Encyclopedia
The
River Avon is a
river in the south west of
England. In its lower reaches the river is navigable and known as the
Avon Navigation. Because of a number of other River Avons in England, this river is often also known as the
Lower Avon or
Bristol Avon.
Course
The Avon
rises near Chipping Sodbury in
Gloucestershire, between the villages of Old Sodbury and Acton Turville. Running a somewhat circular path, the river drains east and then south through
Wiltshire.
Its first main settlement is the village of Luckington, two miles inside the
Wiltshire border, and then on to Sherston. At Malmesbury it joins up with its first major tributary, the Tetbury Avon, which rises just north of
Tetbury in
Gloucestershire. This tributary is known locally as the Ingleburn, which in Saxon means 'English river'.
Here, the two rivers almost meet but their path is blocked by a rocky outcrop of the
Cotswolds, almost creating an island for the ancient hilltop town of Malmesbury to sit on.
After the two rivers merge, the Avon then turns south east away from the Cotswolds and then quickly south into the clay Dauntsey Vale until it reaches the biggest town so far, Chippenham. The wide vale is now known as the Avon Vale, and the river flows on to Melksham then turns north-west through
Bradford on Avon,
Bath, Keynsham and
Bristol and joins the
Severn estuary at
Avonmouth near Bristol. For much of its course after leaving
Wiltshire, it marks the traditional boundary between
Somerset and
Gloucestershire.
In central Bristol, where the river is
tidal, it is diverted from its original course onto the "New Cut", a channel dug between 1804 and 1809 at a cost of
UK£600,000. The original course is held at a constant level by
lock gates and is known as the
Floating Harbour. This gave the port an advantage by enabling shipping to stay afloat rather than grounding when the tide went down. Downstream of central Bristol the river passes through the deep
Avon Gorge, spanned by Brunel's
Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Navigation
The Avon is continuously navigable from its mouth at Avonmouth as far as
Pulteney weir in the centre of the city of Bath. The
Kennet and Avon Canal connects with the Avon just below this weir and
Bath Locks. Together with the
Kennet Navigation and the
River Thames it provides a through route for
canal boats from Bristol to
London. This navigable stretch can be split into three sections.
From Avonmouth to Bristol through the Avon Gorge, the river is
tidal and is navigable by sea going vessels at high tide but drying to a steep sided muddy channel at
low tide. It was largely the challenge of navigating this section that sealed the fate of the Floating Harbour as commercial docks, and saw them replaced by docks at Avonmouth.
The second stage of the navigation is through
Brunel's locks and the
Floating Harbour itself. This unusual dock has a tentacled plan resulting from its origins as the natural river course of the Avon and its tributary, the
River Frome , and is intimately entwined with Bristol's city centre as few docks are. As a result of this, the Floating Harbour is one of the more successful pieces of dockland regeneration, with much of the dockside now occupied by residential, office and cultural premises, and the water area heavily used by leisure craft.
Upstream of the Floating Harbour via Netham Lock is the Avon Navigation proper, which continues upstream for 12 miles as far as Bath. The stretch is made navigable by the use of locks and weirs at Hanham,
Keynsham,
Swineford,
Saltford,
Kelston and Weston.
The river Avon had been navigable from Bristol to Bath during the early years of the 13th century but construction of mills on the river forced its closure. For most of this distance the navigation makes use of the natural river bed, with six
locks overcoming a rise of 30 feet. The navigation was constructed between 1724 and 1727, following legislation passed by
Queen Anne, by a company of proprietors and the engineer John Hore of
Newbury. The first cargo of 'Deal boards, Pig-Lead and Meal' arrived in Bath in December 1727. It is now administered by
British Waterways.
Biodiversity
The river is important for its dragonfly communities, with a strong population of
Scarce Chaser , together with a strong population of White-legged Damselfly.
Red-eyed Damselfly is also found.
The river is also important for aquatic plants, including Loddon Pondweed.
The
Avon Gorge has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, as have; Bickley Wood, Cleeve Wood, Hanham, Stidham Farm near Keynsham, and Newton Saint Loe
Etymology
The name
Avon is a cognate of the
Welsh word
afon meaning "river" . "River Avon", therefore, literally means "River River". This explains the several English rivers with the name
Avon.
The
County of Avon that existed from 1974 to 1996 covering the Avon valley, including
Bristol and
Bath, was named after the river.
References
See also
...
External links
