The North Brook is a small watercourse in
Rutland
Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire.
Its greatest len ...
in the
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...
of
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 b ...
. It is a tributary of the
River Gwash
The River Gwash, occasionally Guash, a tributary of the River Welland, flows through the English counties of Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire. It rises just outside the village of Knossington in Leicestershire, near the western edge of ...
and part of the
River Welland
The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally northeast to Market ...
catchment.
Course
The North Brook rises near
Cottesmore and flows in an easterly direction through
Greetham before turning southwards past the site of the former Greetham Mill. It then flows through a deep gully and into the parkland of
Exton Hall
Exton Hall is an English country house on the western edge of the village of Exton, Rutland, England, standing in its own extensive park.
The Hall
It was the family seat of the family of Sir James Harington and later the Noel family, Earls of G ...
where it has been dammed to create two ornamental lakes. On the western side of the upper lake stands Fort Henry, a pleasure-house built in 1788 in the elegant Gothick style. After the lower of the two lakes it passes to the west of the deserted medieval village of
Horn
Horn most often refers to:
*Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound
** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments
*Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...
, before flowing under the remains of the Exton Park wall.
Shortly afterwards, it is joined by a small unnamed tributary which flows through Ry Gate Lake in the grounds of Exton Hall, and later through the bed of a drained lake near Cuckoo Spinney. The North Brook continues in a southerly direction by Horn Mill, now a trout hatchery, through
Empingham Marshy Meadows
Empingham Marshy Meadows is a 14 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Empingham in Rutland.
This site in the valley of the North Brook has a complex geological structure and diverse habitats, including grassland and ...
SSSI to
Empingham
Empingham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish was 815 at the 2001 census including Horn and increasing to 880 at the 2011 census. It lies close to the dam of Rutland Water an ...
where it joins the
River Gwash
The River Gwash, occasionally Guash, a tributary of the River Welland, flows through the English counties of Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire. It rises just outside the village of Knossington in Leicestershire, near the western edge of ...
near the site of the former Empingham Mill.
[http://www.rutlandhistory.org/HRW/chapter-014 ]
References
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North Brook