The River Brain is a tributary of the River Blackwater in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

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 has been claimed it lent its name to the town of Braintree, although it seems that the name ‘Braintree’ is older, and that the river name is a back formation from the town name; Braintree lies on a low ridge between the Brain and the River Blackwater. To the north of Braintree it is known as Pods Brook. The brook rises near the village of Bardfield Saling. Below Braintree the Brain joins the Blackwater in Whet Mead in Witham. In 2001, a "flood park" was planned to reduce the risk of overflow from the river.

References and external links

* Map and aerial photo sources for

grid reference A projected coordinate systemalso called a projected coordinate reference system, planar coordinate system, or grid reference systemis a type of spatial reference system that represents locations on Earth using Cartesian coordinate system, Car ...

: ** — the source of the Pods Brook ** — confluence with the Blackwater Brain, Essex {{England-river-stub