River Wey

Coordinates: 51°10′48″N 0°45′00″W / 51.180°N 0.750°W / 51.180; -0.750
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the river in south east England. For the river in Dorset, see River Wey, Dorset.

River Wey
Runnymede
TownsAlton, Haslemere, Farnham, Godalming, Guildford, Weybridge
Physical characteristics
Sourcespring
 • locationAlton, East Hampshire, Hampshire
 • coordinates51°08′42″N 0°59′42″W / 51.145°N 0.995°W / 51.145; -0.995
 • elevation109 metres (358 ft)
2nd sourcepond
 • location
Chichester, West Sussex
 • coordinates51°03′32″N 0°42′00″W / 51.059°N 0.700°W / 51.059; -0.700
 • elevation199 metres (653 ft)
Source confluence 
 • locationTilford, Waverley, Surrey
 • coordinates51°11′02″N 0°45′07″W / 51.184°N 0.752°W / 51.184; -0.752
 • elevation51 metres (167 ft)
MouthRiver Thames
 • location
Weybridge, Elmbridge, Surrey
 • coordinates
51°22′48″N 0°27′22″W / 51.380°N 0.456°W / 51.380; -0.456
 • elevation
12 metres (39 ft)
Length140 km (87 mi)
Basin size904 km2 (349 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • locationWeybridge (mouths)
 • average6.76 m3/s (239 cu ft/s)
 • minimum1.30 m3/s (46 cu ft/s) 12 August 1990
 • maximum74.8 m3/s (2,640 cu ft/s) 29 December 1979
Discharge 
 • locationFarnham (north/western branch)
 • average0.73 m3/s (26 cu ft/s)
Discharge 
 • locationTilford (confluence of both branches)
 • average3.25 m3/s (115 cu ft/s)
Discharge 
 • locationGuildford
 • average5.17 m3/s (183 cu ft/s)
Basin features
ProgressionWey (north branch), Wey, Thames
Wey (south branch), Wey, Thames
Oxney Stream, Hell Ditch, Hoe Stream, Hollywater, Deadwater, River Slea
 • rightRiver Tillingbourne, Cranleigh Waters, River Ock, East Clandon Stream, Guileshill Brook, Royal Brook, Stratford Brook, Truxford Brook

The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere,[n 1] join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined, the flow is eastwards then northwards via Godalming and Guildford to meet the Thames at Weybridge. Downstream the river forms the backdrop to Newark Priory and Brooklands. The Wey and Godalming Navigations were built in the 17th and 18th centuries, to create a navigable route from Godalming to the Thames.

The Wey drains much of south west Surrey (as well as parts of east Hampshire and the north of West Sussex) and has a total

Peasmarsh
.

The name Wey is of unknown origin and meaning.[2]

Course

Wey North

Source of the River Wey

The Wey north branch, sometimes referred to as the Alton Wey,

Upper Froyle and Bentley, turning southeast after Farnham's centre to Tilford.[4]

The steep-sided valley accentuates entering Surrey, between vast masses termed the Lower Greensand Group (south), then down the more easterly valley on both sides (east and west). Reflecting the crumbly nature of this material which has readily eroded, the valley falls from about 230 feet (70 m) entering Surrey 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Farnham to 60 feet lower at Tilford 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east of Farnham and changes from almost v-shaped to a more u-shaped alluvial plain.

The upper parts of the branch were the start of the upper

wind gap, is not lower than 226 feet (69 m) (Tongham Pool) and of very low gradient.[6] This transported distinctive gravels containing chert, to deposit them north of the gap in the chalky ridge at Farnham.[5] The source rocks of the gravels prove the former extent of the river.[5] Great erosion has occurred in the Wey down to Tilford, along the sinuous, multiple-anabranch Waverley Abbey stretch, through, what Blyth notes as, the "soft strata",[5]
of that landscape.

Wey South

The Wey South branch stems from two main westward brooks, one now followed by the

parallel
, north, narrow vales between the northerly "fingers" or "ribs" of:

  • Blackdown, the third-highest hill in Southeastern England
  • Ridge Hill
  • Fridays Hill
  • Marley Heights (formerly Moseshill), called Marley Common

The northern streams drain fingers of a single east–west ridge of Greensand, their common names, again from east to west, are:

  • Wey Down (High Lane Estate)
  • Inval(l)[7]
  • Stoatley Rise
  • Brownscombe

Of varying size, these are long, sandy hills south-east of the upper tip of the Devil's Punch Bowl: Gibbet Hill, Hindhead. One of the northern streams adjoins strips of woodland named Weydown Common and Weycombe.

The south sources are specifically: a wood-surrounded neighbourhood, Kingsley Green (formerly Marsh) in Fernhurst;[8] Chase Farm marking the furthest point south in Surrey;[9] and upper fishponds at Wades Marsh marking the Fernhurst/Lurgashall boundary (both in West Sussex), next to the summit of Ridge Hill (which is the furthest source).[10]

The Wey drains and passes Haslemere's western suburbs then Liphook, Bramshott (including Passfield), Standford and Lindford, and the large parish of Frensham. It combines with the north branch at Tilford, in which parish all three flows have large meanders.

Notable tributaries of the south branch are Cooper's Stream and the River Slea.[4]

Combined river

From Tilford, the river runs through Elstead,

Eashing, Godalming, Peasmarsh/Shalford, Guildford, Send, Old Woking, Pyrford, Byfleet, New Haw and forms the historically much more meandering border between Addlestone/Weybridge, today doing so most accurately between Hamm Court and Whittet's Ait respectively.[11][12][13] From Godalming the river is intertwined with the Wey and Godalming Navigations.[4] The 20 miles (32 km) of the navigations' towpath is open to pedestrians. The river joins the Thames at a cascading channel off its Navigation Canal (above Thames Lock) between Hamm Court and Whittet's Ait and a weir-fed navigation east of the ait facing the main weir stream of Shepperton Lock
.

Tributaries

The River Ock joins at Godalming, Cranleigh Waters and the River Tillingbourne at Shalford and the Hoe Stream at Woking.

History

Main article: Mills on the River Wey and its tributaries
Main article: Wey and Godalming Navigations
Eashing 13th-century double bridge built by Waverley Abbey monks

The river has long been used as a source of power for mills, and many are recorded in the Domesday Book. Between the 17th and 19th centuries there were over 40 mills on the river and more on its tributaries. At various times they have been used for grinding grain, fulling wool, rolling oats, crushing cattle cake, leather dressing, paper production and gunpowder manufacture. Willey Mill, at Farnham, was still in use in 1953.[14] Headley Mill is still in commercial operation. [15] Guildford Town Mill, though no longer used for milling, still harnesses the power of the river to generate electricity.

During the seventeenth century, the river was made navigable to Guildford and extended in the eighteenth century to Godalming. The

National Trust
.

Natural environment

Bank-full state between Pyrford and Wisley where it is separate from the Wey Navigation

Wey Valley is a term for the narrowing

basin of the River Wey before it empties into the River Thames
.

Much of the upper reaches of the river are within the

Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The river passes through a variety of habitats including heathland, woodland and watermeadow, resulting in a diversity of wildlife. There are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Nature Reserves
along the river.

A broad basin of

winter storms of 2013–14.[16]

Water quality

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

angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.[17]

Water quality of the River Wey in 2019:

Section Ecological
Status		 Chemical
Status		 Overall
Status		 Length Catchment Channel
North Wey at Alton[18] Moderate Fail Moderate 2.802 km (1.741 mi) 54.231 km2 (20.939 sq mi) Heavily modified
North Wey (Alton to Tilford)[19] Poor Fail Poor 31.242 km (19.413 mi) 82.531 km2 (31.865 sq mi)
South Wey (Haslemere to Bordon)[20] Poor Fail Poor 17.234 km (10.709 mi) 40.382 km2 (15.592 sq mi)
South Wey (Bordon to River Slea confluence)[21] Moderate Fail Moderate 5.823 km (3.618 mi) 11.342 km2 (4.379 sq mi)
South Wey (River Slea confluence to Tilford)[22] Moderate Fail Moderate 11.633 km (7.228 mi) 38.999 km2 (15.058 sq mi)
Wey (Tilford to Shalford)[23] Poor Fail Poor 23.332 km (14.498 mi) 63.274 km2 (24.430 sq mi)
Wey (Shalford to River Thames confluence at Weybridge)[24] Moderate Fail Moderate 46.346 km (28.798 mi) 75.772 km2 (29.256 sq mi) Heavily modified

Further reading

  • Inland Waterways Association (South-East Region) The River Wey and Godalming Navigation: Weybridge to Godalming Inland Waterways Association 1976

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ^ The western and southern county borders of Surrey approximate the watershed of the lower Chertsey Bourne, Wey and Mole.
  2. ^ The branch of east Shottermill, Haslemere
  3. ^ The branch of Camelsdale, Haslemere
References
  1. ^ "About the Wey Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy". The Environment Agency website. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  2. ISBN 0-19-869156-4
    )
  3. ^
    doi:10.1016/S0016-7878(30)80030-0
    .
  4. ^ a b c "The River Wey and Wey Navigations Community Site". Archived from the original on 25 June 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2008.
  5. ^ a b c d Geology for Engineers, F.G.H. Blyth, published by Arnold, third edition, 1952. cited with approval by http://weyriver.co.uk/theriver/wey_north_B.htm Archived 19 February 2020 at the Wayback Machine and Surrey Nature Partnership in its 2018 Wey Catchment Plan
  6. ^ "Elevation Finder". Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  7. ^ Ordnance Survey: Surrey: Sheet: XLV.NW, Revised: 1895 to 1896, Published: 1898 https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=51.11727&lon=-0.70149&layers=6&b=7 Archived 6 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Ordnance Survey: Surrey: Sheet: XLIV.SE, Revised: 1895 to 1896, Published: 1898 https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=51.07178&lon=-0.72304&layers=6&b=7 Archived 6 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Ordnance Survey: Surrey: Sheet: XLV.SW, Revised: 1895 to 1896, Published: 1898
  10. ^ Ordnance Survey: Surrey: Sheet: XL.S, Revised: 1895 to 1896, Published: 1898
  11. ^ Church of England Archived 23 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine current ecclesiastical parish boundaries
  12. ^ old parish boundary approximate maps Archived 23 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine Vision of Britain: History of Parliament Trust; University of Portsmouth and Others.
  13. ^ "Council to Take over Land | Richmond and Twickenham Times". Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  14. ^ "All About Watermills & Their Millers". The River Wey & Navigations website. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2007.
  15. ^ "Headley Mill". Hampshire Mills Group. Archived from the original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
  16. ^ Recap: Flood-hit communities prepare for further rainfall Archived 18 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine Surrey Advertiser Group. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014
  17. ^ "Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. 17 February 2016. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  18. ^ "North Wey at Alton". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.
  19. ^ "North Wey (Alton to Tilford)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.
  20. ^ "South Wey (Haslemere to Bordon)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.
  21. ^ "South Wey (Bordon to River Slea confluence)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.
  22. ^ "South Wey (River Slea confluence to Tilford)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.
  23. ^ "Wey (Tilford to Shalford)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.
  24. ^ "Wey (Shalford to River Thames confluence at Weybridge)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to River Wey, Surrey.
Next confluence upstream River Thames Next confluence downstream
Wey and Godalming Navigations (south) River Wey River Ash (north)

51°10′48″N 0°45′00″W / 51.180°N 0.750°W / 51.180; -0.750

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