The River Cole is a tributary of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

in England which flows through

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

and

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, forming part of the border between the two counties.

Course

The river rises in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

, east of the town centre in the Walcot area. Much of its upper course has been culverted and built over; it can be seen east of the Greenbridge retail park, which it flows through in a northeasterly direction. From there it is culverted, across to Slade Drive where it turns southeast for about three quarters of a mile. At the Piccadilly roundabout it turns abruptly east and skirts the Coleview Estate. It flows east past

Covingham Covingham is an eastern area of Swindon, England, which was developed in the 1960s as part of Swindon's eastward expansion towards the A419. St Paul's Church was built in 1971 and is the home of a partnership between the Church of England and ...

and under Merlin Way, through a flood marsh and out under the

A419 road The A419 road is a primary route between Chiseldon near Swindon at junction 15 of the M4 with the A346 road, and Whitminster in Gloucestershire, England near the M5 motorway. The A419 is managed and maintained by a private company, Road ...

. It runs to the east of the town through

Stratton St Margaret Stratton St Margaret is a civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The parish covers north-eastern suburbs of Swindon including Stratton St Margaret itself, along with Upper Stratton, Lower Stratton and Kingsdown. Geograph ...

South Marston South Marston is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The village is about north-east of Swindon town centre. History The earliest documentary evidence for continuous settlement dates from the 13th centur ...

and Coleshill, Oxfordshire. It joins the Thames near

Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that continues sout ...

from the southern bank near the

A417 The A417 is a main road in England, running from Streatley, Berkshire to Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire. It is best known for its section between Cirencester and Gloucester where it has primary status and forms part of the link between the ...

bridge on the reach above

Buscot Lock Buscot Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England, near the village of Buscot, Oxfordshire. The lock was built of stone by the Thames Navigation Commission in 1790 and is the smallest on the River Thames. Like most of the Upper Thames Lock ...

. The river flows in part through

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

land, with many mills adjacent to the river that have altered it by straightening and pollution.

Restoration

The river had become polluted and was restored in the 1990s near Coleshill, by allowing it to flow on its natural course and by redeveloping the river bed. This was intended to help increase the

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

of the area and of the river itself. The actions taken include raising the river bed to create natural flood meadows and floodplains, and putting in

meanders A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank or river cliff) and deposits sediments on an inn ...

to recreate a natural environment. This should also help the local population as the flood risk will decrease as a result of allowing flooding further upstream and in fields adjacent to the river. The restoration works were carried out in 1995 by the River Restoration Project as one of three EU-LIFE demonstration projects. The River Restoration Centre (previously known as the River Restoration Project) hold reports and documents detailing the restoration of the Cole.

Flooding

In the heavy rains of late July 2007 the Cole burst its banks and flooded the Covingham area of Swindon, and Covingham Drive immediately to the south of the river. Extensive remedial works were carried out to reduce the risk of future flooding.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole Rivers of Oxfordshire Rivers of Wiltshire 1Cole

Course

Restoration

Flooding

See also

References