Dawlish Water is a minor coastal stream which flows through

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Dawlish Water, also known as, “The Brook”,rises on the eastern slopes of

Haldon Forest Haldon Forest is a forest located in the Haldon Hills, Devon, England. The forest consists of several different woods. Geographically, Haldon Forest is located between the towns of Chudleigh and Exminster and is south of Exeter. Management It ...

in the

Haldon Hills The Haldon Hills, usually known simply as Haldon, is a ridge of high ground in Devon, England. It is situated between the River Exe and the River Teign and runs northwards from Teignmouth, on the coast, for about until it dwindles away nort ...

by the

A380 road A38 or A-38 may refer to: * A38 (dairy product), a fermented dairy product sold in Denmark * A38 (ship), a party boat on the Danube in Budapest, Hungary * A38 motorway (Netherlands) * A38 road (England) * A38 (Sydney), an arterial route in Syd ...

and the B3192, (largely heathland and conifer forest), in the Mamhead

Obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

plantation and then flows southeast through

Ashcombe Ashcombe is a village and civil parish in the Teignbridge district of Devon, England, about eight miles south of the city of Exeter. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Kenton, Mamhead, Dawlish, Bishopsteign ...

, Dawlish Water (Hamlet) and on to

Dawlish Dawlish is an English seaside resort town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon, from the county town of Exeter and from the larger resort of Torquay. Its 2011 population of 11,312 was estimated at 13,355 in 2019. It is ...

town, flowing over a series of

weirs A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

, then through the centre of the town, under the A379 road and the London-Penzance railway line, by

Dawlish railway station Dawlish railway station is on the Exeter to Plymouth line and serves the town of Dawlish in Devon, England. It is from London, measured from the zero point at . The station is built on the sea wall, as is the railway line, and has often suffe ...

, before terminating in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. The urban part of Dawlish Water is prone to flooding in certain situations, particularly with winds between south and east, when moisture-laden air is forced up the slopes of Haldon Hill, where it then condenses and precipitates. It is a relatively quick-response watercourse, so is susceptible to intense rainstorms, however river levels tend to fall fairly swiftly afterwards. Dawlish Water has 15 minor tributaries, coming off Luscombe Hill and the hill by the Langdon Plantation. The only major tributary is Brown’s Brook, which is approximately 3km long and comes from Lidwell Chapel, in turn located on Little Haldon. Water quality is sometimes affected after heavy rainfall due to upstream farm effluent, and combined sewer outfalls in the river as it passes through the town. This in turn can affect the bathing water quality on the beach immediately next to the river, after heavy rain. Several initiatives have improved the situation recently, with the EA liaising with local farmers and water companies to improve water quality. The water level of the stream has been measured in Dawlish since 2012, normal levels are between and . The maximum recorded level was in November 2012. The mouth of the river was redesigned in the 2019-onwards works on the Dawlish Sea Wall. It has now been surrounded by a 2m high concrete wall, designed to concentrate the flow of the river at the discharge point to reduce erosion of the surrounding rock and structures, such as the stone groyne, in place to stop

Longshore drift Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle incoming wave direction ...

at the site.

References

External links

. Rivers of Devon {{England-river-stub