Oakhanger Stream is a tributary of the

River Slea The River Slea is a tributary of the River Witham, in Lincolnshire, England. In 1872 the river was described as "a never-ending source of pure water", and was a trout river renowned throughout the East coast of England. But in the late 1960s, t ...

that lies in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

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 ...

Course

The source is at Well Head, at the foot of Noar Hill, to the south of

Selborne Selborne is a village in Hampshire, England, south of Alton, Hampshire, Alton, and just within the northern boundary of the South Downs National Park. The village receives visitors because of its links with the naturalist Revd. Gilbert White, a ...

. The initial section towards Selborne is known as the Well Head Stream, the route was diverted in 1894 to provide a supply of water to the village in memory of

Gilbert White Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a " parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on ...

. At Dorton, on the north side of Selborne, it is joined by the Gracious Street Stream. From Selborne, now known as the Oakhanger Stream, it passes through the village of Oakhanger then skirts the east side of

Shortheath Common Shortheath Common is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Bordon in Hampshire. It is also a Local Nature Reserve and a Special Area of Conservation. The common has areas of bracken, woodland, heath and a pond, but its main e ...

and on towards Kingsley Mill where it joins with the

Kingsley Stream Kingsley Stream is a tributary of the River Slea that lies in Hampshire, 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 north ...

to form the Rver Slea.

Watermills

There were, at least, two corn mills on the Oakhanger Stream, the Old Mill in Selborne, a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

now used as a private residence, and Dorton Mill, midway between Selborne and Oakhanger, of which no trace is now visible.

Water quality

The Environment Agency measure 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. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. The water quality of the Oakhanger Stream was as follows in 2019: The reasons for not reaching good status is due to agricultural and waste water pollution.

References

Rivers of Hampshire 1Oakhanger {{England-river-stub