The River Browney is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

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 ...

, and the largest

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...

. The River Browney rises from a spring in Head Plantation, on the eastern slope of Skaylock Hill, about a mile south east of

Waskerley Waskerley is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated six miles to the southwest of Consett and three miles southwest of Castleside and the A68. Stanhope in the Durham Dales is a further six miles to the southwest and the Derwent ...

. The spring rises approximately from a tributary stream to the

, in an area of moorland, forestry and springs, and of disused coal mines, quarries and mineral railway lines, remnants of an industrial past. Running eastwards towards Lanchester, the river skirts to the south of the village. Continuing eastwards past Langley Park and

Witton Gilbert Witton Gilbert is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in County Durham, England. Geography Witton Gilbert is situated about to the north-west of Durham, England, Durham. River Browney passes to the south of the village, while ...

, the river then turns south and skirts the western edge of Durham. The Browney is joined by the River Deerness north of

Langley Moor Langley Moor is an old pit village in County Durham, England. It is located approximately 2 miles south-west of Durham City. Langley Moor is within the civil parish of Brandon and Byshottles which is itself within the City of Durham constituen ...

and finally joins the Wear to the south of Durham, close to Sunderland Bridge. Until the last ice age, the Browney entered the

just north of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

City, in Pelaw Woods. The Browney was contaminated by local industry, particularly lead and coal mining, but has recovered in recent years. The river was stocked with around 3,000

grayling Grayling or Greyling may refer to: Animals Fish * Grayling, generically, any fish of the genus ''Thymallus'' in the family Salmonidae ** European grayling (''Thymallus thymallus''), the type species of the genus ''Thymallus'' ** Arctic grayling ( ...

in September 2006. Legend has it that following his defeat at

Neville's Cross Neville's Cross is a place in the civil parish of the City of Durham, in County Durham, England. It is also a ward of Durham with a population taken at the 2011 census of 9,940. It is situated on the A167 trunk road to the west of the centre o ...

in 1346, King

David II of Scotland David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scotland from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, be ...

was captured having sought shelter under a bridge over the Browney at

Bearpark Bearpark is a village and civil parish in County Durham in England. It is situated two and a half miles west of Durham, and a short distance to the north of Ushaw Moor. The name may be a corruption of the French term ''Beau Repaire'' – ...

, close by where his Scottish soldiers had camped overnight beneath Beaurepaire Priory.

Andrew Breeze Andrew Breeze FRHistS FSA (born 1954), has been professor of philology at the University of Navarra since 1987. Early life Breeze was born in 1954 and educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School, Emmanuel College, Cambridge (where he took a fi ...

has argued that the river name forms the first element of 'Brunanburh', in the

Battle of Brunanburh The Battle of Brunanburh was fought in 937 between Æthelstan, King of Kingdom of England, England, and an alliance of Olaf Guthfrithson, King of Kingdom of Dublin, Dublin; Constantine II of Scotland, Constantine II, King of Scotland; and O ...

. He interprets 'Brunanburh' as 'stronghold of the Browney', referring to the Roman fort of

Longovicium Longovicium (or Lanchester Roman Fort) was an auxiliary fort located on Roman Dere Street, in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior. It is located just southwest of Lanchester () in the English county of Durham, roughly to the west of the ...

References

Browney Browney is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated to the south-west of Durham and adjoins Meadowfield. It is part of the parish of Brandon and Byshottles. The Browney Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1887, to seat 270, and cost £400. B ...

{{England-river-stub

See also

References