The River Rase is a 16 mile (25 km) long tributary of the

River Ancholme The River Ancholme is a river in Lincolnshire, England, and a tributary of the River Humber, Humber. It rises at Ancholme Head, a spring just north of the village of Ingham, Lincolnshire, Ingham and immediately west of the Roman Road, Ermine S ...

that flows through

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, in the east of England.

Course

The source of the river is a series of springs known as Churn Water Heads, that occur on Bully Hill north of

Tealby Tealby is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds and north-east of Market Rasen. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 593. Communi ...

in the

Lincolnshire Wolds The Lincolnshire Wolds which also includes the Lincolnshire Wolds National Landscape are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which runs roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary just west of the t ...

. These springs occur where the permeable chalk geology of the Wolds meets the impermeable mudstone and clays that underlie most of the Rase catchment. The river flows in a south-westerly direction through the village of Tealby, where it is crossed by the Viking Way, a

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-co ...

that crosses the Wolds. To the west the Rase reaches the market town of

Market Rasen Market Rasen ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The River Rase runs through it east to west, approximately north-east from Lincoln, England, Lincoln, eas ...

, from which the river takes its name, and where it meets a tributary that flows through the local

racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

. The river continues through the villages of Middle Rasen and then West Rasen, where it is spanned by a

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low Parapet#Bridg ...

. At the hamlet of Bishopbridge the river changes character, becoming an artificial drainage channel that runs in parallel with the Ancholme. As it flows further north the river also loses its identity becoming the East Drain, when it is joined by the Kingerby Beck. The waters of the Rase and the Ancholme eventually join together near Harlam Hill, to the south of Snitterby Carr.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rase, River Rivers of Lincolnshire 2Rase