page_title: Geography of Somerset
section_title: Water features
hierarchical_section_title: Geography of Somerset / Physical geography / Water features
caption_attribution_description: English: River Tone, Somerset. The Tome, flowing towards the camera between levees, curves past Creed's Farm on the right as it approaches Burrowbridge. On the left is "The Fruit Garden". Seen from the River Parrett Trail.
context_page_description: The county of Somerset is in South West England, bordered by the Bristol Channel and the counties of Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, and Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south, and Devon to the west. The climate, influenced by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the prevailing westerly winds, tends to be mild, damp and windy.
  Somerset is predominantly a rural and agricultural county. The main upland areas are the Mendip Hills in the east and the Quantock Hills further west, the Blackdown Hills form the county's southern border, and Exmoor is on the western fringes. Between the Mendips and the Quantocks is the large area of flat, low-lying ground known as the Somerset Levels. The county's main rivers are the River Axe in the northeast, and the Rivers Brue and Parrett which flow northwestward through the levels into the Bristol Channel.
  The landscape is largely determined by the underlying geology. The Carboniferous Limestone that forms the Mendips has been eroded to form gorges and caves. Exmoor is an extensive area of moorland and a National Park and the Somerset Levels contains wetland areas of international importance for birds.
context_section_description: The north coast is gently shelving with low cliffs and long stretches of sandy beach, some sections of which, especially in the northwest, are muddy. The principal coastal feature is Bridgwater Bay, and the only important harbour is at the mouths of the Parrett. The main rivers in Somerset rise in the hills and flow northwards and westwards into the Bristol Channel; these are the Axe, Brue, Parrett and its tributaries, and Exe. The source of the River Axe is at Wookey Hole Caves in the Mendip Hills. It flows through a ravine and then west through the village of Wookey. It splits into two parts which subsequently recombine, and flows across the moors, through Lower Weare and to the south of Loxton. It passes between Uphill Cliff and Brean Down and reaches the sea at Weston Bay; it forms the northern boundary of the county.
  The River Brue flows through the Somerset Levels to the east of the Polden Hills. It rises in hills near the southern border of the county, flows through Bruton, where it is joined by the River Pitt, and on through Baltonsborough. The lower reaches have been diverted into a channel that joins the Parrett at Burnham-on-Sea in Bridgwater Bay. There is a raised bog in the central Brue valley and the surrounding area is a mosaic of swamps, meres and alder woodland. The River Parrett rises in the hills around Chedington in Dorset and flows northwestwards past Aller, Somerset, and through the Somerset Levels to Bridgwater, after which it becomes an estuary with its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea. The river has a tidal bore, similar to that in the River Severn. The Somerset Levels are only a few feet above sea level and liable to flooding. They are drained by ditches and channels that drain into the Parrett including the King's Sedgemoor Drain, just south of the Polden Hills.
  The River Tone rises in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed near its source to form the Clatworthy Reservoir. It flows roughly eastwards, through Taunton to join the River Parrett above Bridgwater. The River Exe rises on Exmoor in Somerset, about 5 mi (8 km) south of the Bristol Channel, but flows more or less directly south, so that most of its course lies in Devon and its mouth is on the south coast.
caption: River Tone
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