The River Sheppey has its source in a group of springs west of the village of Doulting, near

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England, some south-west of Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. Mendip District Council is based ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It flows through the wetlands to the north of the Polden Hills and ultimately joins the River Brue.

Route

From Doulting, the Sheppey flows south west to Charlton, where parts of its course have been culverted. The river has been diverted underground for much, though not all, of its passage through Shepton Mallet. It reappears at Darshill and then flows south west through

Croscombe Croscombe is a village and civil parish west of Shepton Mallet and from Wells, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. It is situated on the A371 road in the valley of the River Sheppey. Croscombe has a village hall, a shop, a publ ...

Dinder Dinder (which means "the house in the valley") is a small village 2½ miles west of Shepton Mallet, and 2 miles east of Wells in Somerset. It falls within the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out and the Mendip district. The river Sheppey runs al ...

where it flows through the grounds of Dinder House which was built in 1801 and under a bridge which pre-dates the house. It then continues west past Dulcote, Woodford and Coxley. At Coxley it is joined by the Keward Brook which carries the water from the springs in Wells which fill the moat of the Bishop's Palace. From Coxley, the river flows north through Hay Moor and

North Moor North Moor () is a 676.3 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Lyng in Somerset, England. It was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1986. North Moor is a nationally important grazing marsh and ditch syst ...

, west through Ash Moor, then sharply south through Frogmore and west through

Godney Godney is a village and civil parish near Glastonbury on the River Sheppey on the Somerset Levels in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. History Near the village are the sites of the Iron Age Glastonbury Lake Village, and the now drained ...

. At Lower Godney (where this is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

named after the river), it is channelled through the James Wear River and the Decoy Rhine to Westhay Level, where it joins Whites River and then the River Brue near

Westhay Westhay is a village in Somerset, England. It is situated in the parish of Meare, north west of Glastonbury on the Somerset Levels, in the Mendip district. The name means 'The west field that is enclosed by hedges' from the Old English ''west ...

Ecology

The water quality is generally good; however, there have been some discharges from sewage treatment works in the area that can contribute to nutrient levels in rivers. Signs of nutrient enrichment are noticeable at times of low flow and the ecology of the Sheppey is adversely affected in its upper reaches.

History

It would appear that the Sheppey was only so called in the late 19th century. Prior to this, it may have been named Doulting Water or the River Brae. The Sheppey has been used in the past to power local industry, for example corn and textile mills in the Shepton Mallet area. There may have been more than thirty mills powered by the river and its tributaries in the area of Shepton Mallet, Bowlish and Darshill, although fewer than this number of sites have been positively identified.

References

{{authority control Sheppey, River Somerset Levels 1Sheppey