The River Ock is 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 drainage ...

of the

River Wey The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the f ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. A Spring view of Sweetwater Pond Witley

Course

The river has two great sources in the west of Hambledon and two similar sources in the east of the parish of

Witley Witley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Waverley in Surrey, England centred south west of the town of Godalming and southwest of Guildford. The land is a mixture of rural (ranging from woodland protected by the Surrey Hills AO ...

. The coalescence is north of a zone of gently north-sloping land forming

Wheelerstreet Witley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Waverley in Surrey, England centred south west of the town of Godalming and southwest of Guildford. The land is a mixture of rural (ranging from woodland protected by the Surrey Hill ...

, Enton Green and the little manor of

Tuesley Busbridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England that adjoins the town of Godalming. It forms part of the Waverley ward of '' Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe''. It was until the Tudor period often recorded ...

. For centuries the latter comprised a very modest house and farmstead, dwarfed by the adjacent Busbridge Park, the stream of which drains

Busbridge Lakes Busbridge is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the borough of Waverley, Surrey, Waverley in Surrey, England that adjoins the town of Godalming. It forms part of the Waverley Wards of the United Kingdom, ward of ''Bramley, ...

, the former mid and lower fish ponds, the upper one having been drained on becoming part of that stream. The resulting Ock passes through Ockford, sometimes considered the east of Ockford Ridge, parts of

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settleme ...

, before flowing into the Wey in the town centre. The Portsmouth Main Line railway follows much of the course.

Watermills

The Old Mill in Godalming, originally known as Hatch Mill, made use of the force and speed of the multi-hill-draining river. Rake Mill at Witley, a former fulling mill, was used by the artist

Neville Lytton Neville Stephen Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton, OBE (6 February 1879 – 9 February 1951) was a British military officer, Olympian and artist. Early life Neville Lytton was born in British India on 6 February 1879 while his parents ...

as a studio. The building, along with most of Lytton's sketches and paintings, was destroyed by a fire in 1902. Other mills on the Ock were a tannery in Godalming, a corn mill at Enton and a flour mill at Ockford.

Water quality

The Environment Agency measure water quality of the rivers in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. The water quality of the Ock was as follows in 2019:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ock, River Surrey Rivers of Surrey 1Ock

Course

Watermills

Water quality

See also

References