Letcombe Brook
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Letcombe Brook is a stream in the
Vale of White Horse The Vale of White Horse is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It Historic counties of England, was historically part of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Hors ...
in
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
, England. It rises at the foot of the Berkshire Downs in Letcombe Bassett and flows through Letcombe Regis,
Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire, it has been a ...
, Grove and East Hanney to join Childrey Brook, which is a tributary of the River Ock, which is a tributary of the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
. Letcombe Brook is a
chalk stream Chalk streams are rivers that rise from springs in landscapes with chalk bedrock. Since chalk is permeable, water easily percolates through the ground to the water table and chalk streams therefore receive little surface runoff. As a result, th ...
, which is globally rare. Development, agriculture and water demand have degraded its habitats, but its water is now cleaner than for many years, and it supports a rich diversity of wildlife, including water voles, bullheads and brook lampreys, which are protected species.Letcombe Valley Nature Reserve, Wildlife Extra
/ref> The Letcombe Brook Charitable Trust was established as a memorial to the poet Sir John Betjeman, who lived in the area for many years. In 1972, the year he was appointed Poet Laureate, he wrote the poem "On Leaving Wantage", which begins "I like the ways these old brick garden walls run unevenly down to Letcombe Brook". The brook runs through the Letcombe Valley a nature reserve near Letcombe Regis which was opened in 2010. The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust has been given a 50-year lease and a grant of £230,000 to manage the site as a nature reserve by a local developer.Wildlife Extra, New chalk stream nature reserve opens in Oxfordshire
/ref>


References

Rivers of Oxfordshire {{England-river-stub