The
River Avon or
Avon icon is a
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in or adjoining the
countiesA county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of
LeicestershireLeicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
,
NorthamptonshireNorthamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
,
WarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
,
WorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
and
GloucestershireGloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
in the Midlands of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Also known as the
Warwickshire Avon or
Shakespeare's Avon, it has been divided since 1719 into the Lower Avon, below Evesham, and the Upper Avon, from Evesham to above Stratford-upon-Avon.
Improvements to aid navigation began in 1635, and a series of locks and weirs made it possible to reach Stratford, and to within 4 miles (6.4 km) of
WarwickWarwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
. The Upper Avon was tortuous and prone to flooding, and was abandoned as a navigation in 1877. The Lower Avon struggled on, and never really closed, although it was only navigable below Pershore by 1945.
Restoration of the lower river as a navigable waterway began in 1950, and was completed in 1962. The upper river was a more daunting task, as most of the locks and weirs were no longer extant. Work began in 1965 on the construction of nine new locks and 17 miles (27.4 km) of river, using mainly volunteer labour, and was completed in 1974 when it was opened by
Queen Elizabeth the Queen MotherElizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
. Plans to extend the navigable river to provide a link with the
Grand Union CanalThe Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
at either Warwick or Leamington Spa have met with some opposition.
Etymology
"Avon" derives from the British language , "river", which also survives as a number of other English and Scottish river names, and as modern
WelshWelsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
'av?n "river".
The river is also known as the Warwickshire Avon or Shakespeare's Avon.
Course
The
sourceThe source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:There is no universally agreed upon definition for determining a stream's source...
of the Avon is near the village of
NasebyNaseby is a small village in the District of Daventry in Northamptonshire, England.The village is 14 mi north of Northampton, 13.3 mi northeast of Daventry, and 7 mi south of Market Harborough. It is 2.4 mi from Junction 2 of the A14 road, giving it access to the national road system...
in Northamptonshire. For the first few miles of its length between
WelfordWelford is a village and civil parish in England. It is located on the River Avon border between the counties of Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 1,016 people....
and the Dow Bridge on
Watling StreetWatling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
, it forms the border between Northamptonshire and Leicestershire. On this section, it has been dammed to create
Stanford ReservoirStanford Reservoir is a drinking water reservoir on the River Avon, England. It lies on the county boundary between Leicestershire and Northamptonshire near the village of Stanford-on-Avon....
. It then flows in a generally west-southwesterly direction, not far north of the Cotswold Edge and through the Vale of Evesham, passing through the towns and villages of Welford,
RugbyRugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
,
WolstonWolston is a village and civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England. The village is located roughly halfway between Rugby and Coventry, and has a population of about 2,300. It is close to the A45 road and the Roman road the Fosse Way....
, (bordering
Leamington SpaRoyal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
),
WarwickWarwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
,
Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
, Welford-on-Avon,
Bidford-on-AvonBidford-on-Avon is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. In the 2001 census it had a population of 4,830.-Location:...
, Evesham and
PershorePershore is a market town in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. Pershore is in the Wychavon district and is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2001 census the population was 7,304...
, before it joins the
River SevernThe River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
at
TewkesburyTewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...
.
The river has a total length of 85 miles (137 km) and a catchment size of 1032 square miles (2,672.9 km²). The Avon's tributaries include the Rivers
LeamThe River Leam is a river which flows through eastern and southern Warwickshire. It is a small river about 25–30 miles long. The town of Leamington Spa lies on, and is named after, the River Leam....
,
StourThe River Stour is a river in Warwickshire, England. It is a tributary of the Avon, which it joins at Stratford-upon-Avon. The source of the River Stour is in Traitors Ford; it joins the Avon at Clifford Chambers....
,
SoweThe River Sowe is a River in Warwickshire and West Midlands, England. It is a tributary of the River Avon, and flows into it just south of Stoneleigh....
,
DeneThe River Dene is a small river in Warwickshire, England.It is a tributary of the Avon, which it joins at Charlecote Park. The headwaters of the River Dene rise on the western slopes of the Burton Dassett Hills and flow westward towards Kineton...
, Arrow, Swift,
AlneThe River Alne is a tributary of the Warwickshire Avon and has its headwaters to the north of Wootton Wawen. The River Alne flows generally southwards before joining with the River Arrow at Alcester, which itself joins the River Avon near Salford Priors....
, Isbourne,
SherbourneThe River Sherbourne is a river that flows under the centre of the city of Coventry, West Midlands, England.The source of the river is in the fields of Hawkes End in the Parish of Allesley. From where it flows south continuing through the city centre, where it is mainly culverted, and through the...
and
SwilgateThe River Swilgate is a river in Gloucestershire, England.Rising at the confluence of Hyde Brook and Wymans Brook at Elmstone Hardwicke, before flowing north west and north to Tewkesbury where the Swilgate joins the River Avon close to its confluence with the Severn....
as well as many minor streams and brooks.
A long distance footpath has been created which follows the river from its source to the River Severn at Tewkesbury. The route is marketed as Shakespeare's Avon Way, and is 88 miles (141.6 km) long. It uses existing footpaths and tracks to stay as close to the river as is reasonably possible.
Navigation
From Alveston weir, which is 2 miles (3.2 km) upstream of Stratford-upon-Avon, downstream to Tewkesbury and the River Severn, the river has been rendered navigable by the construction of locks and weirs. The
Stratford-upon-Avon CanalThe Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England.The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal...
links to the Avon through a lock in the park in front of the
Royal Shakespeare TheatreThe Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
in Stratford-upon-Avon. The River Avon can be used by boats with a maximum length of 70 feet (21.3 m), beam of 13.5 feet (4.1 m), height of 10 feet (3 m) and draught of 4 feet (1.2 m) from Tewkesbury to Evesham. Above Evesham, beam is restricted to 12.5 feet (3.8 m) and draught to 3 foot (0.9144 m).
Traffic is now exclusively leisure oriented. Overnight moorings are available at
Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
,
Luddington- Places :*Luddington, North Lincolnshire*Luddington-in-the-Brook, Northamptonshire*Luddington, Warwickshire-People:*Sir Donald Luddington , British colonial government official and civil servant...
, Welford-on-Avon,
BartonBarton is a village in Warwickshire, England, on the Avon, near Bidford-on-Avon, it forms part of the civil parish of Bidford-on-Avon. The name appears in 1315 as Berton.-External links:...
,
Bidford-on-AvonBidford-on-Avon is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. In the 2001 census it had a population of 4,830.-Location:...
,
HarvingtonHarvington is a village near Evesham in Worcestershire, England.-Past:Harvington is first mentioned in the Anglo Saxon charters of 709CE when it was known as HERVERTON.-Harvey:The famous portrait artist lives in Harvington...
,
OffenhamOffenham is a large rural village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England, located about three miles east of Evesham, in the Vale of Evesham. The River Avon flows through Offenham. The civil parish extends beyond the area of the settlement of Offenham and includes...
, Evesham, Craycombe, Wyre,
PershorePershore is a market town in Worcestershire, England, on the banks of the River Avon. Pershore is in the Wychavon district and is part of the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency. At the 2001 census the population was 7,304...
,
DeffordDefford is a small village in the county of Worcestershire, England, located between the towns of Pershore and Upton-upon-Severn.Defford also has a primary school, Defford cum Besford First School,and three pubs....
,
CombertonComberton is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, just east of the Prime Meridian.-History:Archaeological finds, including a Neolithic polished stone axe and a Bronze Age barrow , suggest there has been a settlement here for thousands of years. A Roman villa was discovered...
,
BirlinghamBirlingham is a village and civil parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England, about three miles south of Pershore. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 325...
,
EckingtonEckington is a small village near to the southern border of the English county of Worcestershire, according to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,202....
,
StrenshamStrensham is a village in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire. In the 2001 census, the civil parish of Strensham had a population of 314 across 127 households...
and Tewkesbury. There are boatyards at Stratford-upon-Avon, Welford-on-Avon, Barton, Bidford-on-Avon, Evesham, and Tewkesbury.
History
The navigation works on the Avon were originally authorised by an Order in Council and Letters Patent of
Charles ICharles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
in 1635, which named
William SandysWilliam Sandys of Fladbury was known as Waterworks Sandys to distinguish him from his cousin, the spendthrift 'Golden Sandys'...
as the grantee, with powers to improve both this river and the
River TemeThe River Teme rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown in Powys, and flows through Knighton where it crosses the border into England down to Ludlow in Shropshire, then to the north of Tenbury Wells on the Shropshire/Worcestershire border there, on its way to join the River Severn south of Worcester...
. He had already bought a number of mills on the river, but there were few objections from millers at those he did not own, for he built pound locks with two sets of gates, to enable vessels to pass by without the large loss of water associated with flash locks. The only objections were from Sir William Russell, who owned Strensham mill, and whose grievance was about land purchase, rather than the navigation works. By 1641 it was reported that the river was navigable to within 4 miles (6 km) of Warwick.
After a period of decline, navigation rights along the river were confirmed by a clause in the Stour and Salwarpe Navigation Act of 1662. Further improvements were made to the river above Evesham from 1664 by a syndicate led by
Andrew YarrantonAndrew Yarranton was an important English engineer in the 17th century who was responsible for making several rivers into navigable waterways.-Biography:...
. He was working for Lord Windsor and others, and the work included the construction of three navigation weirs, which were a type of flash lock with a single barrier. These were used to enable boats to pass over shoals, and with the exception of the one at Pensham, were not built adjacent to mills. The Pensham watergate did at times hinder the proper operation of the mill, when the water levels rose above the gate. Once Yarranton's work was completed, barges of 30 tonnes could navigate to Stratford.
Ownership of the navigation was formally divided into the Upper and Lower Avon in 1717, with Evesham being the dividing point. The Lower Avon Navigation between Evesham and the River Severn was leased by George Perrott in 1758, who spent over £4,000 upgrading the locks and weirs to enable 40 tonne barges to navigate the river. The work was completed by 1768. Perrott then intended to sell the navigation, but when the Stratford Canal was being promoted, he had a clause inserted into the Bill to force the
Worcester and Birmingham CanalThe Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long....
to make payments to him in view of the expected drop in tolls that the Navigation would experience. Once the Stratford Canal was completed, there was fierce competition between the Upper and Lower Avon companies, with coal from the Worcester and Birmingham coming up-river to Evesham, and coal coming down-river from Stratford. As the tolls dropped, Perrott leased the Lower river to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal company from 1830 until 1851.
Meanwhile, the Upper Avon Navigation between Stratford and Evesham was owned by relatives of Lord Windsor, who had died in 1758, and its condition gradually deteriorated. Because of the sinuous course of the upper river, it was never really considered as a through navigation, except for a brief period when William James thought it could become a through route. He bought all of the shares in the Upper Avon company in 1813, and persuaded the Stratford Canal shareholders that there should be a junction between their canal and the river at Stratford, which was opened on 24 June 1816. In 1822, he spent £6,000 repairing the locks on the upper river, and became bankrupt. The navigation was taken over by seven men, all connected with the Stratford Canal, who turned Lucy's lock at Stratford into a two-rise staircase lock, constructed three new locks, and improved the river by dredging. Most of the subsequent traffic was local, competing with the Lower Avon for the delivery of coal to Evesham. The Upper Avon was leased to the Stratford Canal from 1842, but there was little traffic, and the lease was not renewed in 1847. The arrival of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway at Stratford sealed its fate, and when the company failed to sell the navigation to local landowners for £150, they effectively abandoned it in 1857. John Broughton, who was the railway manager at Stratford, was persuaded to buy the navigation for £300 by local traders, but the venture was short-lived. Broughton was succeeded, and the railway, now called the West Midland Railway, became part of the
Great Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
. In 1875, the GWR decided it would no longer maintain the river, and an appeal to the Railway Commissioners in 1877 ruled that they were not obliged to do so.
The Lower Avon Navigation never quite fell into total disuse. The Worcester and Birmingham Canal renewed their lease in 1851 for a further 21 years, but traffic was severely hit by the opening of a railway link from Ashchurch to Evesham in 1864. Receipts had dropped to £139 in 1872, and the canal company did not renew their lease again. Somehow the navigation remained open, and as the commercial traffic declined, there was a gradual increase in pleasure usage. By the end of the
Second World WarWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
only one barge was plying the stretch between Tewkesbury and Pershore, and the river above Pershore became unnavigable.
Restoration
The first moves to return the waterway to a navigable condition occurred in March 1949, when the
Evesham Journal published an article on its history and decline.
Robert AickmanRobert Fordyce Aickman was an English conservationist and writer of fiction and nonfiction. As a writer, he is best known for his supernatural fiction, which he described as "strange stories".-Life:...
started a correspondence with the editor of the article, suggesting that the river could be restored. C. Douglas Barwell sought legal advice on how best the proposal could be managed, out of which the
Lower Avon Navigation Trust Ltd (
LANT) was constituted as a charity in 1950, and the BBC broadcast news of the proposals in April 1950. By May 1952, despite being in a period of great austerity, LANT had raised over £4,000 towards the work, and the involvement of the Royal Engineers, who helped with the reconstruction of Chadbury Lock as a training exercise, increased public awareness, and enabled further public appeals for funds to be made. By 1962, LANT had raised over £50,000, the 7 locks from Tewkesbury to Evesham were restored to working order, re-opening the Lower Avon, and plans were already being made to rebuild Evesham Town Lock and press on towards Stratford. Mrs Barwell, the wife of Douglas Barwell, formally opened the waterway in June 1962. Mr. Barwell received an
OBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for his work on the navigation.
An anonymous benefactor promised £80,000 in 1963 towards the restoration on the Upper Avon, while a donation of £5,000 enabled Evesham lock to be rebuilt and opened on 11 June 1964. Collins Brothers, who owned the lock site, with the main dam, sluice and weir, donated them to the Lower Avon Navigation Trust in 1966, extending the jurisdiction of the Lower Avon above its historical limits. The other waterway to Stratford, the
Stratford-upon-Avon CanalThe Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England.The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal...
, had been restored by the
National TrustThe National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
and was opened by
Queen Elizabeth the Queen MotherElizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
exactly a month later, and her involvement caught the public's imagination. Although the Upper Avon was in a much worse condition than the Lower Avon, the
Upper Avon Navigation Trust Ltd (
UANT) was constituted in 1965 to rebuild it. The project was led by David Hutchings, fresh from completing the Stratford Canal restoration, who obtained permission to build a new lock at Stratford in early 1966, and launched an appeal for £6,000 to fund it. Work began on 19 July 1966, once half the cost had been raised.
The concept of building new locks and weirs, with most of the work being undertaken by volunteers, was new. Negotiation with the Severn River Authority led to an agreement that such works could be constructed, which was eventually formalised when a private Bill was put before parliament, which became the Upper Avon Navigation Act 1972. Further funding came from an Inland Waterways Association national restoration fund, launched in 1969. Work continued, with phase one, covering the section from Evesham to Bidford Bridge, being declared open on 12 June 1971, during an IWA boat rally at Bidford. The estimated cost for the complete restoration was £250,000, all of which was raised by public subscriptions, with the exception of a grant for £25,000 from the Department of the Environment, which was made at the time of the phase 1 opening. The project, which involved the construction of nine new locks, reopening a 17 miles (27.4 km) navigation which had been derelict for over 100 years, was completed on 1 June 1974, when Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother returned to Stratford to declare it open. It was the largest project of its type to that date, and Hutchings was awarded an MBE for his leadership.
Proposed extension
There have been proposals to extend the navigation upstream from Alveston to a link with the
Grand Union CanalThe Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
at either Warwick or Leamington Spa. This was first considered by the Severn Trent Water Authority in 1974, who conducted a survey, the cost of which was partly funded by the
Inland Waterways AssociationThe Inland Waterways Association was formed in 1946 as a registered charity in the United Kingdom to campaign for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and sensitive development of British Canals and river navigations....
. This would open up a stretch of river that has never previously been navigable, but the proposal has not been universally welcomed. Landowners at Warwick Castle and Charlecote Park have attempted to claim the river as private property, although the 1636 Orders of Council state that the river was free to Coventry. Despite much local support, there is still some opposition to the scheme.
Commercial Traffic
Commercial traffic returned to the Avon in May 2010, as part of a scheme to build flood defences at the town of Pershore, following flooding in 2007, which caused damage to a number of properties. Clay banks are being constructed, with most of the material coming from Birlingham, further downstream. Some 15,000 tonnes of clay is being excavated and transported by barge to the construction works. At Birlingham, the excavation will be managed to create a wetland reserve for wildlife, with 32 acres (12.9 ha) of wet grassland and 5 acres (2 ha) of open water and reedbeds. Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is working with the landowner to create the reserve, which will be called the John Bennett Reserve. The use of barges to transport the clay is estimated to save 3,000 lorry trips between the two sites.
See also
- Other rivers named Avon
- River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
- Rivers of the United Kingdom
- Soft Flowing Avon
Soft Flowing Avon was a 1769 song with music written by Thomas Arne and lyrics by David Garrick. It was composed for and first staged at the Shakespeare Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769. The lyrics refer to the River Avon which flows through the town, the birthplace of William Shakespeare....
External links