River Adur
Adur Beeding River, Bramber Water, Sore - all archaically | |
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The Adur, downstream from Wineham Bridge | |
Location | |
Country | England |
Region | Sussex |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Western Adur |
• location | Slinfold |
Mouth | English Channel |
• location | Shoreham-by-Sea |
Length | 20 mi (32 km) |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Lancing Brook (near Shipley), Ladywell Stream |
• right | Cowfold Stream |
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The Adur (
Course of river
The Adur begins as two separate branches, the western Adur and the eastern Adur, which meet 1.2 miles (2 km) west of Henfield.
The western Adur rises at Slinfold, from where it flows around Coolham and then through Shipley, where Hammer Pond and Lancing Brook join it on the right bank.[3] On the left bank, it is joined by the outflow of Knepphill Pond, which forms part of the Knepp Castle pleasure grounds laid out by John Nash in 1806–13. He designed the present castellated mansion known as Knepp Castle for Sir Charles Merrick Burrell, but the grounds include the remains of an 11th-century castle, known by the same name, which was demolished in 1726. The pond was constructed as a hammer pond for the iron industry in the 16th century by the Duke of Norfolk.[4] At Bay Bridge it is crossed by the A24 road, is joined by another tributary on the left bank, and flows on to West Grinstead, passing through the remains of a lock. It is joined by Blakes Gill just above Hatterell Bridge, where it passes through a large weir structure. There are the remains of another lock at Lock Bridge, Partridge Green, nad Honeybridge Stream joins it on the right bank. Near Bines Green, Bines Bridge carries the B2135 road over the river, and the river is tidal below this point. Soon afterwards, it joins the eastern Adur near Henfield.[5][3]
The eastern Adur rises at
The combined flow continues southwards, to a footbridge near Eatons Farm, below which there is a towpath on both sides of the river. Bineham Bridge carries another footpath over the river,[5] and the river then enters Henfield Levels, an important wetland site which supports large populations of birds.[3] A former railway bridge carries the Downs Link over the river at Stretham Manor.[5] There are a number of salterns to the east of the river, which were on the floodplain before the river was embanked in the post-medieval period. The land was periodically flooded by incoming tides, and water trapped in pools was then evaporated to extract salt. The industry operated from Anglo-Saxon times until the early 17th century, when it was unable to compete with sources of rock salt, mined in other parts of the country. Many of the middens were levelled in the 1960s, as the land was used for agriculture, but two important groups remain: one to the west of the river near Bramber, and the other to the east of the river near Upper Beeding. They are scheduled monuments, and those to the east are on land originally owned by Sele Priory,[6] while those to the west were given to Durford Abbey around 1160, by William de Braose, who owned Bramber Castle.[7]
Beeding Bridge carries a minor road from Upper Beeding to Bramber over the river, while a little further south, the A283 Steyning By-pass crosses. A footbridge carries the Downs Link over the river, as the former railway bridge near
The Baybridge Canal uses part of the Adur's watercourse.
Etymology
The name Adur is a relatively recent (probably 1612s) invention, based on the name of the Roman fort Portus Adurni which was mistakenly believed to be at Shoreham. The river had previously been known as the Bramber, and was also recorded as the Sore in the sixteenth century, the latter probably a back-formation by William Harrison's Description of England (1577) from Shoreham (often Sorham in early sources).[1][12][13]
A further possible translation derived from the Anglo Saxon [14]ǽdr meaning vein or artery. Other local rivers such as the Rother deriving from the Anglo Saxon róðer which means Rower (as in a long river) and the Arun derived from hærn meaning tidal also appear to describe the river and its surrounds.
History
From Norman times the county of Sussex was divided into sections known as rapes. Each rape was typically centred on a river and river port and was guarded by a castle. Bramber rape was centred on the port of Bramber and the river Adur, with Bramber Castle located close to the river. At various times in the medieval period, Bramber, Steyning and New Shoreham were all major ports on the river.[15] The western Adur also flows close to Knepp Castle, near Shipley.[16]
The river has a long history of use for navigation, and Shoreham is known to have been used as a port since Roman times. During the Middle Ages, it was especially active, as it was the location of a Royal Arsenal, and later became a centre for ship building. During the 11th and 12th centuries, the river was tidal as far upstream as Bramber Bridge, and Bramber was a busy port.[3] When Defoe visited in the 1720s, he noted that Shoreham was a seafaring town, with many of the inhabitants being ship's carpenters, chandlers or otherwise involved in trades connected with shipbuilding. At the time, the hinterland was able to supply large quantities of cheap timber, and although larger ships could not navigate up the river, it was used to float large rafts of timber from Bramber, Steyning and beyond down to the ship yards.[17] This trade gradually declined as the forests were felled.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/River_Adur_-_geograph.org.uk_-_690749.jpg/220px-River_Adur_-_geograph.org.uk_-_690749.jpg)
One problem that the shipbuilders faced was the blocking of the mouth of the river with shingle, which was moved along the coast by the tides. Harbour Commissioners were appointed in 1760 to resolve the issue, and two attempts to create a new mouth were made, but neither was particularly successful. However, in 1816 a new channel was cut through the shingle, and the original course of the river became the Southwick Ship Canal as development work took place over the next forty years. Water levels in the canal are maintained by locks at its entrance.[3]
Following the success of improvements to a number of rivers along the south coast, an
A further extension to the navigable river was made in 1825, when seven promoters raised £5,250 and obtained an Act of Parliament to construct the
The river was never a commercial success. Tolls in 1812 amounted to £523, but then declined fairly quickly, and were only £258 in 1839. The Brighton Railway arrived in the area in 1861, when a branch from Shoreham to Horsham was constructed, which was in direct competition to the river. The Adur trustees could no longer afford to repay their loans from 1865, while the Baybridge Canal was virtually unused from 1861, and officially closed on 1 September 1875. Some traffic continued to use the Adur, and in 1905 a tug with barges conveyed 12,989 tons of material from Shoreham to a cement works at Beeding. This trade continued until 1929.[20]
The lower reaches of the river, from its mouth to Old Shoreham Bridge, are managed by the Port of Shoreham Harbour Office. Above the bridge, the river is the responsibility of the
Railway engine
The
Settlements on the river
- Slinfold
- Shipley
- West Grinstead
- Ditchling
- Twineham
- Wineham
- Shermanbury
- Bramber
- Upper Beeding
- Coombes
- Shoreham-by-Sea
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Rivers of the United Kingdom
References
- ^ a b Eilert Ekwall (1928). English River Names. OUP. p. 1.
- ^ "Changes in the mouth of the Adur at Shoreham". University of Sussex. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cumberlidge 2009, p. 50.
- ^ Historic England. "Knepp Castle (1000519)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ a b c d e f Ordnance Survey, 1:25000 map
- ^ Historic England. "Group of salterns north of St Peter's Church (1016722)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Historic England. "Group of salterns and a possible moat 250m east of Bramber Castle (1015718)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Historic England. "Old Shoreham Bridge (1027895)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Cumberlidge 2009, p. 51.
- ^ "Shoreham Adur Ferry Bridge opened by Duke of Gloucester". BBC News. 13 November 2013.
- ^ "The Adur Ferry Bridge - Shoreham footbridge". Adur and Worthing Councils. 2 January 2024. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023.
- ^ Horton, Andy. "Adur Valley". British Marine Life Study Society. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022.
- ^ Ekwall, E. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Placenames (4th ed.) Oxford University Press (1960)
- ^ "Bosworth Toller Anglo Saxon Dictionary online".
- ^ "Bramber Rape | British History Online".
- ^ "Knepp Castle Ruin". Knepp Estate. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024.
- ^ Defoe 2018, p. 138.
- ^ Priestley 1831, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Hadfield 1969, p. 30.
- ^ a b Hadfield 1969, pp. 30–31.
- ^ a b Cumberlidge 2009, pp. 50–51.
- ^ Burridge 1975, p. 49.
Bibliography
- Burridge, Frank (1975). Nameplates of the Big Four. Oxford: Oxford Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-902888-43-2.
- Cumberlidge, Jane (2009). Inland Waterways of Great Britain (8th Ed.). Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson. ISBN 978-1-84623-010-3.
- Defoe, Daniel (2018) [1727]. A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain. Global Grey.
- Hadfield, Charles (1969). The Canals of South and South-East England. David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-4693-8.
- Priestley, Joseph (1831). "Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals and Railways of Great Britain". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
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