Encyclopedia
- For other rivers named "Severn", see Severn River.
The
River Severn is the longest
British river, at 354 kilometres long; it rises at an altitude of 610 metres on Plynlimon near Llanidloes, in the Cambrian Mountains,
Mid Wales, and it passes through a number of English counties, with the county towns of
Shrewsbury,
Worcester, and
Gloucester located on its banks. The Severn becomes the
Bristol Channel at its
estuary, eventually discharging into the
Irish Sea and the
Atlantic Ocean. With an average discharge of 107 m³/s at
Hawbridge , the Severn is
England's largest river in terms of water flow. The Severn's drainage basin area is 11,420 km². It is one of the ten major rivers in the
United Kingdom.
Mythology
According to some sources, the name "Severn" is derived from the name Sabrina or , based on the . Sabrina is also the goddess of the River Severn in
Brythonic mythology. The story of Sabrina is featured in
Milton's
Comus.
As the Severn becomes tidal the associated deity changes to Noadu, who is represented mounted on a
seahorse, riding on the crest of the Severn bore.
Tributary rivers
The
River Stour rises in the north of Worcestershire in the
Clent Hills, near St Kenelm's Church at Frankley. It flows north into the adjacent
West Midlands at Halesowen. It then flows westwards through Cradley Heath and Stourbridge where it leaves the Black Country. It is joined by the Smestow Brook at Prestwood before it winds around southwards to
Kinver, and then flows back into Worcestershire. It then passes through Wolverley,
Kidderminster and Wilden to join the Severn at
Stourport-on-Severn.
A tributary of the Severn, called the River Teme, joins it just below
Worcester and above Kempsey.
One of the several rivers named
Avon joins the Severn at
Tewkesbury,
Gloucestershire. That same Avon also flows through
Stratford-upon-Avon.
The port of
Bristol is located at the mouth of the Severn, where another
River Avon flows into it. The
River Wye flows into the Severn slightly upstream of the Avon and forms the boundary between England, specifically the Forest of Dean, and
Wales, with the town of
Chepstow at the confluence, giving an important strategic position in yester-year and was the main route into South Wales, before the two bridges were built.
Transport
Bridges
The two bridges of the
Severn crossing carrying roads link
Wales with the southern counties of
England and are among the most important in Britain. The Severn is bridged at many places, and many of these bridges are notable in their own right, with several designed and built by the engineer
Thomas Telford.
There also is the very famous
Ironbridge at
Coalbrookdale, which is the first ever Iron Bridge in the world.
Locks
There are locks on the lower Severn to enable sea going boats as far as
Stourport. The most northerly lock is at Lincombe about a mile downstream from Stourport.
Tunnels
The
Severn Tunnel carries the
Great Western Main Line under the estuary.
Associated canals
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, and the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal all join the Severn at
Stourport,
Worcester and
Gloucester respectively. The
Droitwich Barge Canal used to join the Severn at Hawford, near to the River Salwarpe and it hoped that a new link to the Severn via the Salwarpe will be re-established in the future.
Paddle Steamers
The main operator of pleasure craft and particularly
Paddle Steamers on the river from the mid-1800's to the late 1970's were P and A Campbell of
Bristol, but also included the Barry Railway Company.
There were also three ferries operating between Aust and Chepstow these were called the Severn King, Severn Queen and Severn Princess. The Severn Princess is
currently undergoing restoration after being found in Ireland full of fertiliser, after dragging her back with her sinking twice on the way it is hoped that at some time in the near future she will be fully operational again.
The Severn King and Queen were scrapped not long after their decommmision following the completion of the First Severn Bridge.
Tidal bore
A curious phenomenon associated with the lower reaches of the Severn is the
tidal phenomenon known as the
bore. The river's
estuary, part of the
Bristol Channel, has the second largest
tidal range in the world — about 15
metres, exceeded only by the
Bay of Fundy in
Canada — and at certain combinations of the tides, the rising water is funnelled up the estuary into a wave that travels rapidly upstream against the river current; enthusiasts even attempt to
surf along on the wave, which can be 2 m high. In 2006, a world record surf was achieved, for the longest-ever 'surf', by Steve King, a railway engineer from
Gloucestershire,
England. Being the onset of the flood tide it is accompanied by a rapid rise in water level which continues for about one and a half hours after the bore has passed. The Severn Bore is a natural example of a self-reinforcing solitary wave or soliton.
The bore forms somewhat upstream of the Port of Sharpness, which is also the Southern terminus of the
Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. The canal was built in the 1820s to enable safer passage of trading ships to
Gloucester. Just North of the Port are the remains of the Severn Railway Bridge, which bridged the river until it was badly damaged in a ship collision in 1960. Between Purton and Sharpness is an area known as The Ships' Graveyard, where many disused barges were scuttled along the bank to reduce erosion, which was threatening to destroy the banks of the canal. Several of these barges have 'concrete' sides and were intended for use in World War 2; there have been plans to restore some of them, as of historical interest.
Tidal Power
The huge tidal range and high level of surrounding industry and population have long made the Severn estuary a focus for
tidal energy schemes and ideas. Plans for a
Severn Barrage - running 16 km from Lavernock Point near to and south west of
Cardiff to Brean Down near and just south west of
Weston Super Mare in Somerset - would generate a massive 8640 MW when the tide flows, and have been discussed for several decades now. The power generated, coming from a lake of 185 square miles and 14 m potential energy depth, would be equivalent to 12 nuclear power stations. Tidal power only runs for some 10 hours a day, but by using the enclosed lake as a reservoir of potential energy more hours of operation could be achieved. Other energy sources, such as wind and solar power, also create electricity at times that do not always match when it is needed. Excess power could be stored by pumping water uphill, as is already done at a variety of other installations in the UK.
The UK Government shelved the plans in the late 1980s due largely to cost issues and local environmental concerns. However, this was before recent huge rises in the price of energy, and before
Global Warming had started to be taken seriously. As of 2006 the idea has been revitalised and now looks likely to be implemented.
Because global warming and nuclear power station waste and decomissioning have such vast environmental effects, the small environmental impact of the Severn Barrage is an overall reduction in impact. Further work is required to decrease the environmental impact of the project.
Industry
A six-mile stretch of the Severn valley in
Shropshire, known as the
Ironbridge Gorge, was designated a
World Heritage Site by
UNESCO in 1986. Its historic importance is due to its role as the centre of the
iron industry in the early stages of Britain's
Industrial Revolution. Ironbridge gets its name from the bridge across the Severn, built in 1779, which was the first cast-iron bridge ever constructed.
Wildlife
The sides of the estuary are also important feeding grounds for
waders, notably at the Bridgwater Bay National Nature Reserve and the
Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust.
See also
...
- The Severn Way long-distance footpath
- The Severn Area Rescue Association organises rescue lifeboats from Wyre Forest to Beachley
- The Severn Valley, an area straddling Shropshire and Worcestershire.
References
External links
- note warning in text from Gloucester Harbour Trustees
