River Perry | |
---|---|
Location | |
Country | England |
Counties | Shropshire |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Springs near Gobowen |
• elevation | 260 m (850 ft) |
Mouth | |
• location | River Severn, near Shrewsbury |
• coordinates | 52°44′40″N2°49′51″W / 52.7445°N 2.8308°W Coordinates: 52°44′40″N2°49′51″W / 52.7445°N 2.8308°W |
• elevation | 55 m (180 ft) |
Length | 39 km (24 mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | Yeaton |
• average | 1.6 m3/s (57 cu ft/s) |
River Perry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The River Perry is a river in Shropshire, England. It rises near Oswestry and flows south to meet the River Severn above Shrewsbury. Along its 24 miles (39 km) length, its level drops by some 320 feet (95 m). The channel has been heavily engineered, both to enable water mills to be powered by it, and to improve the drainage of the surrounding land. There were at least seven corn mills in the 1880s, and the last one remained operational until 1966. The middle section of the river crosses Baggy Moor, where major improvements were made in 1777 to drain the moor. The scheme was one of the largest to enclose and improve land in North Shropshire, and the quality of the reclaimed land justified the high cost. A section of the river bed was lowered in the 1980s, to continue the process.
The river is crossed by the Llangollen Canal, and by several bridges which are on the Listed Buildings register. It has formerly suffered from pollution, both from the discharge of poorly treated sewage from two treatment works, and from effluent from factories producing dairy products. These are now well-regulated, but the river was the scene of a major pollution incident in 1985, when pig slurry discharged into it, killing around 100,000 fish.
The river rises as a series of springs near Hengoed, to the west of Gobowen and to the north of Oswestry, close to the 500-foot (150 m) contour. It passes under the Shrewsbury to Ruabon railway line and the A5 road, to skirt around the northern edge of Gobowen. It is joined by several other streams, which also rise at springs to the west of Gobowen, some from as high as 850 feet (260 m) above sea level, and another which rises near New Marton, and flows south, passing under the Llangollen Canal.
Passing under the A495 road to the north of Whittington, it enters the parkland of Halston Hall, supplying a large ornamental lake. [1] The river briefly heads south to leave the park, and then turns to the east, where it is crossed by the Montgomery Canal. At this point it is below the 260-foot (80 m) contour. [1] The Perry aqueduct, which carries the canal over the river, was the scene of a major breach in 1936, which led to the canal closing. [2] It was not reopened until 1987. [3]
Next it turns to the south, passing through Baggy Moor, where it is joined by a large number of drainage ditches. The railway line crosses it again, before it reaches Ruyton-XI-Towns, where there is a large loop around higher ground to the east. [1] The river is crossed by Platt Mill Bridge, designed and built in 1791 by Edward Cureton, although also attributed to Thomas Telford. [4] The river forms the border between civil parishes at this point, and so one half of the bridge is in Ruyton-XI-Towns, while the other is in Baschurch. The bridge has two arches, and is a grade II listed structure. [5] A circular toll-house, built of red sandstone with a conical slate roof, was erected in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century close to the bridge, and is now used as a house. [6] Continuing to the south-west of Baschurch, Milford Bridge is another two-arched structure, which carries the Baschurch to Little Ness road over the river. It was designed by Thomas Stanton in 1831, and was built by Nathaniel Edwards. Stanton was the civil engineer Thomas Telford's deputy at the time, when Telford was the County Surveyor of Bridges for Shropshire. [7] The river passes along the south-western edge of Yeaton Peverey parkland, to reach Forton Heath, where there is a bridge with a single elliptical arch, built in the early nineteenth century, which carries the Mytton to Forton road. [8] Below the bridge, the river joins the River Severn, close to the 180-foot (55 m) contour. The junction is not far from Shrewsbury, but the course of the Severn is much longer, as it flows around several large meanders to reach the town. [1]
The river rises on the edge of the North Shropshire sandstone plain, but for most of its length, the underlying rock is Bunter Sandstone. [9] A series of streams converge to the east of Gobowen, which have risen further to the west at heights of up to 850 feet (260 m). [10] Initially, the streams are stony-bottomed, but this is soon replaced by clays and alluvial silts. Near Rednal, the flow is augmented by the Tetchill Brook, which starts as an outflow from a large mere at Ellesmere. The outflow was a Victorian solution to control the levels of the mere. It is joined by Newnes Brook, which drains sandstone-based soils between Ellesmere and Gobowen. Below the junction the river crosses Baggy Moor, a large basin which was filled with peat, but which has been extensively drained to enable it to be used for agriculture. [9] Prior to 1777, it was flooded every winter, but an Act of Parliament was then obtained, to authorise the improvement and enclosure of 1,283 acres (519 ha) of land. This was one of the largest areas enclosed in north Shropshire, and although the scheme was more costly and difficult than enclosing some of the dryer areas, the resultant land was more fertile, and so justified the cost. [11]
Below the large meander at Ruyton, where a narrow valley cuts through sandstone, the bed flows over boulder clay with some glacial debris, and becomes stony again. The lower section retains some of its natural features, including meanders and riffle-pool sequences, which provide habitat for fish. Much of the upper section has been heavily modified, with the river canalised to improve flow. Between 1985 and 1988, the river bed between Ruyton and Rednal was lowered by about 3.4 feet (1.0 m), in order to improve the drainage of Baggy Moor. [9]
Water quality is affected by discharges from Sewage Treatment Plants, including one which reaches the river from Oswestry via the Common Brook, and another which discharged into the Tetchill Brook at Ellesmere prior to 1999. [9] The sewage works has since been closed, and improvements have been made to sewage outfalls and storm drains. In addition the brook has been dredged to remove polluted silts, and field studies have subsequently revealed that the quality of the brook is improving, measured by the diversity of invertebrates found in it. [12] In addition, water quality is affected by effluent from factories processing dairy products. These and the sewage works outfalls are generally well-regulated, but there have been some serious pollution incidents as a result of poor agricultural practice. The worst was in September 1985, when 50,000 imperial gallons (230 m3) of pig slurry was discharged into the river, resulting in the destruction of all of the fish populations down to the River Severn. [9] A tank containing the slurry burst, and around 100,000 fish died as a result of the pollution. [13] [14]
Flow on the river is measured at three gauging stations. The furthest upstream is at Perry Farm, which uses a flat V triangular profile weir. That at Ruyton Bridge is a velocity area gauging station, while the final one is at Yeaton, where there is a Crump Profile weir. The catchment area above the Yeaton station is 69.8 square miles (180.8 km2), which receives a mean rainfall of 30.2 inches (767 mm). This results in a mean flow of 30.4 million gallons per day (138.2 Mld), although a peak flow of 336 million gallons per day (1528 Mld) was recorded in February 1990. [15]
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 invertebrates, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. [16]
The water quality of the Perry and its tributaries was as follows in 2019.
Section | Ecological Status | Chemical Status | Length | Catchment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Perry - source to conf Common Bk [17] | Moderate | Fail | 4.8 miles (7.7 km) | 14.94 square miles (38.7 km2) |
Common Bk - source to conf R Perry [18] | Poor | Fail | 1.7 miles (2.7 km) | 2.31 square miles (6.0 km2) |
Perry from Common Bk to Tetchill Bk [19] | Moderate | Fail | 3.2 miles (5.1 km) | 7.60 square miles (19.7 km2) |
Tetchill Bk from source to River Perry [20] | Poor | Fail | 5.3 miles (8.5 km) | 9.67 square miles (25.0 km2) |
War Bk from source to River Perry [21] | Poor | Fail | 4.6 miles (7.4 km) | 8.64 square miles (22.4 km2) |
Perry from Tetchill Bk to River Severn [22] | Moderate | Fail | 12.6 miles (20.3 km) | 19.95 square miles (51.7 km2) |
Reasons for the ecological status being less than good include nutrients entering the river for agricultural land over most of the river system, with sewage discharge and physical modification of the channel affecting some parts. Like many rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) which had not previously been included in the assessment.
The river has been modified significantly to power water mills over the centuries. The furthest upstream was probably at Rednal Mill, which is thought to be the site of a water mill, but showed no signs of a water management system in 1875, although there appears to be a bypass channel to the north, and the administrative boundaries do not follow the main channel at this point. [23] [24] Between Ruyton and the River Severn, there were seven further corn mills, all of which are clearly marked on maps from 1880 to 1882. [25]
New Mills was just below Platt Bridge, while Milford Mill was just above Milford Bridge. Adcote Mill was by Adcote Farm, and most of the channels can still be seen. There were two mills at Yeaton, the Upper Mill and the Lower Mill, either side of Yeaton Bridge, and the final two were Fitz Mill and Mytton Mill. [25] Fitz Mill was operational between the twelfth century and 1926, and the structure is now used by a haulage company. [26] Mytton Mill was operational until 1966, when production ceased. The building was unused until 1971, when it became offices for a building contractor. A fire caused severe damage in 1982, but the building has since been restored, and now provides workshops for a number of small businesses, including the building contractor. [27]
Point | Coordinates (Links to map resources) | OS Grid Ref | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Spring near Hengoed | 52°53′38″N3°03′36″W / 52.8939°N 3.0599°W | SJ287334 | One of several sources |
Spring near Pant-glas | 52°53′03″N3°05′39″W / 52.8842°N 3.0941°W | SJ264324 | One of several sources |
Halston Hall lake | 52°52′35″N2°59′05″W / 52.8764°N 2.9848°W | SJ338314 | |
Montgomery Canal crosses on aqueduct | 52°51′41″N2°57′08″W / 52.8614°N 2.9522°W | SJ359297 | |
Railway bridge | 52°49′15″N2°53′38″W / 52.8209°N 2.8939°W | SJ398251 | |
Site of New Mills Mill | 52°47′16″N2°53′02″W / 52.7877°N 2.8839°W | SJ404214 | |
Milford Mill | 52°47′04″N2°51′45″W / 52.7844°N 2.8625°W | SJ419211 | |
Adcote Mill | 52°46′15″N2°51′25″W / 52.7707°N 2.8570°W | SJ422195 | |
Yeaton Upper Mill | 52°46′03″N2°50′43″W / 52.7676°N 2.8452°W | SJ430192 | |
Fitz Mill | 52°45′27″N2°49′31″W / 52.7574°N 2.8253°W | SJ444180 | |
Mytton Mill | 52°45′11″N2°49′52″W / 52.7530°N 2.8310°W | SJ440175 | |
Junction with River Severn | 52°44′40″N2°49′51″W / 52.7445°N 2.8308°W | SJ440166 |
The River Severn, at 220 miles (354 km) long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of 107 m3/s (3,800 cu ft/s) at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in the Cambrian Mountains in mid Wales, at an altitude of 2,001 feet (610 m), on the Plynlimon massif, which lies close to the Ceredigion/Powys border near Llanidloes. The river then flows through Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. The county towns of Shrewsbury, Gloucester and the City of Worcester lie on its course.
The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is 46 miles (74 km) long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywood Junction by Great Haywood.
The River Douglas, also known as the River Asland or Astland, flows through parts of Lancashire and Greater Manchester in North West England. It is a tributary of the River Ribble and has several tributaries, the major ones being the River Tawd and the River Yarrow.
The River Dearne South Yorkshire, England flows roughly east for more than 30 kilometres (19 mi), from its source just inside West Yorkshire. It flows through Denby Dale, Clayton West, Darton, Barnsley, Darfield, Wath upon Dearne, Bolton on Dearne, Adwick upon Dearne and Mexborough to its confluence with the River Don at Denaby Main. Its main tributary is the River Dove, which joins it at Darfield. The river was one of those affected by the 2007 United Kingdom floods.
The River Teme rises in Mid Wales, south of Newtown, and flows southeast roughly forming the border between England and Wales for several miles through Knighton before becoming fully English in the vicinity of Bucknell and continuing east 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. The whole of the River Teme was designated as an SSSI, by English Nature, in 1996.
The River Lugg rises near Llangynllo in Radnorshire, Wales. It flows through the border town of Presteigne and then through Herefordshire, England, where it meets its main tributary, the River Arrow, to the south of Leominster. It flows into the River Wye downstream of Hereford at Mordiford, around 63 miles (101 km) from its source. Its name comes from a Welsh root, and means "bright stream".
Baschurch is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England.
Ruyton-XI-Towns, formally Ruyton of the Eleven Towns or simply Ruyton, is a large village and civil parish next to the River Perry in Shropshire, England. It has a population of around 1,500 people, falling to 1,379 at the 2011 Census.
The River Blackwater is a tributary of the Loddon in England and sub-tributary of the Thames. It rises at two springs in Rowhill Nature Reserve between Aldershot, Hampshire and Farnham, Surrey. It curves a course north then west to join the Loddon in Swallowfield civil parish, central Berkshire. Part of the river splits Hampshire from Surrey; a smaller part does so as to Hampshire and Berkshire.
The River Ryton is a tributary of the River Idle. It rises close to the Chesterfield Canal near Kiveton Park, and is joined by a series of tributaries near Lindrick Common in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Most of its course is in Nottinghamshire, flowing through the town of Worksop. It meanders northwards to join the River Idle near the town of Bawtry on the South Yorkshire-Nottinghamshire border.
Foudry Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises from a number of springs near the Hampshire village of Baughurst, and flows to the east and then the north, to join the River Kennet to the south of Reading. The upper section is called Silchester Brook, and beyond that, Bishop's Wood Stream. The underlying geology is chalk, covered by a layer of clay, and so it has the characteristics of a clay stream, experiencing rapid increases in level after heavy rain due to run-off from the surrounding land. It passes a number of listed buildings and scheduled monuments, including the site of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum or Silchester.
The River Salwarpe is a 20.4 miles (32.8 km) long river in Worcestershire, England. It is a left bank tributary of the River Severn, which it joins near Hawford.
The Bagley Brook is a small watercourse that flows into the River Severn at Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.
The River Went is a river in Yorkshire, England. It rises close to Featherstone and flows eastward, joining the River Don at Reedholme Common.
Cound Brook is a tributary of the River Severn in Shropshire, England, running to south of the county town Shrewsbury. The Cound Brook rises in the Stretton Hills and discharges into the River Severn at Eyton on Severn after winding its way for 25 miles (40 km) across the southern Shropshire-Severn plains.
Yeaton is a small village in Shropshire, England.
The River Leadon is a river in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, England, a tributary of the River Severn. It rises just south of the village of Acton Beauchamp, and flows south past Bosbury to the town of Ledbury, which takes its name from the river. It then flows south and east past Dymock, Upleadon and Highleadon to join the Severn at Over, just west of Gloucester. The river is approximately 32 miles (51 km) long.
The River Worfe is a river in Shropshire, England. The name Worfe is said to derive from the Old English meaning to wander which the river is notable for in its middle section. Mapping indicates that the river begins at Cosford Bridge where the Cosford Brook and Albrighton Brook meet.
Media related to River Perry, Shropshire at Wikimedia Commons