The River Itchen flows through east

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

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 ...

. It is a small river, about long, and its general course is from south to north.

Course

The River Itchen rises near

Wormleighton Wormleighton is a village in Warwickshire, England. It sits on Wormleighton Hill overlooking the River Cherwell. The population taken at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 183. The original village was on the banks of the Cherwe ...

at and flows into a broad valley to the northeast of a range of

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

hills which border Warwickshire and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

. Shortly after beginning its course it runs under the

Oxford Canal The Oxford Canal is a narrowboat canal in southern central England linking the City of Oxford with the Coventry Canal at Hawkesbury (just north of Coventry and south of Bedworth) via Banbury and Rugby. Completed in 1790, it connects to th ...

. The infant river is fed by several small brooks and skirts the village of Bishop's Itchington (to which it gives its name) before passing below the former

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

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railway (now operated by Chiltern Trains). A mile-and-a-half north of Bishops Itchington, the River Itchen passes under Deppers Bridge which gives its name to the neighbouring hamlet. A mile further on it passes under the A425 main road west of the town of

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England, located about east-southeast of Leamington Spa. In the 2021 census, the population of Southam was 8,114. History Southam was a Royal ...

. Immediately after the bridge, it flows through Stoneythorpe Park and passes the hamlet of Bascote. A mile north of Bascote, the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

crosses the Itchen valley on a half-mile-long embankment, and is carried over the river on an aqueduct. The River Itchen reaches the large village of Long Itchington (again named from the river) and passes close to the church. West of the village, the river swings to the west briefly and its meandering course is bridged twice by the course of the disused Leamington to Weedon railway line, now a footpath and cycleway. The River Itchen turns north again and three miles (5 km) further on it reaches Marton where it flows into the

River Leam The River Leam () is a river in England which rises at Hellidon Hill in Northamptonshire then flows through Warwickshire, including the town of Leamington Spa, named after it. It then flows into the River Avon near Warwick, which flows into ...

at .

History

In 2009 thousands of fish were killed in the River Itchen when poisonous chemicals washed off neighbouring farmland. Later in the year 3500 roach,

dace A dace is a small fish that can be one of many different species. The unmodified name is usually a reference to the common dace (''Leuciscus leuciscus''). This, like most fish called "daces", belongs to the family Leuciscidae, mostly in subfami ...

and

chub Chub is a common fish name. It pertains to any one of a number of ray-finned fish in several families and general. In the UK, the term ''chub'' usually refers to the species '' Squalius cephalus''. In addition, see sea chub. In family Cyprinid ...

were released into the river to help to replenish stocks. A section of the river is designated as 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 ...

, as it "played a significant role in the development of the theory of underfit streams that related change in stream activity to postglacial climatic change and reduced discharges."

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 animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...

s and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. Water quality of the River Itchen in 2019:

References

*Ordnance Survey, 'Pathfinder' series 1:25000 map, sheet 977, *Ordnance Survey, 'Landranger' series 1:50000 map, sheet 151

Warwickshire Railways, Leamington-Weedon line page

External links

* Map sources for: (SP 390 576), (SP 415 652) and (SP 405 690). {{DEFAULTSORT:Itchen Rivers of Warwickshire Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Warwickshire 2Itchen