The Severn Bore, The Wonder of Britain

Dan Ri Hafren (The Two Kings of the Severn)
'Another wonder is Dan Ri Hafren, that is, the Two Kings of the Severn. When the sea floods into the Severn estuary, two heaped-up wave crests are built up separately, and fight each other like rams. One goes against the other, and they clash in turn, and then one withdraws from the other and they go forth together again at each tide. This they have done, from the beginning of the world to the present day...'

Note: There are only two locations on the Severn where such an event can be witnessed. Before the weir was built at Maisemore, the west channel tide would wrap around the Upper Parting into the eastern channel and collide with the flood tide running up that channel. But more famous, is the collision that occurs in the eastern channel of the Noose, as the leading west-channel tide rebounds of Hock Cliff and flows straight back into collision with the advancing flood tide in the eastern channel. Just as the Roman Army experienced.

The Mouth of Llyn Lliwan
'Another wonder is the mouth of Llyn Lliwan. Its estuary is in the Severn and when the Severn is flooded in the bore and the sea also floods up the estuary of the aforesaid river, the river is received into the estuary waters like a whirlpool, and the sea does not go up; and there is a shore by the river, and whenever the Severn is flooded in the bore, that shore is not touched, and when the sea ebbs from the Severn, then Lake Lliwan spews up everything that is devoured from the sea and that shore is touched, and, like a hill, breaks and spews up in one wave.

And if the army of the whole country where it is should be there, and should front the wave, the force of the wave would drag down the army, its clothing filled with water, and the horses would also be dragged down. But if the army should turn its back on the wave, the wave does not harm it, and when the sea ebbs, then the whole of the shore that the wave covered is laid bare again, and the sea ebbs from it.'

Nennius' work, as extracted above, is recognised by scholars as the first working of historical methodology, still employed today. It is an objective catalogue of anecdote, free of subjective additions. It is only recently that the work has become available through the academic press, and with it the recognition that of the 13 wonders described in The Wonders of Britain, 4 describe the Severn Bore in different ways.

The Gentleman's Magazine (1764)
The next documented account available in the Gloucester Record's Office appears to be this short, and somewhat unusual occurance described in 1764.

'Sunday, 12th February. The tide in the river Severn which always comes up with a great head and an amazing rapidity and noise, came half an hour early before its usual time: this greatly astonished the people who observed it; but their surprise was heightened when they perceived a second tide coming up with equal force, within half an hour of the first. At Bristol the tide flowed an hour and three quarters before its time; ceased to flow and flowed again. Can anyone explain this phenomenon?'

This is indeed a strange phenomenon, and possibly was the result of a violent earhtquake in some distant region.

The Parting Of The Water (c. 1780)
'The first thing to be seen is the dashing of the water with great violence over the distant banks, and about the same time the current ceases to run downward...commonly some men in boats meet the tide, and some dogs are thrown in just as it comes, to observe their howling and distress. On a sudden, the boats and dogs are instantaneously raised up and thrown into violent agitation, and at the same time a vast wall of water, reaching across the whole channel of the Severn, and dashing everywhere over its banks, is seen approaching with extreme rapidity...'

This vivid eighteenth century description of the bore, as viewed from the southern point of the Isle Of Alney - known then as the Parting of the Water - has been credited to Sir Charles Blagden (c. 1780). His methodical account depicts a wave between 8 and 9 feet high at Stonebench, and 4 foot in midstream at Newnham. The wave travelled the 20 river miles from there to Over in 65 minutes. The account finishes by pointing out that,

'Most waterman maintain that in great springs the tide rises near the New Passage, that is, at the entrance of the first concentration of the Severn, fully sixty feet.'

An Impressive Spectacle
It appears that the Lower Parting, the southern tip of the Isle of Alney, was a regular place for the Gloucester residents to watch the bore. Lady Hawkins (1819) describes her experiences at this point.

'Presently our attention was called on by a prodigious noise at a distance, and by seeing what appeared like white smoke, proved to be foam thrown up into the air to a stupendous height; and now came on teh tide which ploughed the centre of the river, and was called 'The Parting' dividing it with inconceivable force, the strong stream in vain attempting to oppose it, and, after a momentary conflict, throwing itself to an incredible distance upon the meadows on each side in waves mountains high.'

Another vivid description of the sheer power and majesty of the bore is given by Mr Frank Buckland in 1874.

'Hurrying towards us with fearful force and velocity, rushed a dense wall of water, curling over with foam at its summit, and extending right across from bank to bank. Two angry precipices of water, the escorts on either side of this terrible wave, swept with terrific weight and power along the banks, throwing high up into the air, and well above the pollard trees, a sheet of water mixed with mud and sticks.'

These accounts demonstrate the size of the bore back in the eighteenth century and nineteenth centuries. Sadly, more recent eye-witness reports rarely show the same kind of excitement and enthusiasm. This is in part due to disappointing displays by the bore in recent years. Why has this occurred? There are many reasons, not least the change in climate that has seen more excessive rainfall around the equinox seasons.

Historical accounts compiled by Donny and Tom Wright