Padbury Brook is a stream/river in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

; it is a small

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

River Great Ouse The River Great Ouse () is a river in England, the longest of several British rivers called "Ouse". From Syresham in Northamptonshire, the Great Ouse flows through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk to drain into the Wa ...

approximately 12 km in length.

Course

Padbury brook rises from its source just north of

Fringford Fringford is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about northeast of Bicester. The parish is bounded to the east by the Roman road that linked Alchester Roman Town with Roman Towcester, to the south by a brook that joins the River Bure, ...

. The brook heads eastward under the A4421 south of Newton Morrell in

, onwards north of

Godington Godington is a village and civil parish about northeast of Bicester in Oxfordshire. The parish is bounded on all but the west side by a brook called the Birne, which at this point forms also the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The pari ...

, then on into

. The brook heads eastward, north of

Twyford, Buckinghamshire Twyford is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about west of Steeple Claydon and northeast of Bicester in Oxfordshire. Twyford's toponym is derived from the Old English for "double for ...

, continuing north of

Steeple Claydon Steeple Claydon is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Buckinghamshire (district), Buckinghamshire district of the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about south of Buckingham, west of Winslow, ...

, where it was known locally as ''The planks'', to Oxlade bridge near

Padbury Padbury is a village within the Buckinghamshire unitary authority area, England. It is located on the A413 main road that links Buckingham with Winslow. History The village name is Old English in origin, and means 'Padda's fortress'. In the D ...

. Padbury Brook then flows north-east in a wide and shallow valley passing north-east of

, the brook goes under the

A413 road The A413 is a major road in England that runs between Gerrards Cross (west of London) to Towcester (northwest of Milton Keynes). It passes through or near various towns and villages including (in northbound order) Amersham, Great Missenden, W ...

, then under the

A421 road The A421 is an important road for east/west journeys across south central England. Together with the A428, the A43 and A34, it forms the route from Cambridge through Milton Keynes to Oxford. The section between the A1 (near St Neots) and t ...

(

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

road), then under

Thornborough Bridge Thornborough Bridge is located on the original Bletchley and Buckingham road, now bypassed by a modern bridge in 1974 for the A421. The bridge is accessible to walkers from an adjacent lay-by. The bridge straddles the parish boundaries of Thor ...

and on to King's Bridge, where it is then joined by its other arm, from the west ( Thornborough) and becomes 'The Twins', before joining the

, east of

and west of Thornborough.

Wildlife

Padbury Brook is home to fish such as the

stone loach The stone loach (''Barbatula barbatula'') is a European species of fresh water ray-finned fish in the family Nemacheilidae. It is one of nineteen species in the genus ''Barbatula''. Stone loaches live amongst the gravel and stones of fast flowin ...

(''Barbatula tarantula''),

spined loach The spined loach (''Cobitis taenia'') is a common freshwater fish in Europe. It is sometimes known as spotted weather loach, not to be confused with the "typical" weather loaches of the genus ''Misgurnus''. This is the type species of the spiny l ...

('' Cobitis taenia''), the

common minnow The Eurasian minnow, minnow, or common minnow (''Phoxinus phoxinus'') is a small species of freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It is the type species of genus ''Phoxinus''. It is ubiquitous throughout much of Eurasia, from Britain and ...

(''Phoxinus phoxinus''), the common roach (Rutilus rutilus), the

european bullhead The European bullhead (''Cottus gobio'') is a freshwater fish that is widely distributed in Europe, mainly in rivers. It is a member of the family Cottidae, a type of sculpin. It is also known as the miller's thumb, freshwater sculpin, common bu ...

(''Cottus gobio''), and the

three-spined stickleback The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...

(''Gasterosteus aculeatus''). Larger fish including

european chub ''Squalius cephalus'' is a European species of freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It frequents both slow and moderate rivers, as well as canals and still waters of various kinds. This species is referred to as the common chub, Europe ...

(''Squalius cephalus''),

European perch The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply th ...

(''perca fluviatilis'') and

European eel The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They are normally around and rarely reach more than , but can reach a length of up to in exceptional cases. Eels have been important sources of fo ...

(''Anguilla anguilla'') are also resident in the river. There are also

signal crayfish The signal crayfish (''Pacifastacus leniusculus'') is a North American species of crayfish. It was introduced to Europe in the 1960s to supplement the North European ''Astacus astacus'' fisheries, which were being damaged by crayfish plague, but ...

(''Pacifastacus leniusculus'') in the river with most of the crayfish being small in size with a small number of larger ones. There also be a range of other wildlife such as swans, ducks, voles and myriad types of water insects.

HS2

Padbury Brook will be impacted by the construction of HS2 and is currently (2021) in the process of having new diversions and new bridges constructed to facilitate the works with minimal impact to the natural environment. Padbury Brook has been subject to industrial activity over its modern history.

Gallery

File:Padbury Brook near Three Bridge Mill, Twyford 2 - geograph.org.uk - 502456.jpg, Padbury Brook near Three Bridge Mill, Twyford File:Padbury Viaduct - geograph.org.uk - 448203.jpg , Padbury Viaduct over the Padbury Brook File:Thornborough Bridge.JPG , Fourteenth-century

, the only surviving medieval bridge in Buckinghamshire File:King's Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 949287.jpg, King's Bridge over Padbury Brook, about 300m west of the hamlet of Kingsbridge

References

Rivers of Buckinghamshire Tributaries of the River Great Ouse {{Buckinghamshire-geo-stub