at the re-convergence of the channels. The Thames' north-eastern channel, the village channel, is deeply entrenched at the places it has frontage to more than 30 of the village's homes and where it is crossed by many flat-deck bridges, some of brick or stone arch. One public bridge, Gumstool Bridge, is not quite flat. Made of limestone it is "probably medieval"; it has two arches, vertical sides rising to form a parapet 80cm high, triangular copings and a raised, squared apex. Two other bridges are consistent with a slightly pre-1800 date. The manor house and adjacent church farm enjoy the vestige of a moat, its southern limb; the rest was intact for many centuries, as seen in maps of the 19th century. Parts of the parish see periodic flooding, and the village channel along beside High Road was prone to washing down to the school and beyond on its near banks. Such villagers expected parts of their grounds or even home to be flooded every winter, although the channel could be controlled to directed to the other, considerably, by opening and closing 'hatches' and ideally pre-emptively by raising of the main sluice after the point of divergence took place. Some riparian residents talked of opening their doors for a flow of water, and of water indoors for weeks. As late as 1924 there were 23 children absent from school in June when flooding in the Derry (south of the Horse and Jockey public house) stranded them in their bedrooms after a night of storms. An aggravating factor was soiling of the flow of the village channel with rubbish and/or privy waste especially after the demise of the night soil industry, causing a frequent and serious public health problem from rats and water contamination, particularly in Gosditch between the two branches of the river. SSSIs Two Sites of Special Scientific Interests are in the parish. Pike Corner is a naturally-drained, wet ("unimproved") flood meadow by the Swill Brook. Upper Waterhay Meadow, frequently flooded by a Thames channel itself, hosts such species as snakeshead fritillaries – managed by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve. Cotswold Community The Cotswold Community, in the western fields was the home of the Bruderhof (see above). It later hosted the Cotswold School, a therapeutic community for children from complex backgrounds, operated by the National Children's Home charity which became Action for Children. It closed in 2012