The River Leadon () is a river in

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

and

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England, a tributary of the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

. It rises just south of the village of Acton Beauchamp, and flows south past

Bosbury Bosbury is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, approximately north of Ledbury. The small River Leadon flows through the parish, passing along the west side of the village.Ordnance Survey mapping Bosbury shares a parish co ...

to the town of

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of Tudor style timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane a ...

, which takes its name from the river.Mills, A.R. and Room, A. ''A Dictionary of British Place-Names'' Oxford University Press It then flows south and east past Dymock, Upleadon and Highleadon to join the Severn at Over, just west of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. The river is approximately long. The name is of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

origin, and means "broad stream". In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the Leadon flowed in two branches for the last two miles. The main stream, known as the New Leadon, flowed south of Over to join the river south of

Over Bridge Over Bridge, also known as Telford's Bridge, is a single span (architecture), span stone arch bridge spanning the canalised West Channel of the River Severn near Gloucester, England. It links Over, Tewkesbury, Over to Alney Island. Although the ...

. The river was prone to flooding, and to alleviate the problem the river was diverted in 1867 to flow along the branch previously known as the Old Leadon, and now the only course of the river, flowing into the Severn north of Over.Victoria County History of Gloucestershire: Churcham
/ref> The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal was built through the valley of the Leadon in 1795, and converted into the Ledbury and Gloucester Railway in the 1880s.

References

External links

Rivers of Gloucestershire Rivers of Herefordshire Tributaries of the River Severn 1Leadon {{England-river-stub