Description

In recent years the Tone has been the subject of many official reports, but little has been written about the river as a whole for the general reader. This is a pity. From its source high on the Brendon Hills down to its confluence with the Parrett at Burrowbridge the Tone flows through an attractive and varied landscape that is full of interest.

With a Foreword by Tom Mayberry of the South West Heritage Trust and generously illustrated, this study by a geographer and long-term resident shows how the landscape has changed, using a range of examples – the taming of the Brendon Hills around the river’s source; the origins of Clatworthy reservoir; the descent from the hill to the plain; the Tone as an industrial river; the rise and fall of Nynehead’s parkland; the river from Bradford to the edge of Taunton; the very different landscape of Taunton and the Levels.

David Rabson was a Cambridge-educated geographer and a long-standing member of the Local History Committee of SANHS.
His previous publications include ‘From Somerset to the Pyrenees – in the steps of William Arthur Jones, geologist and antiquary’
(SANHS 2015) and he was principal author and editor of ‘The Book of Nynehead’ (Halsgrove 2003).
David died in September 2021 leaving the book almost ready for publication.