Great Flood of 1968

The night of 10th July 1968 has become known on Mendip as the night of ‘The Great Flood.’ The storms and floods were the worst of their kind in recent memory, and six people died that night. 1

During the afternoon of the 10th July torrential rain fell over Devon and. Somerset. At Charterhouse the storm continued well into the night. By evening the water in Blackmoor formed a lake above the track which leads down from the church. A second lake formed lower down between this track and the Priddy road, which crosses the valley. The road was still intact in the evening, but the rain continued into the early hours of the next morning when the road probably collapsed. Many people believe that the track and road gave way suddenly since a wall of water was reported at Cheddar. Rapid rising waters are however a feature of flooding, and similar surges were reported in other Mendip valleys where there were no such dams.

Farmer Brown reported that the Thursday was a fine day which attracted many people to Blackmoor where the torrents of water provided a pretty sight and an opportunity for paddling. In the morning, water formed a flood running across Town Field from Blagdon Hill reaching the lower corner of the pond where outlet normally occurs. Water also crossed the road at the dip by Paywell Farm where chaff caught in the fencing indicated a depth of 1m. The pond itself was also one metre above its normal high water level.

The exposure of washing bed structures and heaps of flood debris attracted numerous treasure hunters. At this time the stream flowed on down the valley overflowing the hollows below the Somerset Youth Centre Hut.2

Underground, the affects of the floods included the disappearance of the 40' Pitch in Swildon's Hole, and the appearance of a 15 metre surface shaft at Manor Farm Swallet.