Chiselborough, located in Somerset, is a village situated on the banks of the River Parrett, approximately 5 miles west of Yeovil. The village predominantly comprises small cottages constructed using the locally quarried golden hamstone from Ham Hill. In Saxon times, the village was recorded as 'Ceoselbergon' and later mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Ceolseberge' under the ownership of Robert, Count of Mortain. The name Chiselborough originates from the Old English words cisel and beorg, meaning gravel and hill, respectively. The parish was a part of the hundred of Houndsborough.Until 1914, the majority of the village was held by the Earls of Ilchester, who inherited it from the heirs of Joan Wadham, Lady Strangways. Joan Wadham was the first wife of Sir Giles Strangways (1528-1562) of Melbury Sampford and the sister and co-heiress of Nicholas Wadham, one of the co-founders of Wadham College, Oxford. The current Baron and Baroness of Chiselborough do not reside in the area.The annual Chiselborough Fair used to take place on common ground near the street now known as Fair Place. The River Parrett has a gauging station located in Chiselborough, relatively close to its source. This station measures the flow from the initial 29 square miles of the river's drainage basin, which accounts for approximately 4.3 percent of the total. The Environment Agency recorded a mean flow of 42 cubic feet per second (1.19 m3/s) in Chiselborough, with a peak flow of 6,100 cubic feet per second (173 m3/s) on May 30, 1979, and a minimum flow of 2.5 cubic feet per second (0.07 m3/s) over a seven-day period in August 1976. 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 Parrett has several tributaries with gauging stations, including the Yeo, Isle, Cary, and Tone. The lower section of the Parrett, between Langport and Bridgwater, exhibits a gentle gradient with a fall of only 1 foot per mile. As the River Parrett approaches the mouth and meets the Bristol Channel, it transitions into the Severn Estuary, where the tidal range reaches up to 46 feet. Consequently, the flow and direction of the Parrett are influenced by the tidal conditions of the River Severn. Similar to the lower reaches of the River Severn, the Parrett experiences a tidal bore, where a combination of tides creates a wave that travels upstream against the river's current at a speed of approximately 6 miles per hour.
