River Kennett

Not to be confused with River Kennet

The River Kennett at Dalham, dried in August

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.

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.

The River Kennett at Badlingham

The river is generally dry in the summertime.

Historical interest

The villages of Kentford and 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.

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.

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.

References

River Kennett at Badlingham, near Chippenham, Cambridgeshire River Kennett at Badlingham, near Chippenham, Cambridgeshire   The 15th-century Moulton Packhorse Bridge The 15th-century Moulton Packhorse Bridge