River Leadon
The River Leadon is a river mainly in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, which becomes a tributary of the River Severn.
The Leadon rises just south of the village of Acton Beauchamp in a finger of Worcestershire west of the Malvern Hills (52°8’20"N, 2°27’52"W), and flows south at once into Herefordshire, past Bosbury to the little town of Ledbury, which takes its name from the river.[1]
The river then flows south into Gloucestershire and to Dymock, then east and south-east to Upleadon and Highleadon to join the Severn at Over, just west of Gloucester (51°52’40"N, 2°16’3"W).
The river is approximately 32 miles long.[2][3]
The name is of the Old Welsh language and means "broad stream".[1]
In the Middle Ages the Leadon flowed in two branches for the last two miles. The main stream, known as the New Leadon, flowed south of Over to join the river south of Over Bridge. The river was prone to flooding, and to alleviate the problem the river was diverted in 1867 to flow along the branch previously known as the Old Leadon, and now the only course of the river, flowing into the Severn north of Over.[4]
The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal was built through the valley of the Leadon in 1795, converted into the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway in the 1880s.
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mills, A.R. and Room, A. A Dictionary of British Place-Names Oxford University Press
- ↑ "Leadon - conf Preston Bk to conf R Severn". Environment Agency. http://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB109054032511. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ↑ "Leadon - source to conf Preston Bk". Environment Agency. http://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB109054039640. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ↑ Victoria County History of Gloucestershire: Churcham
