The River Clun runs mostly through

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

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 ...

and joins the River Teme at Leintwardine,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

. The Clun Valley is part of the Shropshire Hills AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty).

Course

The River Clun has its source near the hamlet of

Anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek � ...

(in a marshy area near the public house), close to the border of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It flows east through the small town of

Clun Clun ( cy, Colunwy) is a town in south west Shropshire, England, and the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 2011 census recorded 680 people living in the town.Combined populations for the two output areas covering the t ...

until Aston on Clun where it flows roughly southwards — the river flows around the north of Clunbury Hill. The river enters the lower valley — which widens and has a flatter floor (an extensive

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

). The Folly Brook joins the Clun at Newcastle, and the

River Unk The River Unk is a small river in Shropshire, England that runs for before flowing into the River Clun. Course It rises close to the site of the Bronze Age cross dyke known as the Lower Short Ditch on the Shropshire - Powys border in the nor ...

flows into the Clun near Clun Castle, whilst the

River Kemp The River Kemp is a tributary of the River Clun which flows through Shropshire, England. Course The river is formed from two small unnamed streams that drain the area around Bishops Castle, the stream on the western side of the town rises ...

flows into the river at Oaker near Aston. Near the end of the river's course, the River Redlake joins at Jay. Just south of

Broadward Broadward is a dispersed hamlet in south Shropshire, England, situated by the border with Herefordshire. It is in the civil parish of Clungunford, a village approximately to the north.Ordnance Survey mapping Geography The placename is share ...

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

for a stretch south of Broadward Bridge) the river flows into Herefordshire where it joins the River Teme.

Features

Many settlements along the course of the river incorporate the river's name, including Clun, and the villages of Newcastle-on-Clun,

Clunton Clunton is a village in south Shropshire, England, to the east of the small town of Clun. Location It lies on the B4368 road between Clun and Craven Arms. It is part of the civil parish of Clunbury. The nearest railway station is Hoptonhea ...

Clunbury Clunbury is a village and civil parish in south Shropshire, England. It is near to the small town of Clun and the villages of Clunton, Purslow and Aston on Clun. In the village is the Norman Church of St Swithin and a Church of England primar ...

, Aston on Clun, and Clungunford. In Clun, the historic

Clun Bridge Clun Bridge is a historical bridge in the small town of Clun, Shropshire, England dating from 1450 which crosses over the River Clun. The bridge is still an important bridging point over the River Clun and carries the A488 and B4368 roads ove ...

still takes the

A488 road List of A roads in zone 4 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island ...

over the river. A number of other historic crossings — bridges and fords — exist over the river, including Broadward Bridge.

Ecology

The River Clun is an ideal habitat for otters,

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...

white-clawed crayfish ''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish. Distribution It is found from the east ...

, European bullhead, grayling and brook lamprey. The river is also noted as a habitat for the freshwater pearl mussel. The Clun and one of its tributaries, the Unk, have suffered pollution and sediment build up, undermining the mussel's habitat. The catchment area of the river is mostly rural and produces beef, lamb, potatoes and maize. The Clun is one of only eleven watercourses in England that is home to the mussel and one of three English rivers that has been designated a European Special Area of Conservation.

References

External links

{{authority control

1Clun

Course

Features

Ecology

See also

References

External links