River Chew
The River Chew is a small river in Somerset, 17 miles long, which is a tributary of the River Avon. It forms the Chew Valley and several villages along its bank carry the name of the river.
The spring from which the Chew rises is just upstream from Chewton Mendip. The river flows North West from Chewton Mendip through Litton, Chew Valley Lake, Chew Stoke, Chew Magna and Stanton Drew. The river passes under the A37 at Pensford almost making the old church and pub garden into an island. The river then flows through the villages of Publow, Woollard, Compton Dando and Chewton Keynsham before joining the River Avon at Keynsham.
For much of the Chew's route the Two Rivers Way footpath is alongside, the same route for part of its length is also part of the Monarch's Way long distance footpath. In total the Chew flows for some 17 miles through the countryside of northern Somerset.
The name "Chew"
The name "Chew" has Celtic origins, cognate with the River Chwefru, cliwyf-ffrenwy, "the moving, gushing water". Ancient spellings are preserved in names such as Estoca (Chew Stoke as it appears in the Domesday Book), Chiu (Chew Magna) and Ciwetune (Chewton Mendip).[1] Its exact meaning has suggested several other explanations, including "winding water",[2] the ew being a variant of the Old English ea, meaning "river". The word chewer is a western dialect for a narrow passage and chare is from the Old English for 'turning'.
However Ekwall's interpretation would have it that the name is derived from the Welsh cyw meaning "the young of an animal, or chicken", so that Afon Cyw would have been "the river of the chickens".[3]
Other possible explanations suggest it comes from the Old English word ceo ("fish gill"), used in the transferred sense of a ravine, in a similar way to Old Norse gil, or possibly a derogatory nickname from Middle English chowe ("chough"), Old English ceo, a bird notorious for its chattering and thieving.[4] Stephen Robinson, now a discredited author, claimed that it is named after the Germanic war god Tiw.[5]
Course
It is likely that the current course of the river occurred after the last ice age and that previously the river followed the course of the Congresbury Yeo to the Bristol Channel. When ice blocked the Bristol Channel the course is likely to have been diverted so that the Chew flowed north rather than west through Compton Martin to join the Avon.[6]
Roman use
"Pigs" (ingots) of lead from the Charterhouse Roman Town on the Mendips were brought to the river to be transported to Sea Mills on the Avon for transshipment overseas.[7]
Fishing
Fish ladders have been installed at three weirs in Keynsham and Chewton Keynsham to allow fish to travel upstream. Fishing rights for the Millground and Chewton sections of the river are owned by Keynsham Angling Club.[8] The Mill Ground stretch of the River Chew consists of the six left-bank fields (looking downstream) from Chewton Place at Chewton Keynsham to the Albert Mill, Keynsham. The water is home to a good stock of sizeable chub, roach, perch and rudd, along with good numbers of gudgeon, dace and trout. In the Chewton section, waters are much more 'wild' than the Mill Ground, with overhanging trees and fast-flowing runs, leading to deeper eddies and pools. Not all swims are fishable and some will need hacking out before angling, but this is a classic roving river. Trout, grayling and chub lurk in the shady, meandering stream, along with a good showing of dace, roach and eels.
Any flood alerts for this river are available from the Environment Agency River Chew from Chewstoke to Keynsham page.[9]
Pictures
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Bridge at Pensford. -
Bridge at Publow. -
Bridge at Stanton Drew.
Outside links
References
- ↑ "Notes on the names of parishes in the county of Somerset", Notes and Queries 15 September 1883:204, drawing upon Eyton, Domesday Studies and Collinson, Somerset.
- ↑ "History of the River Chew". River Chew Web Site. http://www.riverchew.co.uk/history.htm. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
- ↑ Ekwall, Eilert (1928). English River-Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869119-X.
- ↑ "What we know about the Chew Family". http://www.ancestry.com/search/SurnamePage.aspx?html=b&ln=Chew&sourcecode=13304. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
- ↑ Robinson, Stephen (1992). Somerset Place Names. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press Ltd. ISBN 1-874336-03-2.
- ↑ Haslett, Simon K. (2010). Somerset Landscapes: Geology and landforms. Usk: Blackbarn Books. pp. 116–118. ISBN 9781456416317.
- ↑ Havinden, Michael. The Somerset Landscape. The making of the English landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 71. ISBN 0-340-20116-9.
- ↑ "River Chew". Keynsham Angling Club. http://www.keynsham-angling.co.uk/chew.htm. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
- ↑ "River Chew from Chew Stoke to Keynsham, Chew Stoke Stream and Winford Brook". Environment Agency. http://apps.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood/34681.aspx?area=112WAFTRCC. Retrieved 5 June 2014.