A mere is a shallow

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

, or

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

, particularly in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and other parts of

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

Derivation of the word

Etymology

The word ''mere'' is recorded in Old English as ''mere'' ″sea, lake″, corresponding to * Old Saxon ''meri'', * Old Low Franconian ''*meri'' (Dutch ''meer'' ″lake, pool″, Picard ''mer'' ″pool, lake″, Northern French toponymic element ''-mer''), * Old High German ''mari'' / ''meri'' (German ''Meer'' ″sea″, but also '' Maar'' ″circular lake″), * Goth. ''mari-'', ''marei'', * Old Norse ''marr'' ″sea″ (Norwegian ''mar'' ″sea″, Shetland Norn ''mar'' ″mer, deep water fishing area″, Faroese ''marrur'' ″mud, sludge″, Swedish place name element ''mar-'', French ''mare'' ″pool, pond″). They derive from reconstituted

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

''*mari'', itself from Indo-European ''*mori'', the same root as ''marsh'' and ''moor''. The Indo-European root ''*mori'' gave also birth to similar words in other European languages: Latin ''mare'', ″sea″ (Italian ''mare'', Spanish ''mar'', French ''mer''); Old Celtic ''*mori'', ″sea″ (Gaulish ''mori-'', ''more'', Irish ''muir'', Welsh ''môr'', Breton ''mor''); and Old Slavic ''morje''.''Das Herkunftswörterbuch'', Duden Band 7, Dudenverlag.

Signification

The word once included the sea or an arm of the sea in its range of meaning but this marine usage is now obsolete ('' OED''). It is a poetical or dialect word meaning a sheet of standing water, a lake or a pond (''OED''). The ''OED'' fourth definition ("A marsh, a fen.") includes

such as fen amongst usages of the word which is reflected in the lexicographers' recording of it. In a quotation from the year 598, mere is contrasted against moss (bog) and field against fen. The ''OED'' quotation from 1609 does not say what a mere is, except that it looks black. In 1629 mere and marsh were becoming interchangeable but in 1876 mere was "heard, at times, applied to ground permanently under water": in other words, a very shallow lake. The online edition of the ''OED'' quoted examples relate to: #the sea: Old English to 1530: 7 quotations #standing water: Old English to 1998: 22 quotations #arm of the sea: 1573 to 1676: 4 quotations #marsh or fen: 1609 to 1995: 7 quotations

Characteristics

Where land similar to that of Martin Mere, gently undulating glacial till, becomes flooded and develops fen and

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

, the remnants of the original mere remain until the whole is filled with

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

. This can be delayed where the mere is fed by lime-rich water from chalk or limestone upland and a significant proportion of the outflow from the mere takes the form of evaporation. In these circumstances, the lime (typically

calcium carbonate Calcium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a common substance found in Rock (geology), rocks as the minerals calcite and aragonite, most notably in chalk and limestone, eggshells, gastropod shells, shellfish skel ...

) is deposited on the peaty bed and inhibits plant growth, therefore, peat formation. A typical feature of these meres is that they are alongside a river rather than having the river flowing through them. In this way, the mere is replenished by seepage from the bed of the lime-rich river, through the river's natural levée, or by winter floods. The water of the mere is then static through the summer, when the concentration of the calcium carbonate rises until it is precipitated on the bed of the mere. Even quite shallow lake water can develop a thermocline in the short term but where there is a moderately windy climate, the circulation caused by wind drift is sufficient to break this up. (The surface is blown down-wind in a

seiche A seiche ( ) is a standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water. Seiches and seiche-related phenomena have been observed on lakes, reservoirs, swimming pools, bays, harbors, caves, and seas. The key requirement for formatio ...

and a return current passes either near the bottom or just above the thermocline if that is present at a sufficient depth.) This means that the bed of the shallow mere is aerated and bottom-feeding fish and

wildfowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating o ...

can survive, providing a livelihood for people around. Expressed more technically, the mere consists entirely of the epilimnion. This is quite unlike Windermere where in summer, there is a sharp thermocline at a depth of 9 to 15 metres, well above the maximum depth of 60 metres or so. (M&W p36) At first sight, the defining feature of a mere is its breadth in relation to its shallow depth. This means that it has a large surface in proportion to the volume of water it contains. However, there is a limiting depth beyond which a lake does not behave as a mere since the sun does not warm the deeper water and the wind does not mix it. Here, a thermocline develops but where the limiting dimensions lie is influenced by the sunniness and windiness of the site and the murkiness of the water. This last usually depends on how eutrophic (rich in plant nutrients) the water is. Nonetheless, in general, with the enlargement of the extent of a mere, the depth has to become proportionately less if it is to behave as a mere.

English meres

* Aqualate Mere,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

* Cop Mere, Staffordshire * Bomere Pool,

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

* Buttermere,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

(Lake District) * Diss Mere, Norfolk * Rocklands Mere, Norfolk * Brooke Mere, Norfolk * Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire * Grasmere,

(Lake District) * Hornsea Mere,

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

* Horsey Mere,

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

* Martin Mere,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

* The Meres, south and east of Ellesmere,

(see below) * Orton Mere,

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

* Quidenham Mere, Norfolk * Raby Mere,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

* Scarborough Mere,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

* Scoulton Mere, Norfolk * Sea Mere, Norfolk *

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a numbe ...

(Lake District) * Thorpeness Meare (Suffolk) *

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

(Lake District) * Marton Mere,

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

(Lancashire) There are many examples in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, including: * Alsager Mere * Budworth Mere * Comber Mere * Hatch Mere * Mere * Oak Mere * Pick Mere * Radnor Mere * Redes Mere * Rostherne Mere * Shakerley Mere * Tatton Mere Many examples also occur in north

, especially around the town of Ellesmere, which is sometimes known as 'the Shropshire lake district', such as: * Blakemere * Colemere * Crosemere * Ellesmere (The Mere) * Kettlemere * Newtonmere * Sweatmere * Whitemere

Fenland

The Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...

of eastern England, as well as fen, lowland moor (bog) and other habitats, included a number of meres. As at Martin Mere in

, when the fens were being drained to convert the land to pasture and arable agriculture, the meres went too but some are easily traced owing to the characteristic soil. For the reasons given above, it is rich in both calcium carbonate and

humus In classical soil science, humus is the dark organic matter in soil that is formed by the decomposition of plant and animal matter. It is a kind of soil organic matter. It is rich in nutrients and retains moisture in the soil. Humus is the Lati ...

. On the ground, its paleness stands out against the surrounding black, humic soils and on the soil map, the former meres show as patches of the Willingham soil association, code number 372 (Soil Map). Apart from those drained in the medieval period, they are shown in Saxton's map of the counties (as they were in his time) of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. The following is a list of known meres of the eastern English Fenland with their grid references. Saxton's meres are named as: *Trundle Mere TL2091 * Whittlesey Mere TL2291 *Stretham Mere TL5272 *Soham Mere. TL5773 *Ug Mere TL2487 *Ramsey Mere TL3189 In Jonas Moor's "map of the Great Levell of the Fenns" of 1720, though Trundle Mere is not named, the above are all named but one, included with the addition of: *Benwick Mere TL3489 In the interval, Stretham Mere had gone and the main features of the modern drainage pattern had appeared. Ugg, Ramsey and Benwick meres do not show in the soil map. Others which do but which appear to have been drained before Saxton's mapping in 1576 are at: *TL630875 *TL6884 *TL5375 *TL5898 The last appears to be the "''mare 'Wide' vocatum''" of Robert of Swaffham's version of the

Hereward Hereward the Wake (Old English pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/ , modern English pronunciation / ) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resistance to the Norman Conquest of E ...

story
Chapter XXVI
. If it is, it will have been in existence in the 1070s, when the events of the story took place.

Meres in Wales

* Hanmer Mere,

Clwyd Clwyd ( , ) is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales, situated in the north-east corner of the country; it is named after the River Clwyd, which runs through the area. To the north lies the Irish Sea, with the English cerem ...

* Marloes Mere,

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

Meres in the Netherlands

Meres similar to those of the English Fens but more numerous and extensive used to exist in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, particularly in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

. See

Haarlemmermeer Haarlemmermeer () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The ...

, for example. However, the Dutch word ''meer'' is used more generally than the English mere. It means "lake", as also seen in the names of lakes containing ''meer'' in

Northern Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...

, e.g. Steinhuder Meer. When the Zuiderzee was enclosed by a dam and its saltwater became fresh, it changed its status from a sea (''zee'') to being known as the IJsselmeer, the lake into which the River

IJssel The IJssel (; ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour. It more immediatel ...

flows.

Australian meres

* Beachmere,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

* Austinmer,

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Citations

General sources

* Crossley-Holland, K. (1987). ''The Poetry of Legend: Classics of the Medieval World Beowulf''. (C-H) * Macan, T. T. and Worthington, E. B. (1972). ''Life in Lakes and Rivers Fontana''. (M&W) * Moor, J. (c1980s). ''A Map of the Great Levell of the Fenns Extending into ye Countyes of Norfolk, Suffolke, Northampton, Lincoln, Cambridge, Huntingdon and the Isle of Ely'' facsimile edition by Cambridgeshire Library Service *

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

1:50,000 Sheets 142 & 143 * ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'' (''OED'') * Saxton, C. (1992) 576 ''Christopher Saxton's 16th Century Maps. The counties of England & Wales. With Introduction by William Ravenhill''. . Cambridgeshire map. * ''Soils of England and Wales, Sheet 4 Eastern England''. Soil Survey of England and Wales (1983). (Soil Map) * Swaffham, R. (1895-7) . 1260br>''Gesta Herwardi''
Transcribed by S. H. Miller and translated by W. D. Sweeting.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mere (Lake) Lakes Limnology