Middlehill

The Bybrook, alternatively referred to as the By Brook, is a petite river situated in Somerset. It serves as a tributary to the Bristol Avon, spanning a length of approximately 12 miles. The river originates from two distinct sources: the Burton Brook and the Broadmead Brook, which originate in South Gloucestershire at Tormarton and Cold Ashton respectively. These two streams converge just north of Castle Combe in Wiltshire. The average flow rate of the Bybrook, as measured at Middlehill near Box, stands at 57.25 cubic feet per second. This camera was installed and is maintained by the Environment Agency and can be viewed here All  content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The river's ecosystem supports a diverse range of flora and fauna, including the endangered white-clawed crayfish. Throughout its course, the Bybrook boasts a historical association with watermills, with a total of twenty mill sites having been identified. Regrettably, none of these mills remain today. Many of them operated seasonally, dependent on the availability of sufficient water. During the Roman era, these mills were exclusively utilized for grinding corn. However, by the late 12th century, this particular region of Wiltshire emerged as a significant hub for the wool trade. Consequently, the mills underwent conversion to facilitate the process of fulling, which involved the cleansing and thickening of wool. Sir John Fastolf established fulling mills in Castle Combe along the Bybrook during the 13th and 14th centuries, contributing to a thriving woollen industry.The decline of the woollen industry in the 17th century, compounded by the effects of the Civil War and the plague, prompted many mills to revert to grain milling. Ultimately, fulling operations ceased entirely when the advent of steam power shifted cloth production to the northern regions during the Industrial Revolution. Subsequently, in response to the growing demand for paper packaging emanating from nearby Bristol, several mills along the Bybrook transitioned to paper production in the 18th and 19th centuries.