River Ock

The River Ock as it enters the Thames at Abingdon

The Ock at Charney Bassett

The River Ock is a river in north-western Berkshire and though it is small, it and its tributaries have carved over the ages the great, broad Vale of White Horse. The Ock is a tributary of the River Thames.

The river's catchment area is the Vale of White Horse, a low-lying and wide valley within the chalk hills of North Berkshire.

The name "Ock" appears to be derived from a Celtic word for 'salmon'.

Course

The River Ock rises near the village of Little Coxwell. It collects tributaries from each village along the base of the White Horse Hills, where springs emanating from the chalk hills allowed settlements to flourish in former times.

From Little Coxwell, the Ock runs around Longcot and flows past Stanford in the Vale, where it is about 10 feet wide. The name of Stanford comes from Stony Ford, possibly alluding to the crossing of the Ock at Stanford Mill. Below Stanford, the river flows past Charney Bassett, Lyford, Garford and Marcham Mill, before entering Abingdon. It divides Abingdon from Caldecott, and discharges its collected waters in the Thames at Abingdon.

An iron bridge crosses at the junction which was built by the Wilts & Berks Canal Company. This gives the erroneous impression that the Ock is that canal, but in fact the original canal entrance a few yards downstream is now blocked up. This has been replaced under a restoration project by a newer entrance closer to Culham Lock.

Geography and geology

The soils through which the River Ock flows are the Jurassic sedimentary series (Greensands, Gault, Kimmeridge Clay and corallian limestone), while some of its tributaries arise in chalk springs.

Until recent times, native crayfish and many freshwater fish species inhabited the river. Increased housing in the Vale, with the resultant surface drainage, may have threatened these species but surveys have not yet been performed in the 21st Century.

Although normally placid, the Ock can flood low-lying areas of south Abingdon after persistent heavy rainfall; this last occurred in July 2007.