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The River Colne ( or ) is a small river that runs through
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
,
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 ...
and passes through
Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...
. It is not a
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 drainag ...
of any other river, instead having an
estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
that joins the sea near
Brightlingsea Brightlingsea is a coastal town and an electoral ward in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It is situated between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. At the 2011 Census, it had a pop ...
. The river's name is of Celtic origin, combining the word for rock "cal" with a remnant of the word " afon", or river, giving the meaning "stony river". However, another authority states that the river's name was originally ''Colonia Fluvius,'' the "waterway of the Colonia": a reference to Colchester's status in Roman times. There are two other rivers in the UK that share the same name.


Sources

Two of the Colne's tributaries start near the villages of
Stambourne Green Stambourne Green is a hamlet in Essex. A 19th century gazetteer describes it as being near another hamlet, Westley End, which no longer appears to exist. Nearby places include Stambourne, Steeple Bumpstead, Ridgewell, Cornish Hall End Cornis ...
and Birdbrook in Essex, before converging in Great Yeldham. A longer tributary, however, starts to the north-west of Cornish Hall End, flowing into the other sources just south of Great Yeldham. The river then flows south-east through Sible Hedingham,
Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011Earls Colne, Colne Engaine, White Colne, Chappel and
Ford Street Fordstreet or Ford Street is a village on the A1124 road, in the civil parish of Aldham in the Colchester district in Essex, England. It is located on the River Colne and is near the city of Colchester. Artist Damon Albarn Damon Albarn ...
before reaching Colchester. Between Great Yeldham and
Wakes Colne Wakes Colne is a village in Essex, England which sits on the River Colne. It is situated next to the village of Chappel, with which it shares Chappel and Wakes Colne railway station. Location Wakes Colne is a scattered village on the nor ...
, the river follows the route of the former
Colne Valley and Halstead Railway The Colne Valley and Halstead Railway (CVHR) is a closed railway between Haverhill, Suffolk and Chappel and Wakes Colne, Essex, in England. History A railway in the Colne Valley was first proposed in 1846 when the Colchester, Stour Valley ...
which ran from Haverhill before closing to passenger traffic in 1961. A mile of the route around Castle Hedingham is preserved as the Colne Valley Railway.


In Colchester

The Colne Valley has a flood plain approximately 300 metres in width by the time it enters Colchester. This area is used as
pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or s ...
because the river at this stage has no safeguards against it rising the two feet it needs to burst its banks, although it is split between two pasture areas in Spring Lane, Old Lexden. Somewhat to the south of Colchester North railway station, the river passes under a bridge and into a concrete-lined area that was used as an open-air bathing facility until the 1970s, and is now used by
canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...
ists. It then meanders under a road bridge at the bottom of North Hill, and tumbles down a
weir 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 ...
used for discharge control at Middlemill, the site of a now-demolished mill. It forms the border of Colchester's Castle Park and the cricket ground, and footbridges cross it to provide access from the town centre to residential areas on the north side of the flood plain, which occasionally floods should the river rise too much. The river encircles one side of a small lake, and then turns south-east, and then south, before falling over a large weir and becoming tidal.


After Colchester

Beyond this point, the river shows significant mud banks at low tide, and flows through the Hythe, past the
University of Essex The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the ancient arms attributed to the Kingdom of Es ...
campus, and then through the village of Rowhedge, where it is attributed to by the
Roman River The Roman River is a river that flows entirely through the English county of Essex. It is a tributary of the River Colne, flowing into its tidal estuary below Colchester. The lower end of the Roman River is also tidal, with tidal water flowin ...
. It continues past the town of Wivenhoe and the Colne Barrier and down to
Brightlingsea Brightlingsea is a coastal town and an electoral ward in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It is situated between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. At the 2011 Census, it had a pop ...
. Downstream from the barrier, the Colne is marked by navigation buoys.


Situation

The banks of the Colne frequently incorporate pillboxes dating from the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, particularly close to navigable crossings. From Castle Park to Wivenhoe Railway Station,
National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...
Route 51 roughly follows the course of the Colne. This is a mixture of tarmac-surfaced shared-use paths, a short tarmac/gravel-surfaced area and, once out of the urban area of Colchester, a hard dirt path on the north
levee A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually earthen and that often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastl ...
of the river that passes the Hythe and the university all the way to Wivenhoe. The Hythe area of Colchester, through which the Colne flows, was, from Roman times, a small port that supplied the town. However, the river is no longer deep enough to support ships large enough to make this viable, and water trade is now non-existent. Victorian-era plans to dredge the river once more ultimately failed.


References


External links


Flood warning
from the
Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and en ...

Flood warning
from the
Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and en ...

River Colne Countryside Project

Colne estuary partnership
{{authority control
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds. The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Va ...
Estuaries of England Ramsar sites in England