Somerset Levels
Somerset Levels.
One of the crisscrossed network of rhynes or drainage ditches which help keep the fields on the Somerset Levels free from flooding for much of the year. This is between Godney and Glastonbury.
A rhyne is a drainage ditch, or canal, used to turn areas of wetland at around sea level into useful pasture. Water levels (and hence the level of the water table) will usually be controlled by a system of sluice gates and pumps, allowing the land to become wetter at times of the year when this will improve grass growth. Rhynes represent an early method of swamp or marsh drainage. Large sections of swampland were surrounded by trenches deep enough to drain the water from the encircled mound and leave the land relatively dry. Regular clearing and dredging is necessary to keep the rhynes clear of debris so that they flow freely.
Rhynes have been used extensively in the United Kingdom, especially on marshy coastal areas such as the Somerset Levels.
(Info from Wikipedia)
Somerset Levels
Somerset Levels.
One of the crisscrossed network of rhynes or drainage ditches which help keep the fields on the Somerset Levels free from flooding for much of the year. This is between Godney and Glastonbury.
A rhyne is a drainage ditch, or canal, used to turn areas of wetland at around sea level into useful pasture. Water levels (and hence the level of the water table) will usually be controlled by a system of sluice gates and pumps, allowing the land to become wetter at times of the year when this will improve grass growth. Rhynes represent an early method of swamp or marsh drainage. Large sections of swampland were surrounded by trenches deep enough to drain the water from the encircled mound and leave the land relatively dry. Regular clearing and dredging is necessary to keep the rhynes clear of debris so that they flow freely.
Rhynes have been used extensively in the United Kingdom, especially on marshy coastal areas such as the Somerset Levels.
(Info from Wikipedia)