The Carnon River ( kw, Avon Carnon) is a heavily polluted river in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...
, United Kingdom.
It starts in
Chacewater
Chacewater ( kw, Dowr an Chas) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated approximately east of Redruth. The hamlets of Carnhot, Cox Hill, Creegbrawse, Hale Mills, Jolly's Bottom, Salem, Saveock, Scorrier, T ...
.
Trewedna Water and
River Kennall
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 ...
flow into the Carnon before it merges with
Tallack's Creek to become
Restronguet Creek
Restronguet Creek is a tidal ria in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a tributary of Carrick Roads, the estuary of the River Fal, and is situated approximately four miles (6.5 km) south of Truro and three miles (5 km) north o ...
, which eventually flows into
the English Channel at the mouth of
Carrick Roads
Carrick Roads ( kw, Dowr Carrek, meaning "rock anchorage") is the estuary of the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall in England. It joins the English Channel at its southern end near Falmouth.
Geography
It is a large flooded valley, or ...
.
The
Nebra sky disc
The Nebra sky disc (german: Himmelsscheibe von Nebra) is a bronze disc of around diameter and a weight of , having a blue-green patina and inlaid with gold symbols. These symbols are interpreted generally as the Sun or full moon, a lunar cresc ...
, a gold-decorated bronze disc found in Germany and dated to the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, contains both gold and tin from the Carnon valley.
In 1992 the river was hit by a major pollution incident, when over 45 million litres of
contaminated water
Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water ...
from the closed
Wheal Jane mine was released by the collapse of an
adit
An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adit ...
, colouring the river water red. A treatment works has since been installed at Wheal Jane to intercept the contaminated water and treat it to remove suspended metals and restore a neutral pH.
See also
*
List of rivers in Cornwall
The county of Cornwall, located in southwest England in the United Kingdom, contains numerous small rivers and streams. The border between Cornwall and the neighbouring county of Devon is mostly the River Tamar.
Notes
References
*
*
...
*
List of rivers of England
This is a list of rivers of England, organised geographically and taken anti-clockwise around the English coast where the various rivers discharge into the surrounding seas, from the Solway Firth on the Scottish border to the Welsh Dee on the W ...
References
External links
*
*
Rivers of Cornwall
{{Cornwall-geo-stub