The Great Flood of 1952 in Dulverton

The first 2 weeks of August 1952 were very wet in the south west of England. Then on afternoon and evening of 15th August 9 inches of rain fell over Exmoor and caused devastating floods along the courses of the Rivers East & West Lyn, Exe and Barle and their tributaries.  34 people died (28 of them in Lynmouth and Barbrook), 100 buildings  and many bridges (including Tarr Steps and Marsh Bridge) were damaged or destroyed.  In Bridge Street, Dulverton there is a plaque showing the height that the River Barle reached in the town. It was donated by two soldiers who assisted in the clean up operation.

1952 Flood plaque in Dulverton

1952 Flood plaque

Marsh Bridge - rebuilt after the 1952 floods

Decoration on Marsh Bridge

"The hedge that moved"

I was told by someone who was living at Higher Marsh in August 1952, that a section of bank and three beech trees close to the River Barle upstream of Marsh Bridge was moved wholesale by the force of the water about 50 metres downstream.  It remains in the middle of a field and the trees have carried on growing.  There is no public access to the field, so this was the best photo I could get of the trees.  They are located slightly to the left of the centre of the photo.

Stoney Littleton Long Barrow

Stoney Littleton Long Barrow was built in the early Neolithic period, probably c3800-3400 BC.   It contained the remains of over a dozen men, women and children, possibly 3 or 4 generations of the same family.  It may also have been a religious shrine and/or way of marking territory.

Most of the stone and earth used to build the long barrow were quarried from near the site but the large slabs, which form the chambers, came from outcrops over 5 miles away.  The barrow was used for about 200 years before the forecourt was filled with stone and the entrance was blocked up. There is a large fossil ammonite on the western portal stone at the entrance.

The site was rediscovered by a farmer in 1760 and the site was excavated in 1816. It was partly restored in 1858 and again more recently.  Visitors to the site can explore the tomb by crawling along the 13m narrow passage.

Stoney Littleton Long Barrow

Entrance to the long barrow

Inside the long barrow

Fossil ammonite at the entrance

Diagram showing the internal layout of the long barrow