Greylake

The Sowy River is an artificial drainage channel in Somerset, England, designed to act as a flood relief channel for the River Parrett. Water from the Parrett can be diverted into it just below Langport, and is conveyed to the King's Sedgemoor Drain, which discharges back into the Parrett much nearer to its outfall into the Bristol Channel. Following extensive flooding of the surrounding land in 2014, new culverts to carry the river under the A372 road at Beer Wall were constructed, and a three-year project to raise the banks and widen the channel to increase its capacity was undertaken.

Middlezoy is a village and civil parish on the Somerset Levels in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. Situated between the two other villages of Westonzoyland and Othery and is about six miles from the Town of Bridgwater which is on the tidal river Parret.

The parish and village of Othery, established in 1515, sits on a detached extension of Sowy island on the Somerset Levels. It is 7 miles (11 km) east of Bridgwater and 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Langport. It borders the hamlets and villages of Pathe, Burrowbridge, Middlezoy, Westonzoyland and Aller, which it meets at Beer Wall. The border with Burrowbridge was defined in 1985, reducing Othery to 553 ha (1,366 acres). Many of these borders are defined by ditches and walls created and rearranged, from the 13th century onwards, to drain and channel the waters of the River Cary and the River Parrett as they flooded the low-lying levels on their way to the Bristol Channel.

Somerset ( (listen) SUM-ər-sit, -⁠set; archaically Somersetshire SUM-ər-sit-sheer, -⁠set-, -⁠shər) is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel, its coastline facing southeastern Wales. Its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset is currently formed of six council areas, of which two are unitary authorities, until the four second-tier district councils are merged on 1 April 2023, after which the county will comprise three unitary authorities. Its county town is Taunton. Somerset is a rural county of rolling hills, the Blackdown Hills, Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park, and large flat expanses of land including the Somerset Levels. There is evidence of human occupation from Paleolithic times, and of subsequent settlement by the Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. The county played a significant part in Alfred the Great's rise to power, and later the English Civil War and the Monmouth Rebellion. The city of Bath is famous for its Georgian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Siege of Bridgwater took place in July 1645, during the First English Civil War, when a Royalist garrison surrendered to a Parliamentarian force under Sir Thomas Fairfax. After their victory at Naseby in June, Fairfax and the New Model Army moved into Somerset, where they linked up with the Western Association Army led by Edward Massey. On 10 July, their combined force destroyed the last significant Royalist field army at Langport, clearing the way for an attack on Bridgwater. Siege operations began on 13 July; on 21st, Parliamentarian forces stormed the western part of the town. Many of the buildings were set on fire, and the garrison capitulated on 23 July; over 1,600 prisoners were taken, along with large quantities of weapons and other stores. The capture of Bridgwater meant Parliamentarian forces controlled a line of forts from the Bristol to the English Channels, isolating the Royalist West Country from the rest of England. Fairfax captured Bath and Sherborne, Dorset in August, then moved against Bristol in early September, the most significant port still in Royalist hands.

Moorlinch (grid reference ST390360) is a 226.0 hectare (558.4 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Moorlinch in Somerset, notified in 1985. Moorlinch is part of the extensive grazing marsh grasslands and ditch systems of the Somerset Levels and Moors. Lying in the Parrett Basin at the foot of the Polden Hills, the area drains by gravity into the King’s Sedgemoor Drain. The water table is high for most of the year with frequent winter flooding from high ground and surface water remaining on many fields throughout the winter and early spring. Moorlinch contains a good proportion of botanically rich ditch systems. Regularly maintained field ditches are often species-rich and diverse. Notable species include Lesser Water-plantain (Baldellia ranunculoides), Tubular Water-dropwort (Oenanthe fistulosa) and Hairlike Pondweed (Potamogeton trichoides). The channels and banksides support a rich fauna; rare species include the water beetle (Hydrophilus piceus) and the soldier fly (Odontomyia ornata). Large populations of dragonflies and damselflies occur, including the Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense) and the Variable Damselfly (Coenagrion pulchellum).

King's Sedgemoor is a piece of rich animal habitat and farming land, that forms part of the Somerset Levels and Moors in South West England. The area of King's Sedgemoor fell within the Whitley Hundred,It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, at the centre of the larger Altcar series peat basin of King’s Sedgemoor; lying between the Sowy River to the west, Cradle Bridge to the east and extending to the south over Beer Wall into part of Aller Moor. It is adjacent to the Greylake SSSI. King's Sedgemoor Drain, originally constructed in 1797-8, proved inadequate for draining the village of Chedzoy's moors, so in 1861 the Chedzoy Internal Drainage District built a small pumping station on the River Parrett, in Westonzoyland parish, to drain the Chedzoy moors southwards.

The Breeze (Bridgwater & West Somerset) formerly Quay West and Total Star Somerset was a local radio station serving the Sedgemoor District, Bridgwater and West Somerset. The station was folded into Greatest Hits Radio South West, as part of a rebrand, on 1 September 2020.

RAF Westonzoyland is one of the United Kingdom's oldest airfields, being established in the early 1920s. The airfield is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) east-southeast of Bridgwater, Somerset; about 125 miles (201 km) west-southwest of London. It was opened in 1925 with summer camps lasting from May until September each year. It was later used by the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Forces. During the war it was used primarily as an army co-operation airfield but several squadrons were based there with a variety of aircraft, including Spitfires, Hurricanes and Mosquitos. Gloster Meteor jets were stationed there for a short time before moving to RAF Culmhead in Somerset. After being stood down in 1947 it was recommissioned in 1952 as a Meteor jet training station to support the demands of the Korean War. It was home to No. 209 Advanced Flying School RAF whose pupils included future Air Chief Marshals Lord Craig and Sir Patrick Hine. Today the remains of the airfield are a mixture of farmland and a base for Civil Air Patrol activities.

Sutton Mallet Church in the village of Sutton Mallet, which is within the parish of Stawell, Somerset, England, was built in 1827 incorporating elements of a 15th-century church on the site. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.The village is on Sedgemoor on the Somerset Levels, at the foot of the Polden Hills. The old church which dated from the mediaeval period provided a landmark for anyone crossing the moor. Deterioration of the fabric of the church had was reported in the 16th and 17th centuries and services were only held infrequently in the 18th and 19th.The current church was built between 1827 and 1829 by Richard Carver of Taunton adjoining the old tower. Although the rebuilding was in a Georgian style remnants from the earlier church were reused including a mediaeval window which was incorporated into the small apse, and the 17th-century altar rails were reused.The Gothic tower includes two 17th-century bells, one from 1607 by R. Purdue and another of 1657 by Robert Austen. When the church was rebuilt the tower was not adequately fixed to the rest of the church, meaning that, by 2008, 6 metres (20 ft) long diagonal stainless steel ties needed to be inserted to prevent further deterioration.The church is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was vested in the Trust on 1 November 1987.

Moorlinch is a village and civil parish where the Polden Hills meet the Somerset Levels in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England.

Southlake Moor (grid reference ST370300) is a 196.1 hectare (484.6 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Burrow Mump and Burrowbridge in Somerset, notified in 1985. Southlake Moor forms part of the extensive grazing marsh and ditch system of Somerset Levels and Moors. Southlake Moor is unusual in that, when conditions in the River Parrett are suitable, it may be deliberately flooded in winter by means of a sluice in the river floodbank. Some 96 species of aquatic and bankside vascular plant species have been recorded from Southlake Moor, of particular interest is the greater water-parsnip (Sium latifolium). When the moor is flooded, large numbers of wildfowl may be present; with up to 22,000 wigeon (Anas penelope), 250 Bewick's swan (Cygnus bewickii) and good numbers of pochard (Aythya ferina), teal (Anas crecca) and tufted duck (Aythya fuligula). Regular signs of the otter (Lutra lutra) are to be seen on the muddy banks of the River Parrett. The ditches on the east side of the site contain a population of the palmate newt (Triturus helveticus).During 2009 and 2010 work was undertaken to upgrade sluice gates, watercourses and culverts to enable seasonal flooding 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. The scheme is also used to encourage water birds.