River Kemp
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The River Kemp is a tributary of the River Clun which flows through
Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...
, England.


Course

The river is formed from two small unnamed streams that drain the area around
Bishops Castle Bishop's Castle is a market town in the south west of Shropshire, England. According to the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,893. Bishop's Castle is east of the Wales-England border, about north-west of Ludlow and about south-west of ...
, the stream on the western side of the town rises near Bishops Moat and flows south-easterly in a well defined valley. The stream to the east rises on Lydham Heath near Lea and flows in a south-westerly direction to converge with the western stream to the east of Colebatch. The River Kemp begins at the confluence of these two streams. From this point the river then flows south, to reach the hamlet of Brockton, where it turns in a south-easterly direction to pass through the grounds on Walcot Hall, near
Lydbury North Lydbury North is a village and a geographically large civil parish in south Shropshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 695. The parish is locally called Lydbury, and there is no settlement called Lydbury South. It ...
. Here the river feeds the large lake known as Walcot Pool, which was allegedly constructed by French prisoners of war from the
Napoleonic War The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. To the south of Walcot Park, it is crossed by the
Shropshire Way The Shropshire Way Main Route is a waymarked long distance footpath running through the English county of Shropshire. It runs around the interior of the county in two loops centred on Shrewsbury, with an additional spur to Whitchurch. The M ...
and then passes through the village of Kempton, where there is a ford and footbridge. The river continues due south, until it reaches the Clun valley near
Clunbury Clunbury is a village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England. It is near to the small town of Clun and the villages of Clunton, Purslow and Aston on Clun. In the village is the Norman Church of St Swithin and a Church of England primar ...
. It joins the larger river to the east of the village at Oaker near
Aston on Clun Aston on Clun is a village in south Shropshire, England. It lies near to the River Clun, with the brook from Hopesay flowing through the village itself, and is on the B4368 road between the towns of Clun and Craven Arms. The village of Broome ...
. The total length of the Kemp is . The drainage basin for the river, which lies between that of the
River Unk The River Unk is a small river in Shropshire, England that runs for before flowing into the River Clun. Course It rises close to the site of the Bronze Age cross dyke known as the Lower Short Ditch on the Shropshire - Powys border in the nort ...
to the west, and that of the
River Onny The River Onny is a river in Shropshire, England. It is a major tributary of the River Teme. Etymology The river's name derives from Welsh and means the river on which ash trees (Welsh: ''onnau'') grew. Course The river has its sources in the ...
to the north, has a catchment area of .


Ecology

The River Kemp was classed as having moderate ecological quality under the
Water Framework Directive The Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC is an EU directive which commits European Union member states to achieve good qualitative and quantitative status of all water bodies (including marine waters up to one nautical mile from shore) by 2015. ...
in 2009, but this regressed to poor in 2016. Chemical quality remained good throughout the monitoring period. The five part framework scale ranges from high, good, and moderate, through to poor and finally bad.


See also

*
List of rivers of 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


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemp Rivers of Shropshire 2Kemp