The River Cole is a tributary of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
in England which flows through
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 ...
and
Oxfordshire, forming part of the border between the two counties.
Course
The river rises in
Swindon, west of the town centre in the Walcot area.
Much of its upper course has been culverted and built over; it can be seen east of the Greenbridge retail park, which it flows through in a northeasterly direction. From there it is culverted, across to Slade Drive where it turns southeast for about three quarters of a mile. At the Piccadilly roundabout it turns abruptly east and skirts the Coleview Estate. It flows east past
Covingham
Covingham is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, now part of the built-up area of the Borough of Swindon. It was developed in the 1960s as part of Swindon's eastward expansion towards the A419. St Paul's Church is the main parish ...
and under Merlin Way, through a flood marsh and out under the
A419 road
The A419 road is a primary route between Chiseldon near Swindon at junction 15 of the M4 with the A346 road, and Whitminster in Gloucestershire, England near the M5 motorway. The A419 is managed and maintained by a private company, Road Mana ...
. It runs to the east of the town through
Stratton St Margaret
Stratton St Margaret is a civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The parish covers north-eastern suburbs of Swindon including Stratton St Margaret itself along with Upper Stratton, Lower Stratton and Kingsdown. Since May 20 ...
,
South Marston
South Marston is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The village is about north-east of Swindon town centre.
History
The earliest documentary evidence for continuous settlement dates from the 13th centu ...
and
Coleshill, Oxfordshire
Coleshill is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. Coleshill was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is beside the River Cole, which ...
. It joins the Thames near
Lechlade
Lechlade () is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that contin ...
from the southern bank near the
A417 bridge on the reach above
Buscot Lock
Buscot Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England, near the village of Buscot, Oxfordshire.
The lock was built of stone by the Thames Navigation Commission in 1790 and is the smallest on the River Thames. Like most of the Upper Thames Lock ...
. The river flows in part through
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
land, with many mills adjacent to the river that have altered it by straightening and pollution.
Restoration
The river had become polluted and was restored in the 1990s near Coleshill, by allowing it to flow on its natural course and by redeveloping the river bed. This was intended to help increase the
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
of the area and of the river itself. The actions taken include raising the river bed to create natural flood meadows and floodplains, and putting in
meanders
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
to recreate a natural environment. This should also help the local population as the flood risk will decrease as a result of allowing flooding further upstream and in fields adjacent to the river. The restoration works were carried out in 1995 by the River Restoration Project as one of three EU-LIFE demonstration projects. The River Restoration Centre (previously known as the River Restoration Project) hold reports and documents detailing the restoration of the Cole.
Flooding
In the heavy rains of late July 2007 the Cole burst its banks and flooded the Covingham area of Swindon, and Covingham Drive immediately to the south of the river. Extensive remedial works were carried out to reduce the risk of future flooding.
See also
*
Tributaries of the River Thames
This article lists the tributaries of the River Thames from the sea to the source, in England. There are also secondary lists of backwaters of the river itself and the waterways branching off.
Note: the River Medway shares the saline lower T ...
*
List of rivers in England
This is a list of rivers of England, organised geographically and taken anti-clockwise around the English coast where the various rivers discharge into the surrounding seas, from the Solway Firth on the Scottish border to the Welsh Dee on the Wel ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole
Rivers of Oxfordshire
Rivers of Wiltshire
1Cole