The River Nadder is a tributary of the
River Avon, flowing in south
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...
, England.
Course
The river flows north from
Ludwell
Ludwell is a small village in south Wiltshire, England, approximately east of the town of Shaftesbury, Dorset. It lies within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village is on the A30 Salisbu ...
to West End where it is joined by the Ferne Brook, close to the
Lower Coombe and Ferne Brook Meadows
Lower Coombe and Ferne Brook Meadows () is an 11.34 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England which sits on the Upper Greensand and Gault Clay. The site is home to rare fen meadow and neutral grassland communiti ...
site of special scientific interest (
SSSI
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...
). At
Wardour it is joined by the
River Sem
The River Sem is a natural waterway that flows through the ceremonial county of Wiltshire in England. It flows approximately from its source near East Knoyle to join the River Nadder near Wardour, Wiltshire, Wardour.
Course
The source is Summe ...
. The river then flows east through
Tisbury, where it is joined by the
Fonthill Brook, and then onto
Barford St Martin and
Burcombe before reaching
Wilton. Near
Quidhampton, the
Wylye joins from the north. After passing
Harnham, the Nadder joins the Avon near
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buil ...
.
Including its headwaters, the river's length is about .
Water quality
The Environment Agency measures the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s,
angiosperm
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. They include all forbs (flowering plants without a woody stem), grasses and grass-like plants, a vast majority of br ...
s and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.
[ Text was copied from this source, which is available under a]
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright.
Water quality of the River Nadder in 2019:
Image gallery
Image:River Nadder at Teffont Mill.jpg, The Nadder at Teffont Mill
Image:Palladian_bridge_Wilton_House.jpg, Flowing under the Palladian Bridge at Wilton House
Image:River_Nadder_Salisbury_Cathedral.jpg, Salisbury Cathedral seen from the banks of the Nadder
Image:River_Nadder_Harnham_Mill.jpg, The watermill at Harnham is near where the Nadder meets the Avon
Image:Reed beds - River Nadder at Harnham.jpg, Reed beds along the banks of the Nadder at Harnham
References
External links
Discover Nadder-
Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase () is an area of central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. It is part of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The area is dominated by, ...
AONB
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