The River Tas is a river which flows northwards through

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Long Stratton. The population of the Local Authority District was 124,012 as taken at the 2011 Census. History The district was formed on 1 April 197 ...

in England - towards

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. The area is named the Tas Valley after the river. The name of the river is back-formed from the name of village of

Tasburgh Tasburgh ( ) is a civil parish and a village in the south of Norfolk, England, located approximately 8 miles south of Norwich. It lies on the A140 road, north of Long Stratton and south of Newton Flotman. The River Tas flows nearby and Tasburgh ...

(E. Ekwall, English-River-names, p. 393). Tributaries which have their sources at Hempnall and

Carleton Rode Carleton Rode is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated approximately five miles south-east of Attleborough. In the 2011 Census, Carleton Rode was recorded as having a population of 785 people in 324 households. History ...

converge at

. The river then flows on through

Newton Flotman Newton Flotman, a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, lies about 8 miles (13 km) south of Norwich on the A140 road between Tasburgh and Swainsthorpe. The River Tas flows through. The area of had 1,197 inhabitants in 497 h ...

and Smockmill Common. In Shotesham Park the river splits into two channels which rejoin just above Shotesham ford. The pool here is a popular location in summer time for paddling, swimming and fishing. From Shotesham the river flows northwards through

Stoke Holy Cross Stoke Holy Cross is a village in South Norfolk which lies approximately south of Norwich. Geography Stoke sits on the River Tas. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,568 in 674 households at the 2001 census. The village is accesse ...

, Dunston,

Caistor St Edmund Caistor St Edmund is a village and former civil parish on the River Tas, in Norfolk, England. The parish covers an area of and had a population of 270 people in 116 households at the 2001 Census which increased to 289 people by the 2011 Census ...

, Markshall and

Arminghall Arminghall is a small village and former civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, around southeast of Norwich, now in the parish of Caistor St Edmund and Bixley, from April 1935 until April 2019 it was in Bixley parish. Most of the house ...

. It joins the

River Yare The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of The Broads and connects with the rest of the network. The river rises south of Dereham to the west to the villag ...

Trowse Trowse (pronounced by those from Norwich and by elderly residents of the village), also called Trowse with Newton, is a village in South Norfolk which lies about south-east of Norwich city centre on the banks of the River Yare. It covers an ...

- just south of

.Ordnance Survey of Great Britain The Tas valley contains many interesting historical sites including: an Iron Age hill fort at

, the old Roman settlement of

Venta Icenorum Venta Icenorum (, literally "marketplace of the Iceni") was the civitas or capital of the Iceni tribe, located at modern-day Caistor St Edmund in the English county of Norfolk. The Iceni inhabited the flatlands and marshes of that county and are ...

(now Caistor St Edmund) and the site of a woodhenge at

. The mill at

was the first location of the

Colman's mustard Colman's is an English manufacturer of mustard and other sauces, formerly based and produced for 160 years at Carrow, in Norwich, Norfolk. Owned by Unilever since 1995, Colman's is one of the oldest existing food brands, famous for a limited ran ...

business. In Roman times the River Tas was considerably larger and provided a major transport route for the inhabitants of

. Today it is a small river which winds through farmland. It contains

roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roach ...

dace A dace is a small fish that can be one of many different species. The unmodified name is usually a reference to the common dace (''Leuciscus leuciscus''). This, like most fish called "daces", belongs to the family Cyprinidae, mostly in subfamily ...

, occasional

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

, small

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

and some chub. One of the largest roach ever caught in the river was a 2.6 pound specimen landed by local angler Bill Coleman in 1972. The best dace was probably one of 1.2 pounds caught by W. Comer in 1943.

References

External links

Smockmill Common, Newton FlotmanTasburgh history

Caistor Roman Town (Venta Icenorum)
{{authority control South Norfolk Tas 1Tas