The Morcott Brook, also known locally as "The Foss", is a small watercourse in

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is a tributary of the

River Chater The River Chater is a river in the East Midlands of England. It is a tributary of the River Welland, and is about long. Course It rises near Whatborough Hill in Leicestershire, and then flows east, past Sauvey Castle and Launde Abbey, be ...

and part of the

River Welland The River Welland is a lowland river in the east of England, some long. It drains part of the Midlands eastwards to The Wash. The river Source (river), rises in the Hothorpe Hills, at Sibbertoft in Northamptonshire, then flows generally nort ...

catchment.

Course

The Morcott Brook rises near

Ridlington Ridlington is a village and civil parish in Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the village was 202 at the time of the 2001 census, including Ayston, Leighfield and Wardley also increasing to 260 at the 2011 census. The ...

and flows in an easterly direction through a narrow valley past Ayston and between Glaston and

Wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

where it picks up a small amount of flow from an unnamed tributary rising near Preston. It continues eastwards, passing to the north of

Morcott Morcott is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population at the 2001 census was 329 falling slightly to 321 at the 2011 census. It is located about south-east of the county town of Oakham ...

where it turns sharply towards the north-east and passes through the centre of

South Luffenham South Luffenham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the civil parish was 470 in 2021 increasing from 455 at the 2011 census. The village lies largely on the north side of the A6121 road fro ...

. Upon leaving the village, it soon passes under the Birmingham to Peterborough Railway Line and joins the

near the former

Luffenham railway station Luffenham railway station is a former station of the Syston and Peterborough Railway serving the villages of North and South Luffenham, Rutland. History The contract for the erection of the station was obtained by Groocock and Yates of Leices ...

Status

In 2016, the overall classification of the Morcott Brook was 'Bad' under the

Water Framework Directive The Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) is an EU directive to establish a framework for the protection of all water bodies (including marine waters up to one nautical mile from shore) by 2015. The WFD establishes a programme and timeta ...

for reasons of physical modification and artificial barriers and their negative effect on fish, poor nutrient and livestock management in the surrounding agricultural land and continuous discharge of treated sewage effluent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morcott Brook Morcott Brook