The River Tame is a river in the West Midlands of
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 one of the principal tributaries of the
River Trent. The Tame is about long from the source at
Oldbury to its confluence with the Trent near
Alrewas,
but the main river length of the entire catchment, i.e. the Tame and its main tributaries, is about .
It forms part of the
Severn-Trent flyway, a route used by
migratory birds to cross
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
.
Etymology
The name derives from the
Celtic language, although it may have even earlier roots. It is usually thought to mean "dark", by analogy with the Sanskrit word ''tamas'' meaning darkness. Other possibilities are "slow-moving" or "flowing", although the precise meaning is uncertain. The name is shared with the
River Tame, Greater Manchester, and it is likely that the
River Thame, 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 ...
, the
River Teme, the
River Team, and the
River Tamar all share the derivation.
Historic significance
Birmingham and the parishes in the centre and north of the modern conurbation were probably colonised by the ''
Tomsaete'' or ''Tomsæte'' ("Tame-dwellers"), an
Anglian tribe living in the valley of the Tame and around
Tamworth during the Kingdom of
Mercia
Mercia (, was one of the principal kingdoms founded at the end of Sub-Roman Britain; the area was settled by Anglo-Saxons in an era called the Heptarchy. It was centred on the River Trent and its tributaries, in a region now known as the Midlan ...
. They migrated up the valleys of the Trent and Tame from the
Humber Estuary, and later formed Mercia.
Course and catchment
The Tame is generally considered to have two main sources;
Willenhall and
Oldbury. The tributaries arising in these locations are generally known as the Willenhall arm and the Oldbury arm of the Tame. However, some of its tributary streams, including Waddens Brook, rise as far to the west and north as
Bilston and
Wednesfield
Wednesfield () is a town and historic village in the City of Wolverhampton, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically within the county of Staffordshire. It is east-north-east of Wolverhampton cit ...
in the city of
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
. Much of the course of the river has been modified over the centuries, and the urban sections now run mainly through culverts or canalised channels. Both arms of the Tame flow through the
Black Country to their confluence at
Bescot, on the edge of Walsall.
The Willenhall or Wolverhampton arm
The northern arm is easily traced from
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...
, near Willenhall. However, the SMURF project traces it back as far as Stow Heath, near
Bilston, where it is marked by a marshy patch at the northern end of the
City of Wolverhampton College's Wellington Road campus; hence, SMURF (Sustainable Management of Urban Rivers and Floodplains) uses the term "Wolverhampton arm" for this section of the Tame. Victorian
Ordnance Survey
The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...
maps trace the sources of the Tame further back, to the site of the old Stow Heath colliery, which is now Wolverhampton's East Park.
The stream runs invisibly but generally north-eastward through Stowlawn, and then cuts across the southern edge of Willenhall, appearing briefly among the warehouses, and picking up reinforcement from the Waddens Brook, which originates in Wednesfield. It appears definitively at Watery Lane and Noose Lane, even more so at Bentley, where it runs southward through the industrial part of Bentley, before turning south-eastward, following a realigned course alongside and beneath the
M6 motorway, to Bescot.
Image:Tame at Willenhall.JPG, The Willenhall Arm, close to the source, among residential areas near Shepwell Green. The river is disclosed by the tiny area of reflection in the centre of the photograph - a small stream between overgrown banks, and almost inaccessible, although it forms the town's boundary.
Image:Tame at Bentley Creen1.JPG, The Willenhall Arm at Bentley Green, Walsall, just after passing under the Black Country Route. Despite the appearance at this point it here enters an area of heavy industry.
File:River Tame south of the Anson Branch Canal - geograph.org.uk - 438348.jpg, The Willenhall branch south of the Anson Branch Canal, near the Bentley Mill entertainment and retail area.
Image:Tame at Axletree Way.JPG, The Willenhall Arm passes a large retail development at Axletree Way, Wednesbury, formerly a heavy industrial site. The Tame is completely screened from the road and pedestrian ways at this point, though only a few metres away.
Image:Tame Confluence.JPG, Confluence of the Oldbury Arm (left) and the Willenhall Arm (right), close to Bescot Stadium railway station, under the M6 Motorway.
The Oldbury arm
The southern arm appears prominently close to Oldbury town centre, which gives it its name, but can be traced back to an industrial area at Titford, just west of the
M5 motorway, between Whiteheath and
Langley Green. It winds its way up through Langley and around the southern and eastern edges of Oldbury town centre, surfacing due south of
Sandwell & Dudley railway station, from which point it remains mainly on the surface and is easily traced. Bearing generally north-westward, it skirts
Brades Village and flows into
Tipton. Here it passes through
Sheepwash Urban Park and
Horseley Heath to the centre of
Great Bridge. Leaving Tipton, it then zig-zags across the southern and eastern parts of
Wednesbury, to meet the Willenhall or Wolverhampton arm at
Bescot.
File:Tame entering Sheepwash.jpg, The Oldbury Arm of the Tame, close to where it enters Sheepwash Urban Park, via a culvert under the West Coast Main Line.
Image:Sheepwash Urban Park Tame bank.JPG, Oldbury Arm of the Tame close to its entrance to the Sheepwash Urban Park, between Great Bridge, Tipton, and West Bromwich
West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...
. At this point it is still only 1–2 metres wide if not in flood.
Image:Sheepwash Urban Park island.JPG, Largest of the lakes in Sheepwash Urban Park. This is a storm water retention basin, fed by the Oldbury Arm, providing an important urban habitat.
Image:Sheepwash Urban Park canalised Tame.JPG, Canalised channel of the Tame. Sluices feeding the Sheepwash lakes are visible on both sides.
Image:Tame Oldbury Arm at Tame Bridge.JPG, The Oldbury Arm at Tame Bridge, just south of Great Bridge.
Image:Tame at Great Bridge south.JPG, Steadily widening, the Oldbury Arm approaches Great Bridge.
Image:Tame near Hill Top Wednesbury.JPG, The Oldbury Arm near Hill Top, Wednesbury. This section is heavily industrial, with very little public access, and the river often passing under warehouses and factories.
The Main Stream
The unified Tame then flows—partly through channels realigned to make way for the M6 motorway and its interchange with the M5—through
Sandwell Valley and into north
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. It passes through
Hamstead and
Perry Hall Park to
Perry Barr
Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is also the name of a Government of Birmingham, England#Council constituencies, council constituency, managed by its own ...
, where it is crossed by the
Perry Bridge of 1711, then through
Witton and beneath both
Gravelly Hill Interchange (where it is fed by the
Rea) and
Bromford Viaduct, to
Washwood Heath.
Image:Tame Valley Aqueduct.JPG, Aqueduct carrying the Tame Valley Canal over the River Tame at Ray Hall.
Image:Tame at Ray Hall.JPG, The Tame at Ray Hall sewage works, from the Tame Valley Canal aqueduct, with the Charlemont area of West Bromwich on the right.
Image:Tame at M5 Interchange.JPG, The Tame flowing under the M5 motorway interchange with the M6 motorway northbound, after which it enters Sandwell Valley.
Image:Tame banks upper Sandwell Valley.JPG, Steep, eroded banks of the Tame in upper part of Sandwell Valley.
Image:Tame Sandwell canalised.JPG, A canalised section of the Tame in Sandwell Valley, showing Forge Mill Lake to the right, separated from the river by a steep embankment.
Image:Forge Mill sluices.JPG, Sluices controlling the flow of water into Forge Mill Lake, a storm water retention basin.
Image:Tame Sandwell bridge.JPG, Bridge over the canalised section, linking the lake to Forge Mill Farm
Image:Tame Sandwell riverbed.JPG, Bed and banks of the river, which is usually shallow and fast-flowing at this point.
Image:Tame Sandwell Forge Mill.JPG, Forge Mill Lake. The RSPB reserve's bird hide is visible across the lake, in the centre of the photograph.
Skirting to the north of
Castle Bromwich, it leaves Birmingham to the north-east at
Park Hall Nature Reserve, passing
Water Orton in
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 ...
. At
Hams Hall, immediately after its confluence with the
River Blythe and the little River Bourne, it turns sharply to take up a northward course, and soon feeds into the large complex of water purification lakes at
Lea Marston that now make up
Kingsbury Water Park. It then crosses into
Staffordshire, flowing through
Middleton Lakes RSPB reserve in a wide valley between
Drayton Bassett to the west and
Dosthill to the east. It then flows under
Watling Street to the east of
Fazeley
Fazeley is an industrial town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire, England, south of Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth town centre.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : The ci ...
, and under an
aqueduct carrying the
Coventry Canal. It continues northward to
Tamworth, which takes its name from the river, where it is joined by the
River Anker immediately to the east of Lady Bridge beneath the strategically positioned
Tamworth Castle. The river continues its generally northward route past
Hopwas
Hopwas is a village in Staffordshire, England. It lies along the North West borders of Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth Borough (along the River Tame to the east and Dunstall Lane to the south of Hopwas) and east of Lichfield. It is situated ...
,
Comberford and
Elford until it arrives at the
National Memorial Arboretum
The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and ...
where it forms the boundary between this and the
Croxall Lakes Nature Reserve. After this, it flows under the railway at
Wichnor Viaduct to its confluence with the
Trent near
Alrewas. The eventual outflow is into the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, via the
Humber Estuary. When the Tame and Trent meet, the Tame is the bigger river, the Trent effectively joining it as a tributary. However, the Trent being the ''longer'' river at that point is considered the more senior, and so the combined river bears its name.
Image:River Tame at Tamworth.jpg, The Tame at Tamworth, with Lady Bridge in the foreground and Tamworth Castle behind.
Image:River Tame Hopwas.jpg, The Tame east of Hopwas
Hopwas is a village in Staffordshire, England. It lies along the North West borders of Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth Borough (along the River Tame to the east and Dunstall Lane to the south of Hopwas) and east of Lichfield. It is situated ...
Image:River Tame - geograph.org.uk - 122886.jpg, the Tame at Elford, north of Tamworth.
Image:Chetwynd Bridge.jpg, The Tame passing under Chetwynd Bridge near Alrewas, designed by Joseph Potter in 1828.
Image:Lower Tame pillbox.JPG, Pillbox on the west bank of the Tame, one of many defences constructed along the Midlands rivers during World War II.
Image:Pillbox At NMA.jpg, Pillbox on the west bank of the River Tame
Image:Tame Arboretum.JPG, The Tame at the edge of the National Memorial Arboretum
The National Memorial Arboretum is a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Its objective is to honour the fallen, recognise service and sacrifice, and foster pride in the British Armed Forces and ...
, with Croxall Lakes to the left.
Image:Tame Trent confluence.JPG, Confluence of the Tame (right) with the River Trent (left), at the northern edge of the National Memorial Arboretum.
The catchment of the Tame covers an area of nearly 1500 km
2 and contains a population of about 1.7 million people. Approximately 42% of the Tame basin is urbanised, making it the most heavily urbanised
river basin in the United Kingdom.
The traditional industries of Birmingham and the Black Country, based on coal, iron and steel, were heavily polluting, and the Tame is conducted through a series of purification lakes below Lea Marston in Warwickshire to remove pollutants, an arrangement unique in the UK. A large part of this lake area forms the
Kingsbury Water Park. Clean-up operations in a notoriously polluted stretch of the river in the
Witton area of Birmingham have meant that aquatic
wildfowl such as ducks and swans have settled on that stretch of the river. Sandwell Valley has evolved over the last two decades into an important urban wildlife habitat.
The Tame is
non-navigable throughout its course.
Pollution
The Tame was once one of Britain's dirtiest rivers.
It is now much cleaner, due to changes in legislation and the use of purification lakes at Lea Marston.
Flooding

There have been major flooding problems associated with the river. These result largely from the mainly urban character of the upper catchment. Rainfall runs off the roofs and hard surfaces, raising river levels very rapidly. Rapid housebuilding and commercial development may have exacerbated the problem in recent years. Another development contributing to worse flooding has been the general rise in groundwater levels in the upper catchment area. As traditional industries have declined and been replaced by light industries and services, far less water has been taken from the river and the underlying aquifer.
The river is susceptible to spectacular flooding at the village of
Hopwas
Hopwas is a village in Staffordshire, England. It lies along the North West borders of Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth Borough (along the River Tame to the east and Dunstall Lane to the south of Hopwas) and east of Lichfield. It is situated ...
, between Tamworth and
Lichfield, during periods of heavy autumnal rain. The long-term persistence of the problem is attested by the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
meaning of the village's name:- ''hop'' – nook of land, ''was'' – watery. There is also a substantial bend in the course of the river between Hopwas and Elford, giving rise to the name ''Tamhorn'' for the area.
Flood prevention

Flood prevention work was carried out on
Sandwell Valley in the 1980s. Forge Mill Lake was created as a stormwater retention basin by enlarging an existing depression. The river was dredged to deepen it and the gravel used to construct an island in the lake. This evolved into part of a nature reserve, at present leased to the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...
. At about the same time, a similar arrangement was constructed at
Sheepwash Urban Park, utilising old brickworks excavations as a storm water basin to relieve flooding by the Oldbury Arm.
In 2005, the river's alignment through
Perry Hall Park in
Perry Barr
Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is also the name of a Government of Birmingham, England#Council constituencies, council constituency, managed by its own ...
, Birmingham, just downstream of Sandwell Valley, was remodelled to slow the flow, alleviate flooding and create improved
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s for
wildlife, as part of the
SMURF (Sustainable Management of Urban Rivers and Floodplains) project.
Nonetheless, in June 2007, after heavy rain, the river burst its banks in the
Witton area of Birmingham (just downstream of Perry Barr) and at
Kingsbury Water Park.
In 2009, the
Environment Agency held a public consultation on its proposed flood alleviation measures.
Subsequently, the Environment Agency undertook £380,000-worth of improvements, mainly involving dredging and clearing of obstacles.
1000 tonnes of gravel were removed from around the Chester Road Bridge at Castle Vale and deposited further downstream to improve the fish spawning habitat. The Gravelly Hill section was relieved of 900 tonnes of silt and debris. The Oldbury Arm was cleared of debris and five weirs were removed from it to facilitate fish migration. Work under this programme continues into 2011, mainly around Water Orton.
Features
Tributaries
:''See
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...
''
*
River Anker
**
River Sence
*
Bourne Brook which joins the Tame at
Fazeley
Fazeley is an industrial town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire, England, south of Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth town centre.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : The ci ...
*
River Bourne which joins the Tame near
Whitacre Junction
*
River Blythe
**
River Cole
*Crane Brook
*Norton Brook
*Footherley Brook
*Little Hay Brook
*Churchill Brook
*
Plants Brook
*
Hockley Brook
*
River Rea
*Holbrook
*River Tame, Willenhall or Wolverhampton Arm
**Ford Brook
**Sneyd Brook
**Darlaston Brook
**Waddens Brook
*River Tame, Oldbury Arm
See also
*
Brookvale Park Lake
*
River Tame, Greater Manchester
*
Rivers of the United Kingdom
*
Tame Valley Canal
*
Witton Lakes
Further reading
*
References
External links
SMURFTame – Past, Present, Future
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tame
Rivers of the West Midlands (county)
Rivers of Staffordshire
Rivers of Warwickshire
Tributaries of the River Trent