A 14th-century moat all but vanished overnight, leaving the people of the Somerset cathedral city of Wells bewildered.
Community groups on social media were wild with theories about what had happened to almost empty the Bishop’s Palace moat, with some claiming it could be a rogue sinkhole.
But it turned out to be a simple case of miscalculation when the estate’s head gardener held his hands up and admitted the error.
Among the first locals to spot the strange sight was Tracey Simpson, who was walking with her dog, Archie, early on Wednesday morning.
She told The Independent: “People do take an interest in what is happening with the moat and it is known to get kingfishers.
“I saw it and put it up on the community Facebook page and some of the responses were speculating over crazy conspiracy theories about sinkholes.
“Obviously everyone was concerned about what the swans would do but I suppose it’s quite a nice story for people to talk about rather than Covid or Meghan Markle.”
But the palace’s estates manager James Cross said he had opened the sluice gate expecting a deluge of heavy rain which never came.
He told BBC News: “It's my fault actually. I slightly over-anticipated how much rain we were going to get last night. Earlier in the winter it [the sluice gate] could have been opened as much as it is and the moat would still be very very full.
“We opened it up a little bit last night anticipating lots of rain and until now we haven’t had very much so hence it is empty.
“There is a deep channel of water left, with between half a metre to a metre of water, the banks have dried up, but there is plenty of room for the smaller fish that we have and the swans and ducks are also fine.”
The palace dates back to the 13th century and the moat was installed in the 1340s.
It has been home to the Bishops of Bath and Wells for over 800 years.
Mr Cross added the moat would not take long to fill back up and said staff had been clearing out the winter debris from in front of the sluice gate.
