The River Tern (also historically known as the Tearne) 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 ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

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 rises north-east of

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and civil parish on the banks of the River Tern in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is located between the towns of Whitchurch, Shropshire, Wh ...

in the north of the county. The source of the Tern is considered to be the lake in the grounds of

Maer Hall upright=1.35, Maer Hall Maer Hall is a large Grade II listed 17th-century country house in Maer, Staffordshire, set in a park which is listed Grade II in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens The large stone-built country house and ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. From here it flows for about , being fed by the

River Meese The River Meese is a river located in Shropshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Tern, which in turn is a tributary of the River Severn. The river is only known as the Meese below Aqualate Mere, but its source lies considerably high ...

and the River Roden, until it joins 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 ...

near

Attingham Park Attingham Park is an English country house and estate in Shropshire. Located near the village of Atcham, on the B4380 Shrewsbury to Wellington road. It is owned by the National Trust and is a Grade I listed building. Attingham Park was buil ...

Atcham Atcham is a village, ecclesiastical parish and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies on the B4380 (once the A5 road (Great Britain), A5), 5 miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The River Severn flows round the villag ...

. Extensive

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muske ...

formerly existed,Reported in 1838 by John Selby Prideaux and

Sir William Jardine Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet of Applegarth FRS FRSE FLS FSA (23 February 1800 – 21 November 1874) was a Scottish naturalist. He is known for his editing of a long series of natural history books, ''The Naturalist's Library''. Life and ...

, "An attempt to ascertain the Fauna of Shropshire and North Wales", ''Magazine of Zoology and Botany'', vol. 2 (1838), p. 538. extending from

Crudgington Crudgington is a village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is situated in the civil parish of Waters Upton, a village to the north, and is 7 miles north-west of Telford. Nearby is the confluenc ...

on the Tern as far as

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

Longdon-on-Tern Longdon-upon-Tern (also known as Longdon-on-Tern or colloquially Longdon) is a village in the civil parish of Rodington, in the unitary district of Telford and Wrekin, in Shropshire, England. It is approximately east of Shrewsbury and nor ...

, the Tern is spanned by the

Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct The Longdon-upon-Tern Aqueduct, near Longdon-upon-Tern in Shropshire, was one of the first two canal aqueducts to be built from cast iron. History The cast iron canal aqueduct was re-engineered by Thomas Telford after the first construction ...

, the world's first large-scale

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

navigable aqueduct Navigable aqueducts (sometimes called navigable water bridges) are bridge structures that carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railways or roads. They are primarily distinguished by their size, carrying a larger cross-se ...

(

Benjamin Outram Benjamin Outram (1 April 1764 – 22 May 1805) was an English civil engineer, surveyor and industrialist. He was a pioneer in the building of canals and tramways. Life Born at Alfreton in Derbyshire, he began his career assisting his father ...

's 13 m cast iron Holmes Aqueduct pre-dated it by a month), designed by

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotland, as well ...

to carry the

Shrewsbury Canal The Shrewsbury Canal (or Shrewsbury and Newport Canal) was a canal in Shropshire, England. Authorised in 1793, the main line from Trench to Shrewsbury was fully open by 1797, but it remained isolated from the rest of the canal network until 183 ...

. Although no longer connected to the canal network, The long structure still stands, but is marooned in the middle of a field.

References

External links

Tern Views
- a detailed description with photographs Tributaries of the River Severn Rivers of Shropshire Rivers of Staffordshire {{England-river-stub