The Mark Yeo is a short river or rhyne in north 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, as part of a waterway called the “Pilrow Cut”[1] probably canalised in the early 13th century.[2][3] It no longer connects to the Brue, but is used for drainage purposes, which is unlikely to have been the case in the Middle Ages.[3] Within the village of Mark, it is crossed by an iron bridge erected in 1824, which claims to be the oldest of its kind in the county.[4]
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.[5] It is thought to have been used to transport goods and passengers to and from Glastonbury Abbey.[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.[6]
In 2008 an oil spill threatened some of the birds and other wildlife on the river.[7] A rescue operation was launched by local volunteers to save geese, swans and ducks who were affected.[8] The river has substantially recovered and now has a population of fish and eels.[9]
In 2015 a man was killed as a result of an accident in which a car overturned and was submerged in the Mark Yeo. Local roads were closed while the car was retrieved from the water.[10] The driver of the car was later charged with causing death by driving without due care and attention while over the alcohol limit.[11]
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