Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with
chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet.
Definition
Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...
. Since chalk is
permeable
Permeability, permeable, and semipermeable may refer to:
Chemistry
*Semipermeable membrane, a membrane which will allow certain molecules or ions to pass through it by diffusion
*Vascular permeability, the movement of fluids and molecules betwe ...
, water percolates easily through the ground to the
water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
and chalk streams therefore receive little
surface runoff
Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when th ...
. As a result, the water in the streams contains little
organic matter
Organic matter, organic material, or natural organic matter refers to the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have c ...
and
sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
and is generally very clear. The beds of the rivers are generally composed of clean, compacted
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
and
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
s, which are good spawning areas for
Salmonidae
Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefis ...
fish species.
Since they are fed primarily by
aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...
s, the flow rate, mineral content and temperature range of chalk streams exhibit less seasonal variation than other rivers.
[ They are mildly ]alkali
In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a ...
ne and contain high levels of nitrate
Nitrate is a polyatomic ion
A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that has a net charge that is not zer ...
, phosphate
In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid .
The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phospho ...
, potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...
and silicate
In chemistry, a silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula , where . The family includes orthosilicate (), metasilicate (), and pyrosilicate (, ). The name is al ...
.[ In addition to ]algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
and diatom
A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατÎμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...
s, the streams provide a suitable habitat for macrophytes
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that g ...
(including water crowfoot) and oxygen levels
Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium at the given temperature. It ca ...
are generally supportive of coarse fish
In Britain and Ireland, coarse fishing (, ) refers to angling for rough fish, which are fish species traditionally considered undesirable as a food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids — most particularly salmon, trout and ch ...
populations.[
Of the 210 rivers classified as chalk streams globally, 160 are in England.][
]
Geology and hydrology
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
is a highly porous
Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure ...
and permeable
Permeability, permeable, and semipermeable may refer to:
Chemistry
*Semipermeable membrane, a membrane which will allow certain molecules or ions to pass through it by diffusion
*Vascular permeability, the movement of fluids and molecules betwe ...
rock, and rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
falling onto chalk topography percolate
Percolation (from Latin ''percolare'', "to filter" or "trickle through"), in physics, chemistry and materials science, refers to the movement and filtering of fluids through porous materials.
It is described by Darcy's law.
Broader application ...
s directly into the ground, where the chalk layer acts as an aquifer
An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characterist ...
. The groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidate ...
flows through the chalk bedrock, re-emerging lower down the slope in springs. The chalk acts as a temporary reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
by regulating the amount of water supplied to the springs. This is why many chalk streams in the UK have stable flow regimes that vary only slightly over time. The temperature of the emerging surface water is fairly stable and rarely deviates from . On cold winter mornings, water vapour from the relatively warm stream condenses in the cold air above to form fog.
Chalk is slightly soluble in rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
water because rain is naturally slightly acidic
In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
. The products of chalk weathering
Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement), ...
are dissolved in rainwater and are transported in stream flow. Chalk streams transport little suspended material (unlike most rivers), but are considered "mineral
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...
-rich" due to the dissolved calcium and carbonate
A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate g ...
ion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conven ...
s. The surface water of chalk streams is commonly described as "gin clear". The channel bed consists of angular flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
derived from the natural flint deposits found embedded within the chalk geology that contains relatively low amounts of clay and silt deposits.
The unique characteristics of chalk stream ecology are due to stable temperature and flow regimes combined with highly transparent water and lack of sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
grade sediment particles.
Ecology
The chalk streams have been intensively managed for many generations. In the 20th and 21st centuries, much of that management has been aimed at producing the best conditions for fly fishing
Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...
, and most specifically, dry fly fishing Dry fly fishing is an angling technique in which the lure is an artificial fly which floats on the surface of the water and does not sink below it. Developed originally for trout fly fishing.
The fish and the dry fly
Fly fishing for trout can b ...
. The chalk streams hold a good number of wild salmonid fish species such as the brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
(''Salmo trutta''), Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...
(''Salmo salar'') and grayling (''Thymallus thymallus''). In addition to these there are also considerable numbers of stocked brown trout and stocked rainbow trout
The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
(''Oncorhynchus mykiss''). The rich invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
life and characteristic transparent shallow water make chalk rivers and streams particularly suited to fly fishing.
Many of the chalk stream springs are also used as sites for watercress
Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae.
Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf ve ...
production, due to the constant temperature and clean, alkaline
In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a base (chemistry), basic, ionic compound, ionic salt (chemistry), salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as ...
, mineral-rich spring water. The Mid Hants Watercress Railway
The Watercress Line is the marketing name of the Mid-Hants Railway, a heritage railway in Hampshire, England, running from New Alresford to Alton where it connects to the National Rail network. The line gained its popular name in the days ...
in Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
is so named on account of its use for transporting watercress to London from local chalk streams. A number of the chalk aquifers and associated groundwater sources related to chalk streams and rivers are used for water abstraction
Water extraction (or water withdrawal) is the process of taking water from any source, either temporarily or permanently, for flood control or to obtain water for, for example, irrigation. The extracted water could also be used as drinking wate ...
by local and national water utility companies.
Chalk streams of England
Although chalk streams are generally watercourses originating from chalk hills, including winterbournes, streams, and rivers, the term ''chalk stream'' is used even for larger rivers, which would normally be considered too large for the term ''stream''. The Somme in northern France is a chalk stream on a larger scale.
Chalk streams of the Southern England Chalk Formation
Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...
in Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
, Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
and the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
:
* River Avon and its tributaries including the
** River Bourne
**River Ebble
The River Ebble is one of the five rivers of the English city of Salisbury. Rising at Alvediston to the west of the city, it joins the River Avon at Bodenham, near Nunton.
Description
The Ebble rises at Alvediston, to the west of Salisbury, ...
**River Nadder
The River Nadder is a tributary of the River Avon, flowing in south Wiltshire, England.
Course
The river flows north from Ludwell to West End where it is joined by the Ferne Brook, close to the Lower Coombe and Ferne Brook Meadows site of spec ...
**River Wylye
The River Wylye ( ) is a chalk stream in the south of England, with clear water flowing over gravel. It is popular with anglers for fly fishing. A half-mile stretch of the river and three lakes in Warminster are a local nature reserve.
Cour ...
* River Frome
* River Itchen and its small tributaries
*River Kennet
The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which â ...
*River Lambourn
The River Lambourn is a chalk stream in the English county of Berkshire. It rises in the Berkshire Downs near its namesake village of Lambourn and is a tributary of the River Kennet, which is itself a tributary of the River Thames.
The river ...
*River Loddon
*Letcombe Brook
Letcombe Brook is a stream in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. It rises at the foot of the Berkshire Downs in Letcombe Bassett and flows through Letcombe Regis, Wantage, Grove and East Hanney to join Childrey Brook, which is ...
*River Meon
The River Meon () is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at East Meon then flows in a generally southerly direction to empty into the Solent at Hill Head near Stubbington.Hampshire County Council (2006). Activities at ...
*River Piddle
The River Piddle or Trent or North River is a small rural Dorset river which rises in the Dorset Downs and flows into Poole Harbour near Wareham.
Etymology
The river's name has Germanic origins and has had various spellings over the years. In ...
*River Test
The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. Below the village o ...
and its tributaries
* River Caul Bourne
Chalk streams of the Southern England Chalk Formation in the Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England.
The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
and Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
(tributaries of the River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...
, River Lea
The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...
and River Colne):
* River Ash
*Barton Springs
Barton Springs is a set of four natural water springs located at Barton Creek on the grounds of Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, resulting from water flowing through the Edwards Aquifer. The largest spring, Main Barton Spring (also known as Partheni ...
*River Beane
The River Beane is a short river in the county of Hertfordshire, England. A tributary of the River Lea, it rises to the south-west of Sandon in the hills northeast of Stevenage and joins the Lea at Hartham Common in Hertford.
Watermills
In ...
*River Bulbourne
The River Bulbourne is a small river in Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. The word bourne derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for a stream. It is an unnavigable tributary of the River Gade, which flows into the River Colne, which in turn is a trib ...
*River Chess
The River Chess is a chalk stream that rises near Chesham in the Chiltern Hills, and flows for through Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire to its confluence with the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne in Rickmansworth. The Chess, along ...
*River Gade
The River Gade is a river running almost entirely through Hertfordshire. It rises from a spring in the chalk of the Chiltern Hills at Dagnall, Buckinghamshire and flows through Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, then along the west side of Watfo ...
* Hambleden Brook
*Hogsmill River
The Hogsmill River in Surrey and Greater London, England is a small chalk stream tributary of the River Thames. It rises in Ewell and flows into the Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the lowest non-tidal reach, that above Teddington Lock.
Th ...
* Hughenden Stream
*River Lea
The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of t ...
*River Mimram
The River Mimram is a river in Hertfordshire, England.
Geography
The river valley known locally as the Mimram Valley is named after the River Mimram, which rises from a spring to the north-west of Whitwell, in North Hertfordshire, England, and ...
*River Misbourne
The River Misbourne rises in a field on the outskirts of Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire, passing through Little Missenden, Old Amersham, Chalfont St Giles, Chalfont St Peter and under the Chiltern railway line and the M25 motorway to its c ...
*River Pang
The River Pang is a small chalk stream river in the west of the English county of Berkshire, and a tributary of the River Thames. It runs for approximately from its source near the village of Compton to its confluence with the Thames in the ...
*River Quin
The River Quin is a small watercourse which rises near Barkway in north east Hertfordshire, England. The river is fed by a number of sources including springs from Biggin Moor, Great Hormead Brook, Little Hormead Brook and various field ditch ...
*River Rib
The River Rib originates near the East Hertfordshire village of Therfield and runs parallel with the A10 through Chipping, Wyddial, Buntingford, Westmill, Braughing, Puckeridge and Standon, before dividing the villages of Thundridge and Wa ...
*River Stort
The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon.
The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's Stort ...
*River Ver
The Ver is a long chalk stream in Hertfordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Colne.
Course
The source is in the grounds of Lynch Lodge, Kensworth Lynch on the west side of the A5 trunk road and stays on the west side for some h ...
Chalk streams of the Yorkshire Wolds
The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in north-eastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie.
On the western edge, the Wolds rise to an escarpment wh ...
:
*Driffield Beck
Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...
, which is a tributary of the River Hull
The River Hull is a navigable river in the East Riding of Yorkshire in Northern England. It rises from a series of springs to the west of Driffield, and enters the Humber Estuary at Kingston upon Hull. Following a period when the Archbishops of ...
*Gypsey Race
The Gypsey Race is a winterbourne stream that rises to the east of Wharram-le-Street and flows through the villages of Duggleby, Kirby Grindalythe, West Lutton, East Lutton, Helperthorpe, Weaverthorpe, Butterwick, Foxholes, Wold Newton, ...
, the most northerly chalk stream in Europe, runs east to the sea at Bridlington
Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 Cen ...
* Settrington Beck, which is a tributary of the River Derwent
Chalk streams of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...
:
There are several chalk streams in the Lincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which run roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary in the north-west to the edge of the Lincolnshire Fens in the south-east. They a ...
including
*Great Eau
The Great Eau is a river in Lincolnshire, England, rising from the Chalk Streams of the Lincolnshire Wolds
The Lincolnshire Wolds are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which run roughly parallel with the North Sea ...
* River Waring
*River Bain
The River Bain is a river in Lincolnshire, England, and a tributary of the River Witham.
The Bain rises in the Lincolnshire Wolds at Ludford,J. N. Clarke, (1990), ''The Horncastle and Tattershall Canal'', Oakwood Press, a village on The Vikin ...
*River Lymn
The River Lymn is a river in Lincolnshire, England. It rises in the Wolds on the eastern slope of Castcliffe Hill in Fulletby parish. It flows south-eastwards to the Lincolnshire Marsh, where it becomes known as the Steeping River on the bound ...
*River Lud
The Louth Navigation was a canalisation of the River Lud. It ran for from Louth in Lincolnshire, England, to Tetney Haven, at the mouth of the Humber. It was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1763 and completed in 1770, under the superv ...
,
*Laceby Beck,
*Nettleton Beck,
*Waithe Beck,
Chalk streams of Kent:
*River Dour
The River Dour is a chalk stream in the county of Kent, England. It flows from the villages of Temple Ewell and River between which is a neighbourhood served by a railway station, Kearsney. It is roughly long.
It originally had a wide estua ...
* Nailbourne
*River Darent
The Darent is a Kentish tributary of the River Thames and takes the waters of the River Cray as a tributary in the tidal portion of the Darent near Crayford, as illustrated by the adjacent photograph, snapped at high tide. 'Darenth' is frequen ...
*(there are more in Kent than listed here)
Chalk streams of Norfolk:
*Babingley
Babingley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sandringham, in the King's Lynn and West Norfolk district, in the county of Norfolk, England, about northwest of Castle Rising and north-north-east of King's Lynn. In 1931 th ...
* Bure
*Burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
* Gaywood
* Glaven
*Heacham
Heacham is a large village in West Norfolk, England, overlooking The Wash. It lies between King's Lynn, to the south, and Hunstanton, about to the north. It has been a seaside resort for over a century and a half.
History
There is evidence o ...
*Hun
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
*Ingol
Ingol is an electoral ward and suburb of Preston, Lancashire, England. The population of the Ward as taken at the 2011 census was 7,369. The ward also includes the district of Tanterton. The ward is coterminous with the civil parish of Ingol and ...
* Mun
* Nar
*Stiffkey
Stiffkey () is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A149 coast road, some east of Wells-next-the-Sea, west of Blakeney, and north-west of the city of Norwich.Ordnance Survey ( ...
*Tas
*Waveney Waveney may refer to:
* River Waveney, a river that forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England
* Waveney District, a local government district in Suffolk, England
* Waveney (UK Parliament constituency)
* Waveney class lifeboat, a class ...
*Wensum
The River Wensum is a chalk river in Norfolk, England and a tributary of the River Yare, despite being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation.
The Wensum is ...
*Wissey
The River Wissey is a river in Norfolk, eastern England. It rises near Bradenham, and flows for nearly to join the River Great Ouse at Fordham. The lower are navigable. The upper reaches are notable for a number of buildings of historic inte ...
* Yare
* Weybourne Beck
Chalk streams of Suffolk:
*River Lark
The River Lark is a river in England that crosses the border between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. It is a tributary of the River Great Ouse, and was extended when that river was re-routed as part of drainage improvements. It is thought to have be ...
* River Linnet
See also
* Chalk Formation
The Chalk Group (often just called the Chalk) is the lithostratigraphic unit (a certain number of rock strata) which contains the Upper Cretaceous limestone succession in southern and eastern England. The same or similar rock sequences occur acro ...
References
External links
Wildlife Trusts - chalk streams
WWF - England's Chalk Streams under threat
Includes an index of all chalk streams in England in linked report
FishPal - about chalk streams
Includes a small list of chalk streams and their locations
{{Rivers, streams and springs, state=collapsed
Water streams