place

Athelney

Former islands of EnglandHill forts in SomersetSomerset LevelsVillages in Sedgemoor
King Alfred's Monument, Athelney 05
King Alfred's Monument, Athelney 05

Athelney is a village located between the villages of Burrowbridge and East Lyng in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. The name is believed to be derived from the Old English æþeling meaning "prince" + -ey meaning "isle". The village is best known for once being the fortress hiding place of King Alfred the Great, from where he went on to defeat the Great Heathen Army at the Battle of Edington in May 878.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Athelney (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.0589 ° E -2.9374 °
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Address

Athelney Hill

Cuts Road
TA7 0SD , Lyng
England, United Kingdom
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King Alfred's Monument, Athelney 05
King Alfred's Monument, Athelney 05
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Nearby Places

River Tone
River Tone

The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about 33 kilometres (21 mi) long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through Taunton and Curry and Hay Moors, which are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Finally, it flows into the River Parrett at Burrowbridge. An act of Parliament granted in 1699 authorised work that made the river navigable as far as Taunton. The act specified that profits should be used to benefit the poor of Taunton, but the Proprietors succeeded in avoiding their obligation until 1843, when they used the proceeds from the sale of the navigation to fund a wing of the Taunton and Somerset Hospital, and to aid the Taunton Market Trust. The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal opened in 1827, which provided an easier route than the river, and protracted legal battles followed over ownership of the river and water rights for the canal. These were not finally resolved until 1832, when the Canal Company formally took over the river navigation. The ability to navigate the river gradually deteriorated, not helped by the abandonment of the River Parrett as a navigation in 1878. Following flooding in Taunton in 1960, much of the river between there and its mouth was straightened, and the navigation locks were removed. That at Ham was blown up by the Territorial Army. Navigation rights were repealed in 1967.

Northmoor Green
Northmoor Green

Northmoor Green is a village in south central Somerset, England, that is more commonly known as Moorland, and sometimes mistakenly called Fordgate even though it is a separate hamlet. These places being hamlets of Moorland in the civil parish of North Petherton. It is the only village in the United Kingdom with two official names on an OS Map (Northmoor Green or Moorland) Set in the heart of the Somerset levels it has the River Parrett running next to it. It has fewer local amenities than it used to; the village shop, school and post office have closed leaving only a church, village hall and an out of village pub, The Thatchers Arms. The church of St Peter and St John was built in the 1840s.The Village Hall was built to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. It was originally started by the villagers themselves, but had to be pulled down and rebuilt by professional builders, as the walls were not straight. Dances used to be held in it once a month, with refreshments provided by the local Women's Institutes. Before the hall was built, a small amateur dramatic society, The Parrett Players, produced two one-act plays which were held in the local school. The village gained nationwide recognition in February 2014 due to extensive flooding on the Somerset Levels which particularly affected Moorland, when the Environment Agency constructed an earth bank to try to hold back the water. Moorland Court Farmhouse was built in the early 19th century. It is a Grade II listed building. Winslade Farmhouse which is also listed dates from the 17th century, as does Moorland Cottage.North Moor to the south of the village is a 676.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. The low-lying area is drained by a series of ditches and the Northmoor Pumping Station.Serious flooding occurred during the Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels. The Church of St Peter and St John was closed for two years following the flooding and reopened in January 2016.

Curry and Hay Moors
Curry and Hay Moors

Curry and Hay Moors (grid reference ST323273) is a 472.8 hectare (1168.1 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, notified in 1992. Curry and Hay Moors form part of the complex of grazing marshes known as the Somerset Levels and Moors. The low-lying site is situated adjacent to the River Tone which annually overtops, flooding the fields in winter. Soils are predominantly alluvial clays overlying Altcar series peats. The flora and fauna of the ditches and rhynes is of national importance. Over 70 aquatic and bankside vascular plants have been recorded including frogbit (Hydrocharis morsus-ranae), flowering rush (Butomus umbellatus), wood club-rush (Scirpus sylvaticus) and lesser water-plantain (Baldellia ranunculoides). Over 100 species of aquatic invertebrates inhabit the ditches including one nationally rare soldier fly, (Odontomyia ornata) and 13 nationally scarce species including the water beetles Agabus uliginosus, Hydaticus transversalis and Helophorus nanus. In winter the flooded fields provide food for large numbers of waterfowl with several thousand northern lapwing, hundreds of common snipe and smaller numbers of golden plover and dunlin regularly present. Over two hundred Bewick's swans have been recorded, making the site an internationally important wintering ground for this species. Raptor species such as short-eared owl, merlin and peregrine regularly hunt over the site in winter. Vertebrate species present include barred grass snake and common frog. Eurasian otters are regularly recorded on the site.The moor was flooded during the winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels.