Ian Mason investigated the Parrett mouth visiting Steart. He found an unfamiliar environment unlike anything else in Somerset. Following physical intervention by the Environment Agency the existing sea defences have been purposely breeched to allow the salt marshes to flood and reduce the energy in high tides. “The landscape at Steart seemed so remote, considering how close it is to the urban conurbations of Bridgwater and Burnham. “The tidal mud flats have an alien appearance that track the flow of the Parrett and reveal the history of its existence, ebb and flow”.