Mark Yeo

Coordinates: 51°17′38″N 2°54′49″W / 51.29389°N 2.91361°W / 51.29389; -2.91361

Mark Yeo
River
Country	England
State	Somerset
District	North Somerset
Source
- location	Mark, Sedgemoor, Somerset, England
- coordinates	51°14′06″N 2°53′27″W / 51.235°N 2.89083°W / 51.235; -2.89083
Mouth	River Axe
- location	Loxton, North Somerset, Somerset, England
- coordinates	51°17′38″N 2°54′49″W / 51.29389°N 2.91361°W / 51.29389; -2.91361

The Mark Yeo is a short river in Somerset, England. It starts near Mark on the Somerset Levels and flows north for about 6 kilometres (4 mi) under the M5 motorway to join the River Axe near Loxton. It provided a link between the Axe and the River Brue,^[1] and may have been canalised in the 13th and 14th centuries.^[2]

The river flows under the A38 road at Rooks Bridge. In the 5th and 6th Centuries the Mark-Yeo acted as a route from the small port of Rackley on the river Axe across the marshes to Glastonbury. ^[3] Excavations just north of York Farm in a field called 'Scott's wharf' at Rooks Bridge uncovered 14th or 15th century pottery and worked stones, which represent the site of a wharf at a site where the Mark Yeo used to join the old river Axe before it was diverted.^[4]

In 2008 an oil spill threatened some of the birds and other wildlife on the river.^[5]

References

1. ↑ "Mark Yeo River". Somerset Rivers. http://somersetrivers.org/index.php/Search/themes/mediashare/index.php?module=Content&func=view&pid=52. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
2. ↑ "Pilrow Cut". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=28600. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
3. ↑ "About us". Rooksbridge and East Brent. http://www.rooksbridge.org.uk/About%20us.htm. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
4. ↑ "Medieval wharf, N of York Farm, East Brent". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=10051. Retrieved 31 March 2010. 
5. ↑ "Environment Agency appeals for help after oil spill near Burnham". Burnham on Sea .com. http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/2008/oil-spill-appeal-25-02-08.shtml. Retrieved 31 March 2010.