Dolphins in the River Parrett at Combwich

I'm not referring to the marine mammals, but to man-made marine structures, which are not usually connected to the shore and which are used to assist in the berthing or mooring of boats.  They are constructed at the entrance to a dock or along a pier, quay, wharf or beach. They usually consist of a number of piles, which are driven into the bed of a river or the sea and these can be made of wood, steel or concrete.

There are mooring and breasting dolphins and I think there are both types at Combwich.

Breasting dolphins help in the mooring of vessels by sharing some of the berthing load.  They also prevent vessels from hitting quays and can also be used as mooring points to restrict the longitudinal movement of berthing vessels.

Vessels are secured to mooring dolphins using ropes. Mooring dolphins also control the transverse movement of berthing vessels.

The dolphins at Combwich Pill were constructed in the late 1950s or 1960s when Hinkley Point A or B Nuclear Power Stations were being built.

The inner dolphins and finger jetty were due to be removed in 2019, as part of the redevelopment of Combwich Wharf to accommodate ships carrying materials for Hinkley C Nuclear Power Station. They are to be replaced by two new breasting dolphins.

Dolphins at the entrance to Combwich Wharf

Combwich Pill dolphins at low tide

Entrance to Combwich Pill at low tide

Dolphins at high tide, December 2022

Sham Castle, Bathampton Down, Bath

The Sham Castle was built on Bathampton Down to the east of Bath city centre by Richard James (or possibly Jones) for Ralph Allen in 1762.  It is a Gothick folly and is only the façade of a castle - the back of the castle is flat. 

Ralph Allen (1693-1764) was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, who reformed the British postal delivery service.  He was born in St Columb Major in Cornwall but moved to Bath in 1710 to work for the Post Office. He used the money he made from his postal reforms to buy the Bath stone quarries/mines at Combe Down and Bathampton Down. He made a fortune from his Bath stone quarries and in the mid 1730s work started on the Palladian mansion Prior Park, which was built for him on a hill overlooking the city.  The mansion was completed in 1741.

Ralph Allen probably had the Sham Castle built to show off the qualities of Bath stone as a building material and/or to improve the view from his house in the centre of Bath. 

The Sham Castle was restored and presented to the City of Bath by Richard Osden Ottley and Arthur Edward Withey in 1921.

The front of Sham Castle

The central arch of Sham Castle

Sham Castle

Plaque above the central arch

The back of Sham Castle

The view from Sham Castle