River Cary

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title: "River Cary" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-somerset", "somerset-levels", "parrett-catchment"] description: "River in Somerset, England" topic_path: "general/rivers-of-somerset" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Cary" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River in Somerset, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	River Cary
image	River Cary.jpg
subdivision_type1	Country
subdivision_name1	England
subdivision_type2	County
subdivision_name2	Somerset
subdivision_type3	Region
subdivision_name3	Somerset Levels
subdivision_type5	City
subdivision_name5	Somerton, Somerset
source1	Park Pond
source1_location	Castle Cary, Somerset, England
source1_coordinates
mouth	River Parrett
mouth_location	Dunball, Somerset, England
mouth_coordinates
::

| name = River Cary | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = | image = River Cary.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = England | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Somerset | subdivision_type3 = Region | subdivision_name3 = Somerset Levels | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = City | subdivision_name5 = Somerton, Somerset | length = | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = Park Pond | source1_location = Castle Cary, Somerset, England | source1_coordinates= | source1_elevation = | mouth = River Parrett | mouth_location = Dunball, Somerset, England | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = The River Cary is a river in Somerset, England. It is sourced from the Park Pond in Castle Cary and flows towards the southwest.

Etymology

The origin of the name Cary is uncertain. It may be derived from pre-Celtic kar-, meaning "stony, hard", or the Celtic element car meaning dear, pleasant (cf. Welsh cari, "love").

Course

The River Cary has its source at Park Pond in Castle Cary, and then flows southwest through Cary Moor to Babcary, where there is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Babcary Meadows and Cary Fitzpaine. It then flows northwest through Charlton Mackrell to the north of Somerton, passing under the Somerton Viaduct. Here the river channel has been straightened and drains the surrounding wetland as it heads north to Kings Sedge Moor. The Cary passes through King's Sedgemoor continuing west across the moors south of the Polden Hills. At Henley it joins the artificial channels of the Sutton Moor Rhyne and the King's Sedgemoor Drain, both of which drain the wetland. Much of the water is now diverted into King's Sedgemoor Drain, which continues across the moors to join the estuary of the River Parrett at Dunball.

Pollution

In 1995 a major pollution incident occurred when lindane and mercury seed dressing were poured down a drain which leads into the river near Somerton.

References

References

1. Victor Watts, 'Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names', Cambridge University Press, 2004
2. "Carey Name Meaning & Carey Family History at Ancestry.com". Ancestry.co.uk.
3. "Somerset Topography: Rivers". Somerset County Council.
4. (1995). "Dumped lindane costs dear". Pesticides News.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::