The Mells River flows through the eastern Mendip Hills

Mendip Hills

The Mendip Hills is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running east to west between Weston-super-Mare and Frome, the hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the Avon Valley to the north...

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England. It rises at Gurney Slade and flows east joining the River Frome

River Frome, Somerset

The River Frome is a river in Somerset. It rises near Witham Friary, flows north through the town of Frome and joins the River Avon at Freshford, south of Bath....

 at Frome

Frome

Frome is a town and civil parish in northeast Somerset, England. Located at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, the town is built on uneven high ground, and centres around the River Frome. The town is approximately south of Bath, east of the county town, Taunton and west of London. In the 2001...

.

The river forms one of the boundaries of Mells Manor

Mells Manor

Mells Manor at Mells, Somerset, England was built in the 16th century for Edward Horner, altered in the 17th century, partially demolished around 1780, and restored by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the 20th century...

 a country house estate in Mells

Mells, Somerset

Mells is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, near the town of Frome.The parish includes the village of Vobster which had a coal mine of the same name on the Somerset coalfield and quarry, both of which are now disused. The old quarry is now used as a diving centre...

.

Mells River also powered the Old Ironstone Works

Old Ironstone Works, Mells

Old Iron Works, Mells is a 0.25 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, in the Wadbury Valley, south of the village of Mells in Somerset, notified in 1987...

 and several other mills set up by James Fussell

James Fussell

James Fussell was the name of several men from the same family who established a business grinding edge tools and forging iron plates at several sites on the Mells River and its tributaries around Mells, Somerset, England...

 in 1744. It is now a 0.25 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, as it is used by both Greater

Greater Horseshoe Bat

The Greater Horseshoe Bat is a European bat of the Rhinolophus genus. Its distribution covers Europe, Africa, South Asia and Australia. It is the largest of the European Horseshoe Bats and is thus easily distinguished from other species...

 and Lesser Horseshoe Bat

Lesser horseshoe bat

The Lesser Horseshoe Bat , is a type of European bat related to but smaller than its cousin, the Greater Horseshoe Bat...

s.
Vobster Inn Bridge, which carries the lane over the Mells River, is dated 1764, and is Grade II listed. At Great Elm

Great Elm

Great Elm is a village and civil parish between Mells and Frome in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford.-History:...

 the Murtry Aqueduct

Murtry Aqueduct

Murtry Aqueduct is a three-arched aqueduct that was intended to carry the Dorset and Somerset Canal over the Mells River, near Frome in Somerset, England. It is a grade II listed building.-Construction:...

, built around 1795, carried the Dorset and Somerset Canal

Dorset and Somerset Canal

The Dorset and Somerset Canal was a proposed canal in the south west of England. The main line was intended to link Poole, in Dorset with the Kennet and Avon Canal near Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire. A branch was to go from the main line at Frome to the southern reaches of the Somerset coalfield at...

 over the river.

The river takes the outfall from Whatley Quarry

Whatley Quarry

Whatley Quarry, is a limestone quarry owned by Hanson plc, near the village of Whatley on the Mendip Hills, Somerset, England.The quarry exhibits pale to dark grey Carboniferous Limestone with small area of overlying horizontally bedded buff-coloured Jurassic oolitic limestone forming an angular...

. Downstream of the outfall is the Mells River Sink. This acts as a spring when the water table is high and as a sink into underground aquifers, through the Limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, when the water table is low. Water tracing showed this to be part of an underground part of the river 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) long. Archaeological investigations found the remains of woolly rhinoceros

Woolly Rhinoceros

The woolly rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros that was common throughout Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene epoch and survived the last glacial period. The genus name Coelodonta means "cavity tooth"...

bones and a 1st century bronze broach.