River Clun, Shropshire
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The River Clun runs mostly through
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and joins the River Teme at
Leintwardine Leintwardine ( ) is a small to mid-size village and civil parish in north Herefordshire, England, close to the border with Shropshire. History Roman A popular misconception is that the Romans called the village ''Branogenium''. Branogenium i ...
,
Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...
. The Clun Valley is part of the
Shropshire Hills AONB The Shropshire Hills National Landscape is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in Shropshire, England. It is located in the south of the county, extending to its border with Wales. Designated in 1958, the area encompasses o ...
(Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).


Course

The River Clun has its source near the hamlet of
Anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...
(in a marshy area near the public house), close to the border of
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. It flows east through the small town of Clun until Aston on Clun where it flows roughly southwards — the river flows around the north of Clunbury Hill. The river enters the lower valley — which widens and has a flatter floor (an extensive
flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
). The Folly Brook joins the Clun at Newcastle, and the River Unk flows into the Clun near Clun Castle, whilst the River Kemp flows into the river at Oaker near Aston. Near the end of the river's course, the River Redlake joins at Jay. Just south of Broadward (a
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 ...
for a stretch south of Broadward Bridge) the river flows into Herefordshire where it joins the River Teme.


Features

Many settlements along the course of the river incorporate the river's name, including Clun, and the villages of Newcastle-on-Clun, Clunton, Clunbury, Aston on Clun, and Clungunford. In Clun, the historic Clun Bridge still takes the A488 road over the river. A number of other historic crossings — bridges and fords — exist over the river, including Broadward Bridge.


Ecology

The River Clun is an ideal habitat for
otters Otters are carnivorous mammals in the Rank (zoology), subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic animal, aquatic, or Marine ecology, marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae Family (biology), family, whi ...
,
salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
, white-clawed crayfish, European bullhead, grayling and brook lamprey. The river is also noted as a habitat for the freshwater pearl mussel. The Clun and one of its tributaries, the Unk, have suffered pollution and sediment build up, undermining the mussel's habitat. The catchment area of the river is mostly rural and produces beef, lamb, potatoes and maize. The Clun is one of only eleven watercourses in England that is home to the mussel and one of three English rivers that has been designated a European Special Area of Conservation. A citizen science project, the River Clun Monitoring Group, has been established to monitor, and track changes in, the river's ecological condition.


See also

* Clun Forest *
Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke () is a large linear Earthworks (Archaeology), earthwork that roughly follows the England–Wales border, border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa of Mercia, Offa, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon king of Mer ...


References


External links

{{authority control Clun Clun 1Clun