River Cherwell

Cherwell
The Cherwell at Magdalen Bridge, Oxford
Location
Country	England
Counties	Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire
Towns	Banbury
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Hellidon, Daventry, Northamptonshire
• coordinates	52°12′23″N 1°14′49″W / 52.20639°N 1.24694°W / 52.20639; -1.24694
• elevation	179 m (587 ft)
Mouth	River Thames
• location	Oxford, Oxfordshire
• coordinates	51°44′32″N 1°14′54″W / 51.74222°N 1.24833°W / 51.74222; -1.24833
• elevation	56 m (184 ft)
Length	40 mi (64 km)
Basin size	943 km2 (364 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Oxford
• average	7.2 m3/s (250 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Enslow Mill
• average	3.84 m3/s (136 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Banbury
• average	1.05 m3/s (37 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	River Ray
• right	Sor Brook, River Swere, Mill Lane brook

The River Cherwell (/ˈtʃɑːrwɛl/ ^ⓘ or /ˈtʃɜːrwɛl/) is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Hellidon, Northamptonshire and flows southwards for 40 miles (64 km) to meet the Thames at Oxford in Oxfordshire.^[1]

The river gives its name to the

student newspaper.

Pronunciation

Cherwell is pronounced /ˈtʃɑːrwɛl/, particularly near Oxford, and /ˈtʃɜːrwɛl/ in north Oxfordshire.^[2][3] The village of Charwelton uses the river name. It lies upriver in Northamptonshire, suggesting that the pronunciation /ˈtʃɑːrwɛl/ has long vied for use.

Drainage basin

The river drains an area of 943 square kilometres (364 sq mi).^[4] The Cherwell is the second largest tributary of the Thames by average discharge (after the River Kennet).^[5]

Course

Upper course

The Cherwell is the northernmost Thames tributary.

is nearby.

South of Charwelton, the Cherwell passes between the villages of Hinton and Woodford Halse.

Two miles further on, the river swings westward a few miles, passing below the village of

stretch.

Cropredy and the Upper Oxford Canal

Half-a-mile north of the village of

Act of Parliament

authorising it was passed in 1769. A few years earlier, Oxford merchants had proposed canalising the river as far as Banbury.

Construction of the canal began near Coventry. The canal reached Banbury in 1778, however it was a further 12 years before the southernmost section was completed and the first boats reached Oxford in January 1790.

The Cherwell skirts the east side of Cropredy itself and passes under Cropredy Bridge, site of a major battle of the English Civil War in 1644, a long encounter with riverside skirmishes concentrated along 3 miles (4.8 km) of bank between Hay's bridge and a ford at Slat Mill near Great Bourton. King Charles's forces beat the Parliamentarian army. The bridge has a plaque with words: "Site of the Battle of Cropredy Bridge 1644. From Civil War deliver us." The bridge was rebuilt in 1780 and this plaque is a facsimile of the original one. Cropredy's church holds battle relics. Local tradition holds that locals hid the church's eagle lectern in the Cherwell in case marauding soldiers damaged or stole it.

South of the bridge, the river runs through fields used for the annual

. It then passes an ex-water mill as usual created by a weir holding back a millpond and a mill race (leat); this is the highest major mill. Upstream simpler mills are suspected from the Domesday Book and similar land returns.

Banbury

After a few miles the Cherwell passes under the M40 motorway and the industrial hinterland of Banbury, a town centred on the river, passing another mill position. From here, a main line railway runs alongside on the west side. This line was built by the Great Western Railway and links London and Oxford with Birmingham and the north. South, the railway closely follows the valley.

A Roman villa at nearby Wykham Park dates from around the year 250. Much later the

, now absorbed into Banbury.

House of Commons

in 1648, it was demolished.

A great water mill ground grain near the castle. The brick-built building and miller's cottage have been modernised and extended as Banbury's main theatre and arts centre.

South of Banbury

South of Banbury, the valley widens. On the west bank is a large housing estate built in the 1970s, Cherwell Heights, and a mile south the ancient village of Bodicote on high ground west of the river. Downstream, most of the valley's villages are similarly set back to enable flood-meadows.

After Bodicote, the river passes an industrial estate at Twyford Mill before reaching King's Sutton, a village noted for its rare, high spire which overlooks the river. At Kings Sutton the Sor and Mill Lane brooks join. Two miles further, the Cherwell reaches a neighbourhood Nell Bridge and passes under a main road leading to Aynho, a village a mile east on a low hill, overlooking.^[7][8][9]

Shortly after this comes a crossing of the Oxford Canal

, unusual as instead of rectangular form, it has a wide, lozenge chamber – the lock lowers the canal by 12 inches (30 cm) – the form speedily tops up the water as often used up in the fall of locks below.

By the weir the railway's older line continues down the valley to Oxford; east of it, a more direct route (opened in 1910 by the Great Western Railway) runs via

.

The Cherwell supplied water to the engines on the Oxford route, feeding long troughs on top of the sleepers between rails for scooping up water at stations or at low speed.

Lower course, Somerton, Heyford, Rousham and Shipton

From Aynho, the Cherwell meanders, overlooked by hilltop villages.

) was last rebuilt in the early 19th century, milling until 1946.

At

near Rome.

Two miles south, the river is crossed by a medieval

Roman road

. South, the valley narrows and becomes more wooded.

The Cherwell passes under the Woodstock to Bicester road and shortly after the Oxford Canal flows into it from the east. The next mile of the river is used by boats as part of the canal, passing a now-demolished cement works once supplied by canal narrowboats and which used river water.

After sharing their course for about 1 mile (1.6 kilometres), the watercourses diverge at Shipton Weir Lock (in larger, lozenge form) west of which is

.

East of Shipton, the deserted village of

and ruins of a manor house.

Below, the river reaches Thrupp where the Oxford Canal finally leaves the valley.

In hills to the east, a Romano-British settlement stood near Kidlington and a contemporary villa in a west-bank parish, Islip.^{[citation needed]} To its east is a wide plain, Otmoor, drained by the multi-headwater Ray, the largest tributary, which joins at a weir in Islip, known as The Stank.

The city of Oxford

Entering Oxford, the average flow rate of the Thames is 17.6 m³/s (620 cu ft/s) then exiting after taking in the Cherwell it is 24.8 m³/s (880 cu ft/s).^[5]

The Cherwell reaches the northern outskirts of

, the first of the previously all-women's colleges.

The river is then flanked by

.

The river conjoins again into two close streams to flow under

rowing

.

Easter and Summer punting is popular on the Oxford stretch. (A punt is a long, flat-bottom, low-topsides, boat propelled by a pole pushed against the river bed.) Punts are typically hired from a punt station by Magdalen Bridge, or the Cherwell Boathouse (just to the north of the University Parks). It is possible to punt all the way from the Isis, north past the University Parks, and out beyond the ring road.

History

The lowest point saw early settlement. The river is known as the divide of the

tribes documented at the time of Romanisation).

At Oxney, Oxford a Romano-British settlement grew up, being naturally protected from raids by the large rivers. This settlement dominated the pottery trade in what is now central southern England, distributing it by boats on the Thames and its tributaries.^{[citation needed]}

In 2023, a

Navigation

The river itself has never been properly navigable. In the 17th century weirs were fewer and goods seem to have been laden up to Banbury in modest flat-bottomed boats. A load of coal was taken up the river in 1764 as a test. Since the opening of the Oxford Canal in 1790 only a few sections are navigable, mainly to canoes and punts of shallow draft.^[14]

Literature

The Cherwell was mentioned by John Betjeman (1906–1984) in his poetry:^[15]

The

See also

• Tributaries of the River Thames
• List of rivers in England

References

External links

• Wise Use of Floodplains – River Cherwell Archived 29 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine

Next confluence upstream	River Thames	Next confluence downstream
Castle Mill Stream (north)	River Cherwell	Hinksey Stream (south)