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The River Gade is a river running almost entirely through
Jellicoe Water Gardens
and Two Waters until water was diverted from the river in 1947 to supply the growing new town of
Dacorum Landscape Character Assessment
High Gade Valley, Dacorum Borough Council, 2004. Accessed April 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gade Geography of Three Rivers District 1Gade Rivers of Hertfordshire Rivers of Buckinghamshire Dacorum
The River Gade is a river running almost entirely through Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
. It rises from a spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
in the chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
of the Chiltern Hills at Dagnall
Dagnall is a village in the parish of Edlesborough, in Buckinghamshire, England.
The place name is derived from the Old English for "Daegga's Knoll". In manorial rolls of 1196 it was listed as ''Dagenhale''.
The spelling ''Dagenhale'' appears ...
, 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 ...
and flows through Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
, Kings Langley
Kings Langley is a village, former Manorialism, manor and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part o ...
, then along the west side of Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
through Cassiobury Park. After passing Croxley Green
Croxley Green is both a village and a suburb of Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, England. It is also a civil parish. Located on the A412 between Watford to the northeast and Rickmansworth to the southwest, it is approximately northwest of central ...
it reaches Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and ...
, where it joins the River Colne. For its whole course the Gade is unnavigable.
Its principal tributary is the River Bulbourne
The River Bulbourne is a small river in Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. The word bourne derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for a stream. It is an unnavigable tributary of the River Gade, which flows into the River Colne, which in turn is a ...
which joins it at Two Waters, just below Hemel Hempstead.
The river was once used to power water mill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...
s, such as those at Water End, Cassiobury Park and Two Waters as well as powering the John Dickinson
John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...
paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
s at Apsley and Croxley.
It supported the farming of watercress
Watercress or yellowcress (''Nasturtium officinale'') is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae.
Watercress is a rapidly growing perennial plant native to Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest known leaf v ...
at Cassiobury Park, Water End, the Grade 2 listeJellicoe Water Gardens
and Two Waters until water was diverted from the river in 1947 to supply the growing new town of
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
.
Below Hemel Hempstead it runs alongside and sometimes forms part of the Grand Union Canal
The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...
.
The remains of a Roman Villa
A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions.
Typology and distribution
Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...
were found at Gadebridge Park in Hemel Hempstead.
The Gade is one of the rivers referred to in the name of the Three Rivers district
Three Rivers is a local government district in southwest Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Rickmansworth.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of Rickmansworth Urban District ...
.
It is home to a wide range of biodiversity, including ducks and a range of insect life.
The river bed from the source at Dagnall to Great Gaddesden, about 3 miles downstream is usually dry. After prolonged rain, it will fill and often flood.
References
Dacorum Landscape Character Assessment
High Gade Valley, Dacorum Borough Council, 2004. Accessed April 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gade Geography of Three Rivers District 1Gade Rivers of Hertfordshire Rivers of Buckinghamshire Dacorum