaeolithic]] flint tool found in Westbury is the earliest indication of human presence in the area, dating from approximately 500,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pitts|first1=Michael|last2=Roberts|first2= Mark|title=Fairweather Eden|year=1998|publisher=Arrow Books|isbn=0-09-964491-6|location=London|pages=121–123, 131–132}}</ref> Later during the 7th&nbsp;millennium BC the sea level rose and flooded the valleys, forcing the [[Mesolithic]] people to occupy seasonal camps on the higher ground, indicated by scatters of flints.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=Robert |title=A History of Somerset |year=1983 |publisher=Phillimore & Co | page=11 |isbn= 0-85033-461-6 }}</ref> Subsequent winter flooding probably led to prehistoric man's using the Levels only in the summer, hence the county of Somerset may derive its name from ''Sumorsaete'', meaning ''land of the summer people''. An alternative suggestion is that the name derives from ''Seo-mere-saetan'' meaning "settlers by the sea lakes".<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitlock |first=Ralph |title=Somerset |year=1975 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd |location=London |isbn=978-0-7134-2905-3}}</ref> The [[Neolithic]] people continued to exploit the reedswamps for their natural resources and started to construct wooden [[trackway]]s such as the [[Sweet Track|Sweet]] and [[Post Track]]s. The Sweet Track, named after the peat digger who discovered it in 1970 and dating from the 3800s BC, is the world's oldest [[timber trackway]], once thought to be the world's oldest engineered roadway.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams |first2=Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |pages=35–38 }}</ref> The track was built between what was in the early 4th&nbsp;millennium BC an island at [[Westhay]] and a ridge of high ground at [[Shapwick, Somerset|Shapwick]], close to the [[River Brue]]. The remains of similar tracks have been uncovered nearby, connecting settlements on the [[Raised bog|peat bog]] including the Honeygore, Abbotts Way, Bells, Bakers, Westhay and Nidons trackways.<ref name="ncprofile"/>

The Levels contain the best-preserved prehistoric village in the UK,<ref name=GLV/> [[Glastonbury Lake Village]], as well as two others at [[Meare Lake Village]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |last2=Adkins |first2=Roy |title=A field guide to Somerset archaeology |year=1992 |publisher=Dovecote Press |isbn=978-0-946159-94-9 |pages=69–70 }}</ref> Discovered in 1892 by [[Arthur Bulleid]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://glastonburyantiquarians.org/site/index.php?page_id=54 |title=Lake village |access-date=18 November 2007 |work=Glastonbury Antiquarians |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215091828/http://glastonburyantiquarians.org/site/index.php?page_id=54 |archive-date=15 December 2007 }}</ref> it was inhabited by about 200&nbsp;people living in 14&nbsp;[[Roundhouse (dwelling)|roundhouses]],<ref name=GLV>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/23637 |title=Glastonbury Lake Village |access-date=18 November 2007 |work=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003094559/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/23637 |archive-date= 3 October 2016 }}</ref> and was built on a [[Marsh|morass]] on an artificial foundation of timber filled with brushwood, [[bracken]], rubble and clay.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |title=Iron Age Communities in Britain (4th Ed) |year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lkEgdtOvGEC |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-34779-3 |page=266 | access-date=3 January 2011 }}</ref> Investigation of the Meare Pool indicates that it was formed by the encroachment of [[Raised bog|raised peat bogs]], particularly during the [[Blytt–Sernander sequence|Subatlantic climatic period]] (1st millennium BC), and [[Core sample|core sampling]] demonstrates that it is filled with at least {{convert|2|m|ft}} of detritus mud.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rippon |first=Stephen |year=2004 |title=Making the Most of a Bad Situation? Glastonbury Abbey, Meare, and the Medieval Exploitation of Wetland Resources in the Somerset Levels |journal=Medieval Archaeology |publisher=Maney Publishing |volume=48 |page=119 |doi=10.1179/007660904225022816 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/vol48/48_091_130.pdf |access-date=3 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719032231/http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/vol48/48_091_130.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2011 |hdl=10036/20952 |s2cid=161985196 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Godwin |first1=H. |last2=MacFadyen |first2=W. A. |year=1955 |title=Studies of the Post-Glacial History of British Vegetation. XIII. The Meare Pool Region of the Somerset Levels |journal=[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B]] |publisher=Royal Society |volume=239 |issue=662 |pages=161–190 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1955.0008 |bibcode=1955RSPTB.239..161G |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The two villages within Meare Pool appear to originate from a collection of structures erected on the surface of the dried peat, such as tents, windbreaks and animal folds. Clay was later spread over the peat, providing raised stands for occupation, industry and movement, and in some areas thicker clay spreads accommodated hearths built of clay or stone.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chapmana|first1=Henry P.|last2= Van De Noort|first2= Robert|year=2001|title=High-Resolution Wetland Prospection, using GPS and GIS: Landscape Studies at Sutton Common (South Yorkshire), and Meare Village East (Somerset)|journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|volume=28|issue=4|pages=365–375 |doi=10.1006/jasc.2000.0581|bibcode=2001JArSc..28..365C }}</ref>

The area continued to be inhabited during the [[Bronze Age]], when the population supported itself largely by hunting and fishing in the surrounding marshes, living on artificial islands connected by wooden [[causeway]]s on wooden piles. There have been many finds of metalwork during peat cutting, which may have been devotional offerings. [[Brent Knoll]] has been settled by people since at least the Bronze Age.  It is the site of an [[Iron Age]] [[hillfort]] known as [[Brent Knoll Camp]], with multiple ramparts (''[[Hillfort#Types|multivallate]]'') following the contours of the hill.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adkins |first1=Lesley |last2=Adkins |first2=Roy |title=A field Guide to Somerset Archeology |year=1992 |publisher=Dovecote press | pages=29–30 |isbn=0-946159-94-7 }}</ref> Several settlements and hill forts were built on the natural "islands" of slightly raised land, including Brent Knoll, [[Glastonbury]], and the low range of the [[Polden Hills]]. According to legend Ider son of Nuth, who was one of [[King Arthur]]'s knights, went to the Mount of Frogs on a quest to slay three giants who lived there.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brent Knoll (Hillfort) |work=The Modern Antiquarian |url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/3443 |access-date=24 May 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929092642/http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/3443 |archive-date=29 September 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A guide to Somerset's mysterious sites |work=Mysterious Britain Gazetteer |url=http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/england/somerset/legends/brent-knoll.html |access-date=3 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212140448/http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/england/somerset/legends/brent-knoll.html |archive-date=12 December 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=A gazetteer of Arthurian sites | work=Southern Methodist University | url= http://faculty.smu.edu/arthuriana/gazetteer.htm | access-date=24 May 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070403154628/http://faculty.smu.edu/arthuriana/gazetteer.htm |archive-date = 3 April 2007}}</ref> The fort has been claimed as the site of the [[Battle of Mons Badonicus]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Brent Knoll Hillfort. |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/11113 |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=28 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003094113/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/11113 |archive-date= 3 October 2016 }}</ref>

[[File:Glastonbury (part of) from the tor arp.jpg|thumb|The town of [[Glastonbury]], [[Somerset]], looking west from the top of [[Glastonbury Tor]]. The fields in the distance are part of the Levels.]]
[[Sea salt]] was extracted during the [[Roman Britain|Roman]] period, and a string of settlements were set up along the Polden Hills. Some possible settlement sites are also known in the Draycott and Cheddar Moors and around [[Highbridge, Somerset|Highbridge]].<ref name="bosandh">{{cite web |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_BurnhamText.pdf |title=Burnham on Sea and Highbridge |last=Gathercole |first=Clare |work=Archaeological Assessments |page=7 |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=3 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717061728/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/EUS_BurnhamText.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2011}}</ref> The discovery at [[Shapwick, Somerset|Shapwick]] of 9,238&nbsp;silver [[Roman currency|Roman coins]],<ref name="ricey">{{cite web|last=Ricey |first=Steven |title=Shapwick Coin Hoard |url=http://www.coinhoards.co.uk/South_West_England/Shapwick_Coin_Hoard/ |publisher=Coinhoards.co.uk |date=6 June 2009 |access-date=17 June 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224000110/http://www.coinhoards.co.uk/South_West_England/Shapwick_Coin_Hoard/|archive-date=24 February 2012}}</ref><ref name="hellier">{{cite journal|last=Hellier |first=Chris |title=Roman Coin Cache Discovered |journal=Archeology |date=March 2000 |volume=53 |issue=2 |url=http://www.archaeology.org/0003/newsbriefs/coins.html |access-date=3 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715063257/http://www.archaeology.org/0003/newsbriefs/coins.html |archive-date=15 July 2010 }}</ref> the [[Shapwick Hoard|second largest hoard]] ever found from the [[Roman Empire]] included coins dated from as early as 31–30 BC up until 224 AD.<ref name="table">{{cite web|url=http://www.forumancientcoins.com/historia/hoards/table2.htm |title=Table 2 |publisher=forumancientcoins.com |access-date=9 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110423020951/http://www.forumancientcoins.com/historia/hoards/table2.htm |archive-date=23 April 2011 }}</ref> The hoard also contained two rare coins which had not been discovered in Britain before,<ref name="hellier"/> and the largest number of silver [[denarius|denarii]] ever found in Britain.<ref name="ricey"/><ref name="tar1998">{{cite web|url=http://finds.org.uk/documents/treasurereports/19981999.pdf |title=Treasure Annual Report 1998–1999 |publisher=[[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]] |year=2000 |access-date=17 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019112710/http://finds.org.uk/documents/treasurereports/19981999.pdf |archive-date=19 October 2012 }}</ref>

A number of [[Anglo-Saxon]] charters document the incorporation of areas of moor in estates, suggesting that the area continued to be exploited.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=Robert |title=A History of Somerset |year=1983 |publisher=Phillimore & Co.| pages=21–27 |isbn= 0-85033-461-6 }}</ref> It is easy to see why the area acquired a number of legends, particularly of [[King Arthur]] and his followers, who some believe based his court in the hill fort at [[South Cadbury]].<ref>{{cite journal| author=Ashe, Geoffrey | title=A Certain Very Ancient British Book: Traces of an Arthurian Source in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History | journal=Speculum | year=1981 | volume=56 | pages= 301–23 | doi=10.2307/2846937 | issue=2 | jstor=2846937| s2cid=162234493 }}</ref> According to legend, [[Alfred the Great]] burnt cakes when hiding in the marshes of [[Athelney]], after the [[Denmark|Danish]] invasion in 875. After the [[Battle of Edington]] the Danish king was baptised at [[Aller, Somerset|Aller]] and a peace treaty signed at [[Wedmore]].<ref>{{cite book|last1= Keynes|first1= Simon|last2= Lapidge|first2= Michael|title= Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and other contemporary sources|pages= [https://archive.org/details/alfredgreatasser0000asse/page/93 93–94]|year= 2004|publisher= Penguin Classics|isbn= 0-14-044409-2|url= https://archive.org/details/alfredgreatasser0000asse/page/93}}</ref>

In 1685, the [[Monmouth Rebellion]] ended at the [[Battle of Sedgemoor]], which was fought in the Bussex area of [[Westonzoyland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/stuart-rebellions/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=37 |title=Battle of Sedgemoor |access-date=21 November 2007 |publisher=UK Battlefields resource centre |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204160320/http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/stuart-rebellions/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=37 |archive-date= 4 December 2007 }}</ref>

==Land use==
The Levels have few wooded areas, just occasional [[willow]] trees. The landscape is dominated by grassland, mostly used as pasture for dairy farming with approximately 70&nbsp;per cent of the area being grassland and 30&nbsp;per cent arable. From January until May, the [[River Parrett]] provides a source of [[European eel]]s (''Anguilla anguilla'') and young elvers, which are caught by [[hand net]]ting as this is the only legal means of catching them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.efishbusiness.co.uk/formsandguides/eel-elver-guidance.pdf |title=Environment Agency Eel and Elver Fishing Guidance|publisher=[[Environment Agency]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813005832/http://www.efishbusiness.co.uk/formsandguides/eel-elver-guidance.pdf |archive-date=13 August 2016 |url-status=dead |access-date=20 January 2011}}</ref> A series of eel passes have been built on the Parrett at the King's Sedgemoor Drain to help this endangered species; cameras have shown 10,000 eels migrating upstream in a single night.<ref name="eelodyssey">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/reports/the-odyssey-of-the-eel/ |title=The Odyssey of the Eel |date=15 October 2008 |work=Radio 4 |publisher=BBC |access-date=28 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118053012/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/reports/the-odyssey-of-the-eel |archive-date=18 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2008/09/03/eels_feature.shtml |title=Groundbreaking project saves glass eels |date=4 September 2008 |work=Nature Features |publisher=BBC Somerset |access-date=21 December 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113192806/http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2008/09/03/eels_feature.shtml |archive-date=13 November 2012 }}</ref> The 2003 [[BBC Radio 4]] play ''[[Glass Eels]]'' by [[Nell Leyshon]] was set on the Parrett.<ref>{{cite news|last=Spencer |first=Charles |title=Glass Eels&nbsp;– a whirlpool of emotion |work=The Telegraph |date=11 July 2007 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3666439/Glass-Eels-a-whirlpool-of-emotion.html |access-date=26 August 2010 |publisher=[[Sunday Telegraph]] |location=London |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007162523/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3666439/Glass-Eels-a-whirlpool-of-emotion.html |archive-date= 7 October 2014 }}</ref>

The Levels, as part of the West Country, traditionally produced [[cider]], with individual farms having [[orchard]]s and their own cider, known as [[scrumpy]]. However, over 60% of Somerset's orchards have been lost in the last fifty years;<ref>{{cite web |title=Request Somerset Orchards newsletter |publisher=Somerset County Council |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/irj/public/services/directory/service?rid=/wpccontent/Sites/SCC/Web%20Pages/Services/Services/Environment/Request%20Somerset%20Orchards%20newsletter |access-date=17 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628180211/http://www.somerset.gov.uk/irj/public/services/directory/service?rid=%2Fwpccontent%2FSites%2FSCC%2FWeb%20Pages%2FServices%2FServices%2FEnvironment%2FRequest%20Somerset%20Orchards%20newsletter |archive-date=28 June 2011}}</ref> and apple production occupies less than 0.4% of the land. Cider is still produced in Somerset by [[Thatchers Cider]], [[Gaymer Cider Company]] and numerous small independent producers. Other local industries that once thrived on the Levels, such as thatching (using reeds) and basket making (using willow), have been in decline since the second half of the 20th century. Combined with the recent drop in farm incomes, this poses a potential threat to the "traditional" nature of the area as a whole. Subsidies are paid to farmers who manage their land in the traditional way.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams |first2=Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |publisher=Ex Libris Press |year=1992 |pages=161–163 |isbn=0-948578-38-6}}</ref>

===Electricity generation===
In 2009, [[National Grid (Great Britain)|National Grid]] began public consultations over plans to build a line of electricity pylons, by one of two routes between [[Hinkley Point]] and [[Avonmouth]]. The plans attracted local opposition.<ref>{{cite news |title=Protest meeting against pylons |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/8382223.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=27 November 2009 |access-date=19 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="ng-hpc">{{cite web |title=The Hinkley Point C connection project |url=https://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/investment-and-innovation/new-essential-infrastructure/hinkley-point-c-connection |publisher=National Grid |access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref> The first consultation process ended in January 2010.<ref name="ng-hpc"/> They had proposed that each pylon would be {{convert|151|ft|m}} high: the consultation was only in respect of preferences between two alternate routes, not the size nor the use of large pylons. The proposed line, which is due to open by September 2017, will [[Electric power transmission|transmit]] electricity at 400 [[Volt|kilovolts]] from the proposed [[Hinkley Point C nuclear power station]].<ref name="ng-hpc"/><ref name=hinckley-c>{{cite news |title=Future of renewable energy in Somerset |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8863000/8863313.stm |publisher=BBC |access-date=5 September 2010 |date=28 July 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108193601/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8863000/8863313.stm |archive-date=8 January 2014}}</ref> Hinkley Point C is a project to construct a 3,200&nbsp;[[MWe]] [[nuclear power]] station with two [[EPR (nuclear reactor)|EPR]] reactors.<ref name="ITV.com report; 21 October 2013">{{cite web |title=Government closes 'historic' deal to build first nuclear plant in a generation |date=21 October 2013 |url=http://www.itv.com/news/2013-10-21/government-closes-historic-deal-to-build-first-nuclear-plant-in-a-generation-hinkley-point/ |publisher=ITV.com |access-date=31 December 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231034344/http://www.itv.com/news/2013-10-21/government-closes-historic-deal-to-build-first-nuclear-plant-in-a-generation-hinkley-point/ |archive-date=31 December 2013}}</ref> The site is one of eight announced by the British government in 2010,<ref name="newUKsites">{{cite news|title=Nuclear power: Eight sites identified for future plants |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11564152 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=18 October 2010 |date=18 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101019043151/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11564152 |archive-date=19 October 2010}}</ref> and in November 2012 a nuclear site licence was granted.<ref name="bbc261112">{{cite news |title=Hinkley Point nuclear station: Licence granted for site |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-20499033 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=27 November 2012 |date=26 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127171507/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-20499033 |archive-date=27 November 2012}}</ref> On 28 July 2016 the [[Électricité de France|EDF]] board approved the project,<ref name="guardian-20160728">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/28/hinkley-point-c-to-go-ahead-after-edf-board-approves-project |title=Hinkley Point C to go ahead after EDF board approves project |author=Graham Ruddick |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 July 2016 |access-date=28 July 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729162618/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jul/28/hinkley-point-c-to-go-ahead-after-edf-board-approves-project |archive-date=29 July 2016}}</ref> and on 15 September 2016 the UK government approved the project with some safeguards for the investment.<ref name="govuk-20160915">{{cite news |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-hinkley-point-c-project-following-new-agreement-in-principle-with-edf |title=Government confirms Hinkley Point C project following new agreement in principle with EDF |publisher=GOV.UK |date=15 September 2016 |access-date=15 September 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916193134/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-confirms-hinkley-point-c-project-following-new-agreement-in-principle-with-edf |archive-date=16 September 2016}}</ref> In March 2017, EDF, after the [[Office for Nuclear Regulation]] gave approval to start building a network of tunnels to carry cabling and piping, started work also under way on a jetty, seawall and accommodation blocks.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/cdd0d904-154e-11e7-b0c1-37e417ee6c76 |title=Hinkley Point construction gets under way |newspaper=[[Financial Times]] |first=Andrew |last=Ward |date=31 March 2017 |access-date=7 April 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407233358/https://www.ft.com/content/cdd0d904-154e-11e7-b0c1-37e417ee6c76 |archive-date=7 April 2017}}</ref> The concrete pour for the first reactor is planned only at earliest in 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vaughan |first=Adam |title=Hinkley Point C is £1.5bn over budget and a year behind schedule, EDF admits |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/03/hinkley-point-c-is-22bn-over-budget-and-a-year-behind-schedule-edf-admits |url-status=live |newspaper=The Guardian |date=3 July 2017 |access-date=16 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708005144/http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/03/hinkley-point-c-is-22bn-over-budget-and-a-year-behind-schedule-edf-admits |archive-date=8 July 2017}}</ref>

In 2010 and 2011, two proposals to build a total of 14 [[wind turbine]]s, with [[Ecotricity]] to build five<ref>{{cite web |title=Burnham-On-Sea wind farm plans will be submitted to planners this week |url=http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/2006/wind-farm-20-03-06.shtml |publisher=burnham-on-sea.com |date=20 March 2006 |access-date=19 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708104634/http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/2006/wind-farm-20-03-06.shtml |archive-date=8 July 2011}}</ref> or four<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Ditch, Somerset More wind power for Somerset |url=http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/our-green-electricity/from-the-wind/wind-parks-gallery/black-ditch-somerset |publisher=Ecotricity |access-date=19 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110130040501/http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/our-green-electricity/from-the-wind/wind-parks-gallery/black-ditch-somerset |archive-date=30 January 2011}}</ref> adjacent to the M5 Motorway near [[Brent Knoll]] and Électricité de France to build nine at East Huntspill,<ref name=hinckley-c/> are opposed by local groups on the grounds of their effect on the local environment and potential damage to the bird population.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fears wind farm would ruin Somerset Levels |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8564000/8564014.stm |publisher=BBC News |access-date=5 September 2010 |date=6 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206093356/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8564000/8564014.stm |archive-date=6 December 2010}}</ref>

===Willow===
[[File:Willowmann.jpg|alt=Large statue of a human figure with arms outstretched. In the background are trees and an electricity pylon.|thumb|upright|[[Willow Man]]]]

Willow has been cut and used on the Levels since mankind moved into the area. Fragments of willow basket were found near the Glastonbury Lake Village, and it was used in the construction of several [[Iron Age]] causeways.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/opencountry_20041120.shtml |title=Somerset Levels |date=20 November 2004 |access-date=10 June 2007 |work=BBC Radio 4&nbsp;– Open Country |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060825202414/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/opencountry_20041120.shtml |archive-date=25 August 2006}}</ref> The willow was harvested using traditional methods of [[pollarding]], where a tree would be cut back to the main stem. New shoots of willow, called "withies", would grow out of the trunk and these would be cut periodically for use.<ref name="williams-258">{{cite book |last=Williams |first=Michael |title=The Draining of the Somerset Levels |year=1970 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-07486-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/258 258] |url=https://archive.org/details/drainingofsomers0000will/page/258 }}</ref>

During the 1930s, over {{convert|9000|acre|km2|0}} of willow were being grown commercially on the Levels. Largely because of the replacement of baskets by plastic bags and cardboard boxes, the industry has severely declined since the 1950s. By the end of the 20th&nbsp;century only about {{convert|350|acre|km2|1}} were grown commercially, near the villages of [[Burrowbridge]], [[Westonzoyland]], and [[North Curry]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams|first2= Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |year=1992 |publisher=Ex Libris Press |isbn=0-948578-38-6 |pages=101–102 }}</ref> The Somerset Levels is now the only area in the UK where basket willow is grown commercially. For weaving, the species ''[[Salix triandra]]'' (almond willow, ''black maul'') is grown, while ''[[Salix viminalis]]'' (common osier) is ideal for handles, bases, and the structural members in furniture and hurdles. Historically willow was used to make salmon traps or "[[putcher]]s". Products including baskets, eel traps (kypes), [[Lobster trap|lobster pots]], and furniture were widely made from willow throughout the area in the recent past.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.englishwillowbaskets.co.uk/charcoal/about.htm |publisher=English Willow Baskets |access-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002115134/http://www.englishwillowbaskets.co.uk/charcoal/about.htm |archive-date=2 October 2011 }}</ref> Among the more unusual products still made are passenger baskets for [[hot air balloon]]s,<ref>{{cite web|title=Lighter than air. Modern hot air balloons |url=http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/hetherington/final/Hot_air_balloon_parts.html |publisher=University of Bristol |access-date=17 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330141721/http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webprojects2003/hetherington/final/Hot_air_balloon_parts.html |archive-date=30 March 2014 }}</ref> the frames inside the [[Bearskin]]s worn by the regiments of the [[Grenadier Guards]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Somerset levels and Moors |url=http://www.equinetourism.co.uk/editorial/levelsandmoors.asp |publisher=Equine Tourism |access-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218231742/http://www.equinetourism.co.uk/editorial/levelsandmoors.asp |archive-date=18 February 2011 }}</ref> and an increasing number of willow [[coffin]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Environmentally friendly willow coffins |url=http://www.wickerwillowcoffins.co.uk/ |publisher=Somerset Willow Company |access-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100727005022/http://www.wickerwillowcoffins.co.uk/ |archive-date=27 July 2010}}</ref>

Another use of willow has been found by the Coate family, who make artists' charcoals in [[Stoke St Gregory]]. It has become in 30&nbsp;years the leading artists' charcoal manufacturer in Europe, producing most of the natural charcoals sold under different art-material brands.<ref>{{cite web |title=Somerset Willow Weaving & Charcoal |url=http://www.england-in-particular.info/goods/g-case3-03.html |publisher=England in Particular |access-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219082454/http://www.england-in-particular.info/goods/g-case3-03.html |archive-date=19 February 2010}}</ref>

The industry is celebrated in the form of the ''[[Willow Man]]'' (sometimes known as the ''Angel of the South''), a willow sculpture, 40&nbsp;feet (12.2&nbsp;m) tall, produced by artist [[Serena de la Hey]] in September 2000 that can be seen from the railway and the [[M5 motorway]] to the north of [[Bridgwater]].<ref>{{cite news |title=40&nbsp;ft sculpture unveiled in Somerset |publisher=BBC News |date=26 September 2000 |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/943715.stm |access-date=10 June 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313162123/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/943715.stm |archive-date=13 March 2007}}</ref> At [[Stoke St Gregory]] there is also a [[Willows and Wetlands Visitor Centre]].<ref name="willowsvc">{{cite web |url=http://www.englishwillowbaskets.co.uk/visitor-centre |title=English Willow Baskets |access-date=7 June 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130809213826/http://englishwillowbaskets.co.uk/visitor-centre |archive-date=9 August 2013}}</ref>

===Teazel growing===
An unusual crop was the growing of [[Dipsacus fullonum|teazels]] around the [[River Isle]] near [[Chard, Somerset|Chard]] on the heavy clay soils around [[Fivehead]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Topham |first=P.N. |title=The Fuller's Teasel |journal=Proceedings of the Botanical Society of the British Isles |url=http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Proc7p377.pdf |year=1968 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=377–381 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015143452/http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Proc7p377.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2012}}</ref> although this industry died out by the 1980s-90s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.somersetvoices.org.uk/people/?entryid4=648 |title=Cousins, Fred (b.1915) |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Somerset Voices Oral History Archive |orig-date=1987}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://somersetartworksblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/where-wild-teasels-grow.html |title=Where the Wild Teasels Grow |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Somerset Art Works blog |year=2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Teazels - by Anne King |journal=A History of Blagdon |publisher=Blagdon History Society |year=2007}}</ref>  These are still sometimes used to provide a fine finish on [[worsted]]s and [[snooker table]] cloths,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Robin |last2=Williams |first2=Romey |title=The Somerset Levels |publisher=Ex Libris Press |year=1992 |page=103 |isbn=0-948578-38-6}}</ref> but were previously much more widely used in the processing of wool for the textiles industry.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.exploringbuildinghistory.co.uk/the-teasel-in-the-english-woollen-cloth-industry/ |title=The Teasel in the English Woollen Cloth Industry |access-date=2022-10-10 |website=Exploring Building History |year=2020}}</ref>

===Peat extraction===
{{main|Peat extraction on the Somerset Levels}}
The extraction of [[peat]] from the Moors is known to have taken place during [[Roman Britain|Roman]] times, and has been carried out since the Levels were first drained.<ref>{{cite web |title=Somerset Peat Paper&nbsp;– Issues consultation for the Minerals Core Strategy |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/irj/go/km/docs/CouncilDocuments/SCC/Documents/Environment/Minerals%20and%20waste/Mineral%20consultation%20papers/Peat%20Extraction%20Paper.pdf |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=30 November 2011 |page=7 |date=September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310135710/http://www.somerset.gov.uk/irj/go/km/docs/CouncilDocuments/SCC/Documents/Environment/Minerals%20and%20waste/Mineral%20consultation%20papers/Peat%20Extraction%20Paper.pdf |archive-date=10 March 2012}}</ref> The introduction of plastic packaging in the 1950s allowed the peat to be packed without rotting, which led to the industrialisation of peat extraction during the 1960s as a major market in [[horticultural]] peat was developed. The resulting reduction in water levels put local [[ecosystem]]s at risk; peat wastage in pasture fields was occurring at rates of 1–3&nbsp;feet (0.3–0.8&nbsp;m) over 100&nbsp;years.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brunning |first=Richard |url=http://www.ramsar.org/cda/ramsar/display/main/main.jsp?zn=ramsar&cp=1-26-45-87^16182_4000_0__ |title=Peat Wastage and Wetland Archaeology |access-date=21 November 2009 |publisher=The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223224727/http://www.ramsar.org/cda/ramsar/display/main/main.jsp?zn=ramsar&cp=1-26-45-87%5E16182_4000_0__ |archive-date=23 February 2012}}</ref> Peat extraction continues today, although much reduced.<ref name="natengsom"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Somerset Levels and Moors/Mid Somerset Hills |url=http://countryside-quality-counts.org.uk/resources/ccvolume/JCA143-CCvolume.pdf |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20101219012433/http://countryside-quality-counts.org.uk/resources/ccvolume/JCA143-CCvolume.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 December 2010 |work=Character Areas |publisher=Countryside Quality Counts |access-date=1 September 2010}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:Peat gatherers.JPG|Peat gatherers, [[Westhay]], September 1905
File:Peat stacks and cutting.JPG|Peat stacks and cutting, Westhay, September 1905
File:Harvesting the peat.JPG|Harvesting the peat, Westhay, September 1905
</gallery>

==Biodiversity and conservation==
[[File:Shapwickheath.jpg|alt=Straight watercourse running between flat grassy fields.|thumb|South Drain on [[Shapwick Heath]]]]

As a result of their [[wetland]] nature, the Moors and Levels contain a rich [[biodiversity]] of national and international importance.<ref name="ncprofile"/> They support a vast variety of plant species, including common plants such as [[Caltha palustris|marsh marigold]], [[Filipendula ulmaria|meadowsweet]], and [[Lychnis flos-cuculi|ragged robin]]. The area is an important feeding ground for birds including [[Tundra swan|Bewick's swan]], [[Eurasian curlew]], [[common redshank]], [[Eurasian skylark]], [[common snipe]], [[Eurasian teal]], [[Eurasian wigeon|wigeon]], and [[Eurasian whimbrel]], as well as birds of prey including the [[western marsh harrier|marsh harrier]] and [[peregrine falcon]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Somerset Levels |url=http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/reports_new/GBR11_report_100202_The_Somerset_Levels.pdf |publisher=Naturetrek |access-date=1 January 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421183505/http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/reports_new/GBR11_report_100202_The_Somerset_Levels.pdf |archive-date=21 April 2012}}</ref> A wide range of insect species is also present, including rare [[invertebrate]]s, particularly beetles including the [[lesser silver water beetle]], ''Bagous nodulosus'', ''[[Hydrophilus piceus]]'', ''[[Odontomyia angulata]]'', ''Oulema erichsoni'', and ''[[Valvata macrostoma]]''. In addition, the area supports an important [[European otter|otter]] population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Distribution data of the European Otter Lutra lutra in Somerset |url=https://data.nbn.org.uk/Datasets/GA000309 |publisher=NBN Gateway |access-date=17 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140217213606/https://data.nbn.org.uk/Datasets/GA000309 |archive-date=17 February 2014}}</ref> [[European water vole|Water voles]] (''Arvicola amphibius'') are being encouraged to recolonise areas of the Levels where they have been absent for 10&nbsp;years, by the capture of [[American mink|mink]] (''Mustela vison'').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://basc.org.uk/conservation/green-shoots/green-shoots-in-the-south-west/# |title=The Somerset Levels project |publisher=The British Association for Shooting and Conservation |access-date=17 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223000409/http://basc.org.uk/conservation/green-shoots/green-shoots-in-the-south-west/ |archive-date=23 February 2014}}</ref>

In 2010, a project was started to reintroduce the [[common crane]] to the Levels, after an absence of 400&nbsp;years. The birds' eggs were flown from [[Germany]] to the [[WWT Slimbridge|Slimbridge wetland reserve]] managed by the [[Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust|Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust]] (a UK charity) at [[Slimbridge]], [[Gloucestershire]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The Great Crane Project aims to restore healthy populations of wild common cranes throughout the UK. |url=http://www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/project |publisher=Great Crane Project |access-date=9 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122032706/http://www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk/project |archive-date=22 November 2011}}</ref> and reared to the age of five months before being released onto the Levels.<ref>{{cite web |title=Episode 19 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tmlh0 |work=Saving Species |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |access-date=9 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909152650/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tmlh0 |archive-date=9 September 2010}}</ref> The "Great Crane Project" aims to introduce around 20 of the birds each year until 2015. The work, which included collaboration with [[Pensthorpe Nature Reserve]] and the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]], was supported by a grant of £700k from Viridor Credits.<ref>{{cite web |title=European cranes a step closer to reintroduction in UK's west country&nbsp;– Somerset |url=http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/european-cranes839.html#cr |publisher=Wildlife extra |access-date=9 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308182417/http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/european-cranes839.html#cr |archive-date=8 March 2011}}</ref>

The Levels contain 32&nbsp;[[Site of Special Scientific Interest|Sites of Special Scientific Interest]] (12 of them also [[Special Protection Area]]s), the [[River Huntspill]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1007189.aspx |title=Huntspill River NNR |access-date=9 January 2011 |publisher=[[Natural England]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111032254/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1007189.aspx |archive-date=11 January 2011}}</ref> and [[Bridgwater Bay]] [[national nature reserves in England|national nature reserves]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1007190.aspx |title=Bridgwater Bay NNR |access-date=9 January 2011 |publisher=[[Natural England]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110110204836/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1007190.aspx |archive-date=10 January 2011}}</ref> the Somerset Levels and Moors [[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar Site]] covering about {{convert|86000|acre|km2|0}},<ref>{{cite web |title=Information Sheet on Ramsar Wetlands (RIS) |url=http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/RIS/UK11064.pdf |publisher=Joint Nature Conservation Committee |access-date=1 January 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010203902/http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/RIS/UK11064.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2012}}</ref> the Somerset Levels National Nature Reserve,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006133.aspx |title=Somerset Levels NNR |access-date=31 January 2010 |publisher=[[Natural England]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111071055/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006133.aspx |archive-date=11 January 2011}}</ref> [[Shapwick Heath|Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006131.aspx |title=Shapwick Heath NNR |access-date=1 January 2011 |publisher=[[Natural England]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100120055332/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006131.aspx |archive-date=20 January 2010}}</ref> [[Ham Wall]] National Nature Reserve<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006955.aspx |title=Ham Wall NNR |publisher=[[Natural England]] |access-date=1 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902063357/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designatedareas/nnr/1006955.aspx |archive-date= 2 September 2010}}</ref> and numerous [[Scheduled monument]]s. The [[Brue Valley Living Landscape]] conservation project commenced in 2009 and aims to restore, recreate and reconnect habitat. It aims to ensure that wildlife is enhanced and capable of sustaining itself in the face of [[climate change]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.somersetwildlife.org/brue_valley.html |title=Brue Valley Living Landscape |publisher=[[Somerset Wildlife Trust]] |access-date=26 August 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605030653/http://www.somersetwildlife.org/brue_valley.html |archive-date=5 June 2011}}</ref> while guaranteeing farmers and other landowners can continue to use their land profitably. It is one of an increasing number of [[landscape scale conservation]] projects in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/?section=environment:livinglandscapes |title=A Living Landscape |publisher=The Wildlife Trusts |access-date=3 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605030423/http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/?section=environment%3Alivinglandscapes |archive-date= 5 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/futurelandscapes_tcm6-8638.pdf |title=Natural England Future Landscapes |publisher=[[Natural England]] |access-date=17 June 2010 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003215144/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/futurelandscapes_tcm6-8638.pdf |archive-date=3 October 2009}}</ref> About {{convert|72000|acre|km2|0}} of the Levels are recognised as an [[Environmentally Sensitive Area]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/landmanage/water/csf/documents/fps0910/CSF5-12.pdf |title=The Somerset Levels and Moors |access-date=1 January 2011 |publisher=[[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109171028/http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/landmanage/water/csf/documents/fps0910/CSF5-12.pdf|url-status=dead |archive-date=9 November 2010}}</ref> and other areas are designated as [[Area of archaeological potential|Areas of High Archaeological Potential]], but there is currently no single [[conservation designation]] covering the Levels and Moors.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Junghanns |first=D.A. |title=Conservation designation in the somerset levels: A study of local attitudes |journal=Landscape and Urban Planning |year=1987 |volume=14 |pages=451–461 |doi=10.1016/0169-2046(87)90059-4|bibcode=1987LUrbP..14..451J }}</ref>

A survey in 2005 discovered that 11 of the known wooden Bronze Age causeways on the Levels had been destroyed or vanished and others were seriously damaged, caused by the reduction in water levels and subsequent exposure of the timber to oxygen and [[Aerobic organism|aerobic bacteria]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Caple |first1=C. |title=Reburial of waterlogged wood, the problems and potential of this conservation technique☆ |journal=International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation |volume=34 |pages=61–72 |year=1994 |issue=1 |doi=10.1016/0964-8305(94)90020-5|bibcode=1994IBiBi..34...61C }}</ref> Part of the Sweet Track is being actively conserved. Following purchase of land by the [[National Heritage Memorial Fund]], and installation of a water pumping and distribution system along a {{convert|550|yd|m|adj=on}} section, several hundred metres of the track's length are now being actively conserved.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Sweet Track, the Brue Valley, Somerset: assessment of in situ preservation |journal=Archeology Review |date=1997 |url=http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/ArchRev/rev96_7/strack.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990504095304/http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/ArchRev/rev96_7/strack.htm |archive-date=4 May 1999 |access-date=17 February 2014}}</ref> This method of preserving wetland archaeological remains (i.e. maintaining a high water table and saturating the site) is rare.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Purdy |first1=B. |last2=Van de Noort |first2=Robert |last3=Chapman |first3=Henry |last4=Cheetham |first4=James |editor=Purdy, B. |title=Enduring Records. The Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Wetlands |publisher=Oxbow Books |pages=277–286 |chapter=Science-based conservation and management in wetland archaeology: the example of Sutton Common, UK |isbn=1-84217-048-1 |year=2001}}</ref> A {{convert|550|yd|m|adj=on}} section, which lies within the land owned by the [[Nature Conservancy Council]], has been surrounded by a clay bank to prevent drainage into surrounding lower peat fields, and water levels are regularly monitored.<ref>{{cite book |last=Purdy |first=Barbara A. |title=Wet site archaeology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqFiYB2KI0YC&q=Sweet+track+archeology&pg=PA99 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, FL |year=1990 |page=99 |isbn=978-0-936923-08-6}}</ref> The viability of this method is demonstrated by comparing it with the nearby Abbot's Way, which has not had similar treatment, and which in 1996 was found to have become dewatered and desiccated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cox |first1=Margaret |last2=Earwood |first2=Caroline |last3=Jones |first3=E.B. Gareth |last4=Jones |first4=Julie |last5=Straker |first5=Vanessa |last6=Robinson |first6=Mark |last7=Tibbett |first7=Mark |last8=West |first8=Steven |title=An Assessment of the Impact of Trees upon Archaeology Within a Relict Wetland |date=October 2001 |volume=28 |issue=10 |access-date=3 January 2011 |pages=1069–1084 |doi=10.1006/jasc.2000.0642 |url=http://bosci.net/papers/Cox_2001_Journal-of-Archaeological-Science.pdf |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |bibcode=2001JArSc..28.1069C |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723031911/http://bosci.net/papers/Cox_2001_Journal-of-Archaeological-Science.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2011}}</ref> Evaluation and maintenance of water levels in the Shapwick Heath Nature Reserve involves the Nature Conservancy Council, the [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]] and the Somerset Levels Project.<ref name="sshersweettrack">{{cite web |title=Sweet Track, Shapwick Heath |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/10739 |work=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=19 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003094636/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/10739 |archive-date=3 October 2016}}</ref>

==Somerset Levels Project==
In 1964, archaeologist John Coles from the [[University of Cambridge]] began a research project that resulted in the publication of an important series of papers on many aspects of the Levels. A range of archaeological projects, such as the exploration of various trackways from the 3rd and 1st millennia BC and the establishment of their economic and geographic significance, was funded by various donors including [[English Heritage]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Coles |first=J.M. |title=Man and landscape in the Somerset Levels |url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/cbaresrep/pdf/021/02112001.pdf |publisher=Archaeology Data Service (ADS) |access-date=17 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209225601/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/cbaresrep/pdf/021/02112001.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=9 December 2009}}</ref> Possibly the project's most significant excavation was of the Sweet Track in 1970,<ref>{{cite journal |date=February 2001 |title=The Wetlands Project Interview |journal=Current Archaeology |volume=172 |issue=Wetlands Special Issue |pages=136–142}}</ref> during which a [[Jadeite]] axe was discovered.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/j/jadeite_axe-head.aspx |title=Jadeite axe-head |access-date=21 November 2009 |publisher=[[British Museum]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090221125015/http://britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/j/jadeite_axe-head.aspx |archive-date=21 February 2009}}</ref> Eight [[Carbon-14|radiocarbon]] determinations of the date of the axe place it at around 3200 BC.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/cbaresrep/pdf/023/02303001.pdf |title=The chronology of British stone implements |access-date=10 June 2007 |publisher=Archaeology Data Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209225922/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/cbaresrep/pdf/023/02303001.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=9 December 2009}}</ref>

The work of John Coles and the Somerset Levels Project was recognised in 1998 when they won the ICI Award for the best archaeological project offering a major contribution to knowledge,<ref>{{cite web |title=Issue no 41, February 1999 |url=http://www.archaeologyuk.org/ba/ba41/ba41news.html |publisher=British Archaeology |access-date=6 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312163946/http://archaeologyuk.org/ba/ba41/ba41news.html |archive-date=12 March 2016}}</ref> and in 2006 with the award of the European Archaeological Heritage Prize.<ref>{{cite web |title=European Archaeological Heritage Prize 2006 |url=http://e-a-a.org/hp2006.pdf |publisher=European Association of Archaeologists |access-date=17 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726010214/http://e-a-a.org/hp2006.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011}}</ref>

==Shapwick Project==
This project, based on the village of [[Shapwick, Somerset|Shapwick]], was begun by [[Mick Aston]] of [[University of Bristol|Bristol University]] to investigate the evolution of a typical English village.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shapwick Project, Somerset. A Rural Landscape Explored |url=http://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/?mode=project&id=264 |publisher=Durham University |access-date=1 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100801052248/http://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/?mode=project&id=264 |archive-date=1 August 2010}}</ref> A preliminary study of the village's history was carried out using maps and documents, then surveys of the buildings were made together with botanical surveys. Field walking was carried out and key sites excavated. A report on the project, which ran from 1989 to 1999, was published in eight volumes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_150_Years_Chapter_6.pdf |first=Christopher |last=Gerrard |title=The Shapwick Project 1989–99 |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=9 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025192907/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/HES_150_Years_Chapter_6.pdf |archive-date=25 October 2012}}</ref>

==Tourism==<!-- This section is linked from [[Cycleways in England]] -->
[[File:Westonzoylandpumpingstation.jpg|alt=Red brick building with tall chimney.|thumb|upright|[[Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum]]]]
Being largely flat, the Levels are well suited to bicycles, and a number of [[Cycleways in England|cycle routes]] exist including the Withy Way Cycle Route ({{convert|22|mi|km|disp=or|abbr=on}}), Avalon Marshes Cycle Route ({{convert|28|mi|km|disp=or|abbr=on}}), Peat Moors Cycle Route ({{convert|24|mi|km|disp=or|abbr=on}}) and the Isle Valley Cycle Route ({{convert|28|mi|km|disp=or|abbr=on}}).<ref>{{cite web |title=Levels & Moors Cycle Routes |url=http://www.cycle-n-sleep.co.uk/local%20routes/somerset/levels%20and%20moors.htm |publisher=Cycle-n-sleep |access-date=5 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602031605/http://www.cycle-n-sleep.co.uk/local%20routes/somerset/levels%20and%20moors.htm |archive-date=2 June 2010}}</ref> The [[River Parrett Trail]] ({{convert|47|mi|km|disp=or|abbr=on}}) and [[Monarch's Way]] [[Long-distance footpaths in the United Kingdom|long-distance footpaths]] are also within the area.<ref>Landranger Map 183: Yeovil & Frome. Published in 2005 by the [[Ordnance Survey]]</ref>

Visitors' centres aim to convey various aspects of the Levels. The [[Willows and Wetlands Visitor Centre]] near [[Stoke St Gregory]] offers tours of the willow yards and basket workshops and explains the place of willow in the history of the Levels. The Somerset Willow Company also allows visitors into its workshops.<ref name="willowsvc"/>

The Avalon Marshes Centre<ref>{{cite web |title=Avalon Marches Centre Web Page |url=http://avalonmarshes.org/explore/avalon-marshes-centre |publisher=Avalon Marshes |access-date=19 August 2020}}</ref> (formerly known as the [[Peat Moors Centre]]) between [[Westhay]] and [[Shapwick, Somerset|Shapwick]], is dedicated to the natural history, biodiversity, [[archaeology]], history, and geology of the area. It also includes reconstructions of some archaeological discoveries of the area, such as a Roman Villa<ref>{{cite web |title=Roman Villa |date=9 May 2013 |url=https://avalon-archaeology.com/about/amc-reconstructions/the-roman-villa/ |publisher=Somerset Heritage Trust |access-date=19 August 2020}}</ref> and a Saxon Longhall.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saxon Long Hall |date=9 May 2013 |url=https://avalon-archaeology.com/about/amc-reconstructions/the-saxon-longhall/ |publisher=Somerset Heritage Trust |access-date=19 August 2020}}</ref> The site offers much information on Iron Age finds, round houses, and ancient highways, the [[Post Track]] and [[Sweet Track]]. From time to time the centre offers events and courses in a number of ancient technologies in subjects including textiles, clothing and basket-making, as well as staging various open days, displays, demonstrations and guided nature excursions. The centre also contains the offices and workshops for the [[RSPB]], [[Somerset Wildlife Trust]], [[Natural England]] and [[The Hawk and Owl Trust]] for which all have reserves<ref>{{cite web |title=Avalon Marches Centre Nature Reserves |url=http://avalonmarshes.org/explore/nature-reserves/ |publisher=Avalon Marshes |access-date=19 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Somerset Levels Reserves |url=http://somersetlevels.place/cgi-bin/cgipub/Page.pl?p=rsvlist |publisher=Somerset Levels Place |access-date=19 August 2020}}</ref> close by. In February 2009 [[Somerset County Council]], the owner of the Peat Moors Centre, announced its intention of closing the centre<ref>{{cite web |title=Fury at suggestion of visitor centre closure |work=Western Gazette |url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Fury-suggestion-visitor-centre-closure/article-703617-detail/article.html |publisher=This is Somerset |access-date=9 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129054834/http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Fury-suggestion-visitor-centre-closure/article-703617-detail/article.html |archive-date=29 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Peat Moors Centre is to close |journal=Heritage Action Journal |date=22 February 2009 |url=http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/003185.html |access-date=13 February 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305181223/http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/003185.html |archive-date=5 March 2012}}</ref> and it finally shut on 31 October 2009,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Roman-invasion-marks-end-Peat-Moors-Centre/story-11775117-detail/story.html |title=Roman invasion marks end of Peat Moors Centre |work=Western Gazette |publisher=Western Daily Press |access-date=17 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222044726/http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Roman-invasion-marks-end-Peat-Moors-Centre/story-11775117-detail/story.html |archive-date=22 February 2014}}</ref> but it was reopened as the Avalon Marshes Centre and is in the process of being modernized and improved from the previous set of buildings.

[[The Tribunal, Glastonbury|The Tribunal]] in Glastonbury, a [[Middle Ages|medieval]] merchant's house,<ref>{{NHLE|num=1345457 |desc=The Tribunal |access-date=20 August 2008 }}</ref> contains possessions and works of art from the [[Glastonbury Lake Village]], which were preserved in almost perfect condition in the peat after the village was abandoned.<ref>{{cite web |title=Glastonbury Antiquarian Society |url=http://www.glastonburyantiquarians.org/site/index.php |publisher=Glastonbury Antiquarian Society |access-date=22 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523103947/http://glastonburyantiquarians.org/site/index.php |archive-date=23 May 2009}}</ref> It also houses the tourist information centre.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.glastonburytic.co.uk/ |title=Glastonbury Tourist Information Centre |publisher=Glastonbury Tourist Information Centre |access-date=22 May 2009}}</ref> Also in Glastonbury, the [[Somerset Rural Life Museum]] is a museum of the social and agricultural history of Somerset, housed in buildings surrounding a 14th-century barn once belonging to [[Glastonbury Abbey]]. It was used as a [[tithe barn]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Ivakhiv |first=Adrian J. |title=Claiming Sacred Ground: Pilgrims and Politics at Glastonbury and Sedona |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QNHTOvnZ3poC&q=Glastonbury+Rural+Life+Centre+Tithe+Barn&pg=PA99 |publisher=Indiana University Press |date=2001 |page=99 |isbn=9780253338990}}</ref> for the storage of [[Agronomy|arable]] produce, particularly [[wheat]] and [[rye]], from the abbey's home farm of approximately {{convert|524|acre|km2}}. [[Threshing]] and [[winnowing]] would also have been carried out in the barn. The barn was built from local [[shelly limestone]], with thick timbers supporting the stone tiling of the roof. It has been designated by [[English Heritage]] as a grade I [[listed building]], and is a [[Scheduled monument]].<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Abbey Tithe Barn, including attached wall to east |num=1057953 |access-date=29 September 2007}}</ref> The barn and courtyard contain displays of farm machinery from the [[Victorian era|Victorian]] and early 20th century periods. Other exhibits show local crafts, including [[willow]] [[coppicing]], mud horse fishing on the flats of [[Bridgwater Bay]], [[peat]] digging on the Somerset Levels and the production of milk, cheese, and cider. In reconstructed rooms detailing domestic life in the nearby village of [[Butleigh]], the story of one farm worker, John Hodges, is told from cradle to grave. Outside, there is a beehive and rare breeds of poultry and sheep in the cider apple orchard.<ref>{{cite web |title=Somerset Rural Life Museum |url=http://www.somerset.gov.uk/irj/public/services/directory/service?rid=/guid/e056fae3-0437-2c10-4999-e5403d304e93 |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |access-date=23 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110621224939/http://www.somerset.gov.uk/irj/public/services/directory/service?rid=%2Fguid%2Fe056fae3-0437-2c10-4999-e5403d304e93 |archive-date=21 June 2011}}</ref>

The Langport & River Parrett Visitor Centre at [[Langport]] details local life, history, and wildlife.<ref>{{cite web |title=Langport and River Parrett Visitor Centre |url=http://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/media/90305/langport_and_river_parrett_education_pack.pdf |publisher=South Somerset Council |access-date=17 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151223181437/http://www.southsomerset.gov.uk/media/90305/langport_and_river_parrett_education_pack.pdf |archive-date=23 December 2015}}</ref> The [[Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum]], near the town on the River Parrett, is housed in one of the earliest [[steam-powered]] pumping stations on the Levels, dating from the 1830s; it was closed in the 1950s. Featuring several steam engines, some built locally, the museum holds a number of live steam days each year. The pump house has been Grade II* listed,<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Westonzoyland Engine Trust Old Pumping Station |num=1174295 |access-date=5 September 2010}}</ref> and is on [[English Heritage]]'s [[Heritage at Risk Register]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Heritage at Risk 2010 |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/HAR-2010-regional-registers/sw-HAR-register-2010.pdf/ |format=PDF |publisher=[[English Heritage]] |access-date=5 September 2010 |page=182 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100929225049/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/HAR-2010-regional-registers/sw-HAR-register-2010.pdf/ |archive-date=29 September 2010}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Somerset}}
* [[List of locations in the Somerset Levels]]
* [[Caldicot and Wentloog Levels]]
* [[The Fens]]
* [[Romney Marsh]]
* [[Geology of Somerset]]
* [[East Somerset Railway]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last1=Aston |first1=Michael |author-link=Mick Aston |last2=Burrow |first2=Ian |title=The Archaeology of Somerset |publisher=[[Somerset County Council]] |year=1991 |isbn=0-86183-028-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Aston |first=Michael |author-link=Mick Aston |title=Aspects of the Medieval Landscape of Somerset |publisher=Somerset Books |year=1992 |isbn=0-86183-129-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/aspectsofmediaev0000unse |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last1=Coles |first1=Bryony |last2=Coles |first2=John |title=Sweet Track to Glastonbury: Somerset Levels in Prehistory (New Aspects of Antiquity) |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |year=1986 |isbn=0-500-39022-3}}
* {{cite book |last1=Coles |first1=John |last2=Minnitt |first2=S.C. |title=Industrious and Fairly Civilized: Glastonbury Lake Village |publisher=Somerset Levels Project |year=1995 |isbn=0-9507122-2-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hill-Cottingham |first1=Pat |last2=Briggs |first2=Derek |last3=Brunning |first3=Richard |last4=King |first4=Andy |last5=Rix |first5=Graham |title=The Somerset Wetlands: An Ever Changing Environment |publisher=Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society |year=2006 |isbn=0-86183-432-1}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140108204802/http://www.somersetwildlife.org/westhay_moor.html?gclid=CN2q1Zqp77sCFSIFwwodyWAAjQ Somerset Wildlife Trust]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140221224044/http://www.britishpathe.com/video/land-reclamation-1 British Pathé clip shows drainage works at King's Sedgemoor & River Brue, 1942]
* [https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-wicker-men-of-somerset-1962-online 1962 historic film on willow]

{{Somerset}}
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