The river rises between two low limestone ridges, part of the southern edge of the Mendip Hills.

It flows west for approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) until it joins the River Brue at Westhay.

During 2010 Michael Eavis received a donation from British Waterways of timber from the old gates at Caen Hill Locks in Wiltshire.

[4] Water from the river was sampled both upstream and downstream of Worthy Farm before, during and after the 2019 Glastonbury Festival.

Concentrations of the illegal drugs MDMA and cocaine from festival-goers urinating in the open fields were high enough to harm aquatic wildlife, including a rare population of the European eel, a protected species.