Lopwell Dam on the River Tavy - geograph

The Tavy () is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

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 ...

. The name derives from the

Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

root "Tam", once thought to mean 'dark' but now generally understood to mean 'to flow'. It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and the villages of Mary Tavy and Peter Tavy. It 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 drai ...

of the

River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...

and has as its own tributaries: * Collybrooke * River Burn *

River Wallabrooke The Wallabrook is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. It is a tributary of the River Tavy. For more details see Walla Brook. Bibliography ''The Painted Stream'', Robin Armstrong, Dent, 1985, See also *Rivers of the United Kingdom For det ...

* River Lumburn *

River Walkham The Walkham is a river whose source is on Dartmoor, Devon, England. It rises in the wide gap between Roos Tor and Great Mis Tor and flows almost due south for approximately leaving the tors and thus National Park behind then south-west for pa ...

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...

it feeds a canal running to

Morwellham Quay Morwellham Quay is an historic river port in Devon, England that developed to support the local mines. The port had its peak in the Victorian era and is now run as a tourist attraction and museum. It is the terminus of the Tavistock Canal, a ...

. Its mouth is crossed by the

Tavy Bridge Tavy Bridge is a railway bridge across the mouth of the River Tavy just east of its confluence with the River Tamar. It was built by the Plymouth, Devonport and South Western Junction Railway, and the Tavy Bridge was constructed to carry the trac ...

which carries the Tamar Valley railway line.

Navigation

The river is navigable inland as far as Lopwell, where a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

marks the normal tidal limit, about a journey from North Corner Quay at Devonport. River transport was an important feature of the local farming, mining, tourism and forestry economies. The Queen's Harbour Master for Plymouth is responsible for managing navigation on the River Tavy up to the normal tidal limit.The Dockyard Port of Plymouth Order 1999
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Bibliography

* Armstrong, Robin (1985) ''The Painted Stream'', London: Dent

References

Tavy, River River navigations in the United Kingdom 1Tavy {{England-river-stub