The River Isbourne is 14 mile (22 km) long tributary of the
River Avon which flows through
Gloucestershire and
Worcestershire in the
Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
of England.
Course
The source of the river is a series of
springs
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...
that occur on the northern flank of
Cleeve Hill, on the edge of the
Cotswold Hills
The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale.
The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...
. These springs occur where the permeable Jurassic limestone, meets the impermeable Upper Lias mudstone and clays that underlie most of the Isbourne catchment.
The river flows from
Cleeve Hill in a steep valley in a northerly direction through the hamlet of Postlip, before reaching the town of
Winchcombe which it passes along its eastern side. Beyond the town, it continues northwards to
Toddington, through the grounds of
Toddington Manor
Toddington Manor is a 19th-century country house in the English county of Gloucestershire, near the village of Toddington. It is in the gothic style and was designed by Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 1st Baron Sudeley for himself and built betw ...
, and then past the village of
Wormington. The river then crosses into Worcestershire and is joined by the Laverton brook, before it reaches the village of
Sedgeberrow. Flowing directly north the Isbourne passes through the village of Hinton on the Green, it then continues through an area of market gardens on the outskirts of Evesham, and passes under the Pershore road, before joining the River Avon near
Hampton.
Catchment
The Isbourne catchment covers an area of and lies between the
Badsey Brook to the east, the Merry Brook and Carrant Brook to the west with the Cotswolds to the south. It has an average annual rainfall of , which is somewhat drier than the average for England at .
Land use in the catchment is predominantly rural, with 80 percent made up from a mixture of arable, horticulture and pasture; the remainder being woodland, with a minor fraction of urbanised area of less than 2 percent.
In terms of geology, apart from the headwaters which are underlain by the Cotswold limestone, the majority of catchment is Lias clay. This impermeable clay means that Isbourne can become responsive in terms of runoff to heavy rainfall events.
Flooding
The Isbourne has a history of flooding along its course, especially in Sedgeberrow, the most recent occasion being in
summer 2007
''Summer 2007'' is a 2008 Indian drama film directed by the debutant Suhail Tatari. The film deals with five medical students who undergo a rude awakening of sorts after visiting a Maharashtrian village and witnessing the misfortune of village ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isbourne
Rivers of Gloucestershire
Rivers of Worcestershire
1Isbourne