https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=River_Eden,_Kent&feed=atom&action=historyRiver Eden, Kent - Revision history2024-03-28T09:30:06ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.25.5https://wikishire.co.uk/w/index.php?title=River_Eden,_Kent&diff=17337&oldid=prevRB: Created page with 'The Eden at Chiddinstone Mill The '''River Eden''' in western Kent is a tributary of the River Medway. It flows through…'2013-09-28T21:40:00Z<p>Created page with '<a href="/wiki/File:Chiddingstone_Mill.jpg" title="File:Chiddingstone Mill.jpg">The Eden at Chiddinstone Mill</a> The '''River Eden''' in western <a href="/wiki/Kent" title="Kent">Kent</a> is a tributary of the <a href="/wiki/River_Medway" title="River Medway">River Medway</a>. It flows through…'</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>[[File:Chiddingstone Mill.jpg|right|thumb|350px|The Eden at Chiddinstone Mill]]<br />
The '''River Eden''' in western [[Kent]] is a tributary of the [[River Medway]]. It flows through the [[Weald]] of Kent from the border with [[Surrey]].<br />
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The Eden has its source in [[Titsey]] parish, Surrey ({{map|TQ160420160551}}, just north of Clacket Lane motorway services on the [[M25 motorway]] and flowing eastward through the Wealden clay to join the River Medway near Penshurst, Kent, ({{map|TQ160537160434}}). The section from its source to where the Gibbs Brook joins it is also known as the Broadmead Water.<ref name=Mill>{{cite book | first = Kenneth| last = Reid| authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1987| month = | title = Watermills of the London Countryside, Vol 1| chapter = | editor = | others = | edition = | pages = 127–28| publisher = Charles Skilton Ltd.| location = Cheddar, Somerset, UK| isbn = 0-284-39165-4| url = }}</ref> Its name is a back formation deriving from [[Edenbridge, Kent|Edenbridge]], the main town through which it flows, and which was originally called in the Old English language "Eadhelmsbrigge" ("Eadhelm's Bridge").<br />
[[File:Mouth of River Eden.JPG|right|thumb|200px|The mouth of the Eden at the River Medway]]<br />
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==Water quality==<br />
According to the Environmental Change Network, water quality in the Eden is mainly classified as General Quality Assessment (GQA) Class C, although the headwaters near [[Oxted]] are Class D. The river receives treated sewage effluent from two Southern Water Services Limited Sewage Treatment Works (STW), serving Edenbridge and Oxted respectively; the stretches receiving these effluents are both subject to EC Urban Water Treatment "Sensitive Waters" investigations. There are other much smaller private sewage treatment works throughout the catchment. The river and its tributaries support coarse fisheries. Average flows at Penshurst range from 3.909 m³/s in January to 0.485 m³/s in July. Water to fill Bough Beech Reservoir is pumped from a point just upstream of Penshurst.<br />
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==Watermills==<br />
The River Eden powered a number of watermills. From source to the Medway they were:<br />
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*[[Titsey]] Mill: An old manorial mill. A Roman Villa at [[Titsey]] was converted into a fulling mill.<ref name=Mill/><ref name=Brit>{{brithist|43073}}</ref><br />
*[[Limpsfield]] Mill {{map|TQ404534}}: A pre-conquest mill site.<br />
*Tidy Green Mill, Limpsfield: A mill site mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]], when the mill was valued at 2s. This mill may take its name from the Tydye/Tidy family. This mill was demolished in 1892.<ref name=Mill/><ref name =Tidy>[http://www.curiousfox.com/uk/r.lasso?vid=44389&-nothing Curious Fox]</ref><br />
*Upper Mill, [[Oxted]] {{map|TQ386523}}: This mill was demolished in the late 18th century;<ref name=Mill/> by 1817 the site of the millpond was used for cottages.<ref name="Alderton 1999" /><br />
*Middle Mill, Oxted {{map|TQ390513}}: A surviving mill building, now just "Oxted Mill",<ref name="Alderton 1999">{{cite book|last=Alderton|first=Mary|title=Oxted 2000 : Oxted, Hurst Green and district : a history guide for the millennium|year=1999|publisher=Oxted Council|location=Oxted|isbn=0-9536221-0-X}}</ref> which has been converted into offices. It dates from 1892-5, although on a site in use from much earlier.<br />
[[File:Coltsford Mill.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Coltsford Mill]]<br />
*Coltsford (Cottsford) Mill, Oxted {{map|TQ397506}}: A Domesday site. This mill retains its machinery, which dates from c.1860 and is all cast iron. The mill is used as a corporate event centre, and there is a trout fishery nearby. The cast iron waterwheel still turns.<ref name=Mill/><ref name=Coltsford>[http://www.coltsfordmill-weddings.co.uk/home.htm Coltsford Mill]</ref><br />
[[File:Haxted Mill.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Haxted Mill]]<br />
*Haxted Mill, [[Edenbridge]] {{map|TQ418455}}: In Surrey, close to the border with Kent. It is a Domesday site and the mill was mentioned in the will of Sir Reginald de Cobham in 1361. The western half of the building dates to c.1580 and the eastern half dates to 1794. The mill was last used to grind flour in 1919 but worked until 1945. It was turned into a museum in 1969 but is now a brasserie and bar.<ref name=Mill/><ref name=Haxted>[http://www.haxtedmill.co.uk/watermill.html Haxted Mill]</ref><ref name=Town>[http://www.edenbridgetown.com/places_of_interest/edenbridge/haxted_mill.shtml Edenbridge Town]</ref><br />
[[File:Honour's Mill, Edenbridge.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Honour's Mill]]<br />
*Town (Honour's) Mill, Edenbridge: In 1291 a water powered pump was at work here, draining the marshland between [[Lingfield, Surrey|Lingfield]] and [[Edenbridge, Kent|Edenbridge]]. The present corn mill building dates to the early 19th century, but incorporates parts of an older structure. The cast iron low breastshot waterwheel drove three pairs of stones. The mill last ground by water sometime before the First World War, and was working by electricity into the 1970s. The waterwheel was used to work ancillary machinery until 1968, when the cast iron pit wheel was broken in the floods of that year.<ref name=Mill/><ref name=Edenbridge>[http://www.edenbridgetown.com/local/information/edenbridge_trail.shtml Edenbridge Town]</ref><br />
*Hever Castle Mill: Once a corn mill at Hever Castle.<ref name=Archive>[http://www.millsarchive.com/Kent/MillPageData/MillsList.aspx?powersource=2 Mills Archive]</ref><br />
[[File:Chiddingstone Mill.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Chiddingstone Mill, now a house]]<br />
*Chiddingstone (Cranstead) Mill {{map|TQ496461}}: Possibly a Domesday site. In the 18th century the millers were the Keeys family, Richard c.1740, followed by his son Richard. The mill was last worked in the 1930s, was a derelict shell for many years and hasd now been converted into a house.<br />
*Vexour Park Mill {{map|TQ511454}}: A weir in Vexour Park marks the site of a long vanished watermill.<br />
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==Tributaries==<br />
Its main tributaries are the Gibbs Brook, Eden Vale Stream, and the Eden Brook, which has the Felbridge Water as a tributary. The Kent Brook, which forms the boundary between Surrey and Kent for part of its length, joins near Edenbridge.<br />
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Several mill sturned also on the Eden's tributaries.<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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[[Category:Rivers of Kent|Eden]]<br />
[[Category:Rivers of Surrey|Eden]]</div>RB