of watermills on the river. In the 17th and 18th centuries, there were several watermills which ground corn and made paper, with 13 mills on the Yeo at the peak, declining to seven by 1791 and just three by 1915.In the Victorian era it also became a centre for the production of clothing. The last mill in Cheddar, which was used as a shirt factory, closed in the early 1950s.

Rackley was a trading port in the Middle Ages following construction of a wharf in 1200.