View source for River Kennett

{{distinguish|River Kennet}}
[[File:River Kennett at Dalham - geograph.org.uk - 42924.jpg|right|thumb|350px|The River Kennett at Dalham, dried in August]]
{{county|Suffolk}}
| length                      = 28
The '''River Kennett''' is a river 17 miles long which runs through [[Suffolk]] and [[Cambridgeshire]].

==Course==
The Kennett rises in the hills just west of Cowlinge Hall in western Suffolk at an altitude of around 355 feet above sea level. It flows north-east to the village of [[Cowlinge]] before turning west for around a mile, crossing the county border into Cambridgeshire in the parish of [[Kirtling]]. After only a couple of miles in Cambridgeshire it crosses back into Suffolk just north of [[Lidgate]] and flows north through [[Dalham]] and [[Moulton, Suffolk|Moulton]].

At [[Kennet End]] and [[Kentford]], the river forms the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border for some miles, passing the little villages of [[Kennett, Cambridgeshire]] and past [[Red Lodge, Suffolk]], losing is boundary-marking duties by [[Freckenham]] (entering Suffolk once more).

Just south of Freckenham, the Kennett joins Lee Brook, a tributary of the [[River Lark]], at an altitude of around thirty feet above sea level.
[[File:River_Kennett at Badlingham - geograph.org.uk - 1192831.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The River Kennett at Badlingham]]

The river is generally dry in the summertime.

==Historical interest==
The villages of [[Kentford]] and [[Kennett, Cambridgeshire|Kennett]] both derive their names from the river. The name of the river is of the old British language in origin, but its meaning is unknown.<ref>A. D. Mills: 'A Dictionary of British Place Names' (Oxford University Press)</ref>

The exact course of the river has changed many times over the centuries. Some evidence of this can be inferred from its deviations from the Kennett parish boundary.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/kentford22/history.htm|title=Kentford history}}</ref>

At Moulton the river passes under a Grade-II*-listed 15th-century packhorse bridge. This bridge has four arches, indicating that the river was larger when the bridge was constructed.<ref name=moulton>{{EH hist link}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Gallery
|width=300
|lines=2
|align=center
|File:River Kennett at Badlingham - geograph.org.uk - 1192831.jpg|River Kennett at Badlingham, near Chippenham, Cambridgeshire
|File:Moulton Pack Horse bridge - geograph.org.uk - 829526.jpg|The 15th-century Moulton Packhorse Bridge
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennett, River}}
[[Category:Rivers of Suffolk]]
[[Category:Rivers of Cambridgeshire]]