Tresillian River at Malpas (28791654463)

The Truro River ( kw, Hyldreth) 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 wate ...

in the city of Truro in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

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 ...

, UK. It is the product of the convergence of the two

s named

Kenwyn Kenwyn ( kw, Keynwynn) is a settlement and civil parish in Cornwall, England. The settlement is a suburb of the city of Truro and lies 0.5 mi (1 km) north of the city centre, within Truro parish, whereas Kenwyn parish covers an area w ...

and

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...

which run under the city: the Truro River (named after the city) flows into the River Fal, estuarial waters where wildlife is abundant, and then out into the Carrick Roads. The river is navigable up to Truro. The river valleys form a bowl surrounding the city on the north, east and west and open to the Truro River in the south. The fairly steep-sided bowl in which Truro is located, along with high precipitation swelling the rivers and a

spring tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...

in the River Fal, were major causes of flooding in 1988 which caused large amounts of damage to the city centre. Since then,

flood defences Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water levels ...

have been constructed around the city, including an emergency

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

at New Mill on the River Kenwyn and a tidal barrier on the Truro River, to prevent future problems. The valley of the Tresillian River is between the valleys of the Truro River and the Fal; the Tresillian River flows into the Truro River just upstream of where the latter joins the Fal. Early records give the Tresillian River the name "Seugar" (1297) or "Sowgar" (1530); the meaning of this name is unknown. The river is mentioned in the medieval

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a List of revived languages, revived language, having become Extinct language, extinct as a livin ...

play

Bewnans Ke ''Bewnans Ke'' (''The Life of Saint Ke'') is a Middle Cornish play on the life of Saint Kea or Ke, who was venerated in Cornwall, Brittany and elsewhere. It was written around 1500 but survives only in an incomplete manuscript from the second ha ...

(c. 1550), as the place from which the eponymous Saint Kea embarks for Rosené. It uses the river's Cornish name ''Hildrech'', which in modern spelling is ''Hyldreth''.

Malpas Estuary

The river from the city to the village of Malpas, including Lambe Creek and Calenick Creek, form Malpas Estuary SSSI (

Site of Special Scientific Interest 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 ...

). It is an important habitat of tidal

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

s, which are feeding grounds for wildfowl and wading birds as well as fish species including

European seabass The European bass (''Dicentrarchus labrax'') is a primarily ocean-going fish native to the waters off Europe's western and southern and Africa's northern coasts, though it can also be found in shallow coastal waters and river mouths during the su ...

thicklip grey mullet The thicklip grey mullet, ''Chelon labrosus'', is a coastal fish of the family Mugilidae. It typically is about long, with being the maximum recorded. It is named after its thick upper lip and silvery-grey appearance. It is a common fish of sh ...

European flounder The European flounder (''Platichthys flesus'') is a flatfish of European coastal waters from the White Sea in the north to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in the south. It has been introduced into the United States and Canada accidentally th ...

and

European eel The European eel (''Anguilla anguilla'') is a species of eel, a snake-like, catadromous fish. They are normally around and rarely reach more than , but can reach a length of up to in exceptional cases. Eels have been important sources of fo ...

. There is also a small run of migratory

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...

(Sea Trout, known in Cornwall as Peel) into the River Allen. The banks of the estuary are also noted for their

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

References

{{authority control Rivers of Cornwall Truro Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall 1Truro