The Little Avon River is a small
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
partly in southern
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
and partly in
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke, the latter three forming ...
. For much of its length it forms the boundary between the county of Gloucestershire and the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. It rises to the east of
Wickwar
Wickwar is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, located between Yate and Charfield. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,943.
History
Wickwar was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ...
, near
Horton, passes near
Charfield
Charfield is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, south-west of Wotton-under-Edge near the Little Avon River and the villages of Falfield and Cromhall. The parish includes the hamlet of Churchend.
Village
Charfield is a med ...
,
Stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
and
Berkeley, and enters the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
via Berkeley Pill. It was formerly navigable up to moorings at Berkeley, but a flood-prevention scheme, built in the 1960s, now prevents navigation more than a few hundred metres upstream.
Geology
The Little Avon River rises from a point upstream to the east of
Wickwar
Wickwar is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, located between Yate and Charfield. At the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,943.
History
Wickwar was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as ...
in Gloucestershire, flowing north-west for a total of , near
Charfield
Charfield is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, south-west of Wotton-under-Edge near the Little Avon River and the villages of Falfield and Cromhall. The parish includes the hamlet of Churchend.
Village
Charfield is a med ...
,
Stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
and
Berkeley, before finally joining the
River Severn
, name_etymology =
, image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG
, image_size = 288
, image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle
, map = RiverSevernMap.jpg
, map_size = 288
, map_c ...
. The river runs through
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
and
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
, while the source water has been affected by the
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
from where it rises. The river starts as a steep course, with a natural
riffle-pool sequence
In a flowing stream, a riffle-pool sequence (also known as a pool-riffle sequence) develops as a stream's hydrological flow structure alternates from areas of relatively shallow to deeper water. This sequence is present only in streams carrying g ...
, before flattening out at Stone, where the river has been modified for used for
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
. By the time the river reaches Berkeley, it is sheltered from the tide using
tidal gates.
Its tributaries include
Ozleworth
Ozleworth is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, approximately south of Gloucester. It lies in the Cotswolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
History
Ozleworth was known as in 940, derived from the Old English words ...
Brook, Dyers Brook through
Wotton-under-Edge
Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...
, Doverte Brook and Kilcott Brook.
Ecology
Rare species of conservation interest including
white-clawed crayfish
''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish.
Distribution
It is found from the eas ...
,
water voles,
bullheads and
eels
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
are known to live in the catchment.
Ten species from the
UK Biodiversity Action Plan have been recorded, as well as several from the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
.
The river is used as a fishery, controlled by Berkeley Estate Fishing Syndicate, which ensures that
brown trout and
grayling are in the river for
fly fishing as well as standard
coarse fishing
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 ...
species.
Notable features
![Footbridge adjacent to road bridge, Ham, Berkeley (geograph 2293931)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Footbridge_adjacent_to_road_bridge%2C_Ham%2C_Berkeley_%28geograph_2293931%29.jpg)
There is a footbridge over the Little Avon River which links
Berkeley Castle
Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelled as ''Berkley Castle'' or ''Barkley Castle'') is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, and it has been desi ...
to
Berkeley Stables. It was built around the turn of the 19th century, with the main arch being about wide and above water level at its highest point. The pathway across the bridge is approximately wide, with the total width of . The bridge was designated Grade II
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
status on 9 September 1985.
References
External links
Gloucestershire Wildlife TrustNatural England(SSSI information)
{{authority control
Tributaries of the River Severn
Rivers of Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire District
1LittleAvon