| Mells River | |
|---|---|
 Bridge over the Mells River atGreat Elm | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| County | Somerset |
| Cities | Gurney Slade,Mells,Great Elm,Frome |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Somerset,England |
| • elevation | 2 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Mouth | River Frome |
• location | Frome,Somerset,England |
• coordinates | 51°14′50″N2°19′14″W / 51.24722°N 2.32056°W /51.24722; -2.32056 |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • right | Finger Stream, Whatley Brook, Nunney Brook |
TheMells River flows through the easternMendip Hills inSomerset, England. It rises atGurney Slade and flows east joining theRiver Frome atFrome.
The river forms one of the boundaries ofMells Park, a country house estate inMells.[1]A few kilometres downstream it flows between the pre-Roman fortifications ofWadbury Camp to the north andTedbury Camp to the south.[2]The river flows through the western part of theHarridge Woods nature reserve.[3]
Mells River also powered theOld Ironstone Works[4] and several other mills set up byJames Fussell III in 1744.[5] It is now a 0.25hectarebiological Site of Special Scientific Interest, as it is used by bothGreater andLesser Horseshoe Bats.[6][7]
Vobster Inn Bridge, which carries the lane over the Mells River, is dated 1764 and is Grade II listed.[8] AtGreat Elm theMurtry Aqueduct,[9] built around 1795, carried theDorset and Somerset Canal over the river.
The river takes the outfall fromWhatley Quarry.[10] Downstream of the outfall is the Mells River Sink. This acts as a spring when the water table is high and as a sink into underground aquifers, through theLimestone, when the water table is low.[11] Water tracing showed this to be part of an underground part of the river 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) long. Archaeological investigations found the remains ofwoolly rhinoceros bones and a 1st-century bronze brooch.[12]
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