The River Chew is a small river in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that flows for some through the

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

countryside to form the

Chew Valley The Chew Valley is an affluent area in North Somerset, England, named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon at Keynsham. Technically, the area of the valley is bounded by the water catchment area of ...

before merging with the River Avon. The spring from which the Chew rises is just upstream from Chewton Mendip. The river flows northwest from Chewton Mendip through Litton, Chew Valley Lake, Chew Stoke, Chew Magna, and Stanton Drew. The river passes under the A37 at

Pensford Pensford is the largest village in the civil parish of Publow in Somerset, England. It lies in the Chew Valley, approximately south of Bristol, west of Bath and north of Wells. It is on the A37 road from Bristol to Shepton Mallet. Pensfor ...

; flows through the villages of Publow, Woollard, Compton Dando, and Chewton Keynsham; and joins the River Avon at Keynsham. The Two Rivers Way runs alongside the Chew for much of its distance, forming part of the

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Su ...

The name "Chew"

The name "Chew" may have Celtic origins, cognate with the River Chwefru, ''cliwyf-ffrenwy'', "the moving, gushing water"; ancient forms are ''Estoca'' ( Chew Stoke), ''Chiu'' ( Chew Magna), and ''Ciwetune'' ( Chewton Mendip). Its exact meaning admits of several possible explanations, including "winding water", the ''ew'' being a variant of the French ''eau'', "water". The word ''chewer'' is western dialect for "narrow passage" and ''chare'' is

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

for "turning." Another theory is that the name derives from the Welsh ''cyw'', "the young of an animal, or chicken", such that ''Afon Cyw'' would have meant "the river of the chickens". Other possible explanations are it comes from the Old English word ''cēo'' ("fish gill"), used in the transferred sense of a ravine, in a similar way to

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''gil'', or possibly a derogatory nickname from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

''chowe'', "chough", Old English ''cēo'', a bird closely related to the

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

and the

jackdaw Jackdaws are two species of bird in the genus ''Coloeus'' closely related to, but generally smaller than, the crows and ravens (''Corvus''). ''Coloeus'' is sometimes treated as a subgenus of ''Corvus'', including by the IUCN.Madge & Burn (1994) ...

, notorious for its chattering and thieving. Still another suggestion is that the river is named after the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

war god Tiw.

Course

The current course of the river was likely established after the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

, before which the river had probably followed the course of the Congresbury Yeo to the Bristol Channel. Ice blocking the Bristol Channel would have diverted the Chew such that it flowed north rather than west through

Compton Martin Compton Martin is a small village and civil parish within the Chew Valley in Somerset and in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority in England. The parish has a population of 508. It lies between Chew Valley Lake and Blagdon Lake, no ...

to join the Avon.

Roman use

"Pigs" (ingots) of lead from the Charterhouse Roman Town on the

Mendips The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...

were brought to the river to be transported to Sea Mills on the Avon for shipment overseas.

Flood of 1968

The Chew Stoke flood of 1968 caused serious damage to towns and villages along its path, sweeping away the bridge at

Fishing

Fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as move ...

s have been installed at three

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s 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. 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 numerous species of fish, including chub, roach,

European perch The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply th ...

, rudd, gudgeon,

dace A dace is a small fish that can be one of many different species. The unmodified name is usually a reference to the common dace (''Leuciscus leuciscus''). This, like most fish called "daces", belongs to the family Cyprinidae, mostly in subfamily ...

, grayling,

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

, and

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

References

External links

For further information, visit the dedicated River Chew website a
www.riverchew.co.uk

Gallery

File:Pensford bridge.JPG, Bridge at

. File:Publow bridge.JPG, Bridge at Publow. File:Bridge at stanton drew.JPG, Bridge at Stanton Drew. {{authority control Bath and North East Somerset

Chew Chewing or mastication is the process by which food is crushed and ground by teeth. It is the first step of digestion, and it increases the surface area of foods to allow a more efficient break down by enzymes. During the mastication process, ...

Mendip Hills 1Chew