The River Wylye ( ) is a

chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water percolates easily through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...

in the south of

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 b ...

, with clear water flowing over gravel. It is popular with anglers for

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

. A half-mile stretch of the river and three lakes in

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

are a local nature reserve.

Course

River Wylye at Kingston Deverill - geograph

The Wylye rises below the White Sheet Downs just south of

Maiden Bradley Maiden Bradley is a village in south-west Wiltshire, England, about south-west of Warminster and bordering the county of Somerset. The B3092 road between Frome and Mere forms the village street. Bradley House, the seat of the Duke of Somerse ...

in south-west Wiltshire, then flows north through the

Upper Deverills Upper Deverills Parish Council is a grouped parish council in Wiltshire, England, which covers the civil parishes of Brixton Deverill and Kingston Deverill. , the parishes have altogether 280 electors. The Upper Deverills Parish Council has fiv ...

. A tributary which feeds the man-made

Shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwa ...

lake joins near Crockerton. On the southern edge of

the river turns to head generally east south east, running through the Mid Wylye Valley, into which the

A36 road The A36 is a trunk road and primary route in southwest England that links the port city of Southampton to the city of Bath. At Bath, the A36 connects with the A4 to Bristol, thus providing a road link between the major ports of Southampton a ...

and the

Wessex Main Line The Wessex Main Line is the railway line from Bristol Temple Meads to Southampton Central. Diverging from this route is the Heart of Wessex Line from Westbury to Weymouth. The Wessex Main Line intersects the Reading to Taunton Line at and th ...

are also squeezed. The river passes through or touches the parishes of

Bishopstrow Bishopstrow is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the southeastern edge of the town of Warminster. The village is about from the town centre, south of the old Warminster to Salisbury road, formerly the A36, now the B3414. ...

Norton Bavant Norton Bavant is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, southeast of Warminster. Geography The village is on the River Wylye and at the edge of Salisbury Plain. To the north lies Scratchbury and Cotley Hills Site of Special S ...

Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small neigh ...

, Knook,

Upton Lovell Upton Lovell is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies on the A36, in the Wylye valley about southeast of Warminster. The parish is on the left (northeast) bank of the river, and stretches for over two miles northeast onto ...

, Boyton,

Codford Codford is a civil parish south of Salisbury Plain in the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire, England. Its settlements are the adjacent villages of Codford St Peter and Codford St Mary, which lie some southeast of Warminster. The two villages are on th ...

, Stockton,

Wylye Wylye () is a village and civil parish on the River Wylye in Wiltshire, England. The village is about northwest of Salisbury and a similar distance southeast of Warminster. The parish extends north and south of the river, and includes the h ...

and Wilton, near the southern edge of

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

. At Wilton, it comes to an end, running into the

River Nadder The River Nadder is a tributary of the River Avon, flowing in south Wiltshire, England. Course The river flows north from Ludwell to West End where it is joined by the Ferne Brook, close to the Lower Coombe and Ferne Brook Meadows site of spec ...

, which itself flows into the

Hampshire Avon The River Avon () is in the south of England, rising in Wiltshire, flowing through that county's city of Salisbury and then west Hampshire, before reaching the English Channel through Christchurch Harbour in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and P ...

. That eventually drains into the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. The Wylye forms part of the River Avon

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

and is fed by several winterbournes, which commonly dry up completely in the summer, so that the water flow in the river can vary greatly according to the time of year.

Features

Two

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

s are associated with the river: Steeple Langford Down and Wylye and Church Dean Downs. The Wylye Valley

Vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

is at Crockerton, near the river's source.

Name

Wilton, and hence Wiltshire (which was originally ''Wiltonshire''), are named after the river. There is also a village of

In literature

The River Wylye is one of the five rivers mentioned in

Edward Rutherfurd Edward Rutherfurd is a pen name for Francis Edward Wintle (born in 1948). He is best known as a writer of epic historical novels that span long periods of history but are set in particular places. His debut novel, '' Sarum'', set the pattern f ...

’s novel '' Sarum''.

Water quality

The Environment Agency measures the water quality of the river systems 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. Water quality of the Wylye in 2019:

Villages

Villages on or near the Wylye include (

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

): *

Kingston Deverill Kingston Deverill is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest towns are Mere, about to the southwest, and Warminster, about to the northeast. The parish and its demographic figures include the village of Monkton Deverill ...

Monkton Deverill Monkton Deverill (anciently known as East Monkton) is a village and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about five miles south of Warminster and four miles northeast of Mere. It stands on the River Wylye and forms part of a group of vill ...

Brixton Deverill Brixton Deverill is a small village and civil parish about south of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. The parish is in the Deverill Valley which carries the upper waters of the River Wylye. The six villages of the valley – Kingston Deverill, ...

Longbridge Deverill Longbridge Deverill is a village and civil parish about south of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. It is on the A350 primary route which connects the M4 motorway and west Wiltshire with Poole, Dorset. The parish is in the Deverill valley which ...

* Crockerton *

Sutton Veny Sutton Veny is a village and civil parish in the Wylye valley, to the southeast of the town of Warminster in Wiltshire, England; the village is about from Warminster town centre. 'Sutton' means 'south farmstead' in relation to Norton Bavant, on ...

* Boyton *

Sherrington Sherrington is a small village and civil parish on the River Wylye in Wiltshire, England. The part of the Great Ridge Wood known as Snailcreep Hanging lies entirely within Sherrington. Location Sherrington is near the larger village of Codfor ...

* Stockton * Bapton * Fisherton Delamere *

* Hanging Langford * Steeple Langford *

Great Wishford Great Wishford is a village and civil parish in the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire, England, about north of Wilton and northwest of Salisbury. The village lies west of a bend in the River Wylye and has a triangular street layout comprising Sou ...

* Stoford * South Newton * Wilton

References

Sources

Wiltshire.gov.uk – Chalk River Valleys
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Local nature reserves in Wiltshire