Whitelake River
| Whitelake River | |
|---|---|
 Cockmill Bridge and ford | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| State | Somerset |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Pylle |
| • coordinates | 51°08′30″N2°33′47″W/ 51.14167°N 2.56306°W |
| 2nd source | |
| • location | Beard Hill |
| • coordinates | 51°09′43″N2°32′28″W/ 51.16194°N 2.54111°W |
| 3rd source | |
| • location | Worthy Farm,Pilton |
| • coordinates | 51°09′21″N2°35′24″W/ 51.15583°N 2.59000°W |
| Mouth | River Brue |
• location | Westhay,Somerset,England |
• coordinates | 51°10′47″N2°47′41″W/ 51.17972°N 2.79472°W |
| Length | 10 km (6.2 mi) |
TheWhitelake Riveris a small river on theSomerset Levels,England.
The river rises between two lowlimestoneridges, part of the southern edge of theMendip Hills.[1][2]Theconfluenceof the two small streams that make the Whitelake River is on Worthy Farm (which is the site of theGlastonbury Festival) between the small villages ofPiltonandPylle.It flows west for approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) until it joins theRiver BrueatWesthay.The Witelake was once navigable between Pilton and the confluence with the Brue.[3]In the 1st millennium BC the land close to the confluence of Whitelake River and the Brue was the site of theMeare Pool,which was located on low-lying levels just north ofMeare.
During 2010Michael Eavisreceived a donation fromBritish Waterwaysof timber from the oldgatesatCaen Hill LocksinWiltshire.This was used to construct a new bridge over the Whitelake River which was dedicated to the memory ofArabella Churchilland named "Bella's Bridge".[4]
Water from the river was sampled both upstream and downstream of Worthy Farm before, during and after the 2019 Glastonbury Festival. Concentrations of the illegal drugsMDMAandcocainefrom festival-goers urinating in the open fields were high enough to harm aquatic wildlife, including a rare population of theEuropean eel,aprotected species.[5]
References
[edit]
- ^Dunning, Robert W. (1 April 1980).Somerset and Avon.Edinburgh:John Bartholomew.p. 119.ISBN9780702883804.
- ^Havinden, Michael (1982).The Somerset Landscape.The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 161–162.ISBN0-340-20116-9.
- ^Abrams, Lesley,ed. (1991).The Archaeology and history of Glastonbury Abbey: essays in honour of the ninetieth birthday of C. A. Ralegh Radford.Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. p. 66.ISBN9780851152844.
- ^Owen, Julian (18 June 2010). "Heart of Glasto".Venue.924:14–15.
- ^Snapes, Laura (28 September 2021)."Glastonbury: drug traces from on-site urination could harm rare eels".the Guardian.p. 3.
