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For other Rivers named Ouse, see
Ouse
| River Great Ouse |
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The River Great Ouse after Brownshill Staunch, near Over |
| Origin |
near Syresham in Northamptonshire |
| Mouth |
King's Lynn |
| Basin countries |
England |
| Length |
240 km (150 miles) |
| Source elevation |
115 m (380 feet) |
The River Great Ouse (pronounced /uːz/) is a river in the east of England. It is 150 miles (240 km) long which makes it the major navigation in East Anglia, and the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The name Ouse is from the Celtic or pre-Celtic *Udso-s,[1] and probably means simply "water".[2] The lower reaches of the Great Ouse are also known as "Old West River" and "the Ely Ouse", but all the river is often referred to simply as the Ouse in informal usage (the word "Great", which originally meant simply big, or in the case of a river long, is used to distinguish this river from several others called the Ouse).
The river has several sources close to the villages of Syresham and Sulgrave in Northamptonshire. It flows through Brackley, Buckingham, Milton Keynes at Stony Stratford, Newport Pagnell, Olney, Kempston, Bedford, St Neots, Godmanchester, Huntingdon, Hemingford Grey, St Ives, the cathedral city of Ely, Littleport, Downham Market and enters The Wash at King's Lynn.
The river is navigable from the Wash to Kempston Mill, which is just beyond Bedford, a distance of 116 kilometres (72 mi). This section includes 17 locks, which are maintained by the Environment Agency, who are the navigation authority[3] and who attempt to attract more boaters to the river.
The Ouse Washes are an internationally important area for wildlife. They consist of washland, which is used as pasture during the summer but which floods in the winter, and are the largest area of such land in the United Kingdom. They act as breeding grounds for lapwings, redshanks and snipe in spring, and are home to varieties of ducks and swans during the winter months.[4]
[edit] Tributaries
The Great Ouse at King's Lynn
The Great Ouse at St Neots
Tributaries of the River Great Ouse: (upstream [source] to downstream by confluence)
[edit] Rowing
In 1944 the annual boat race between the Oxford and Cambridge universities took place on this river, between Littleport and Queen Adelaide, the only time that it has not been held on the Thames; it was won by Oxford.[5] The Great Ouse is used by three clubs from Cambridge University for the training of rowers, with the Boat Club (CUBC), [6] the Women's Boat Club (CUWBC) [7] and the Lightweight Rowing Club (CULRC), all using facilities at Ely. Rowing is popular in several of the towns on the Ouse, especially Bedford, which is one of the most active rowing centres in the UK.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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River Great Ouse, England |
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Coordinates: 52°19′36″N 0°00′02″E / 52.32653°N 0.00069°E / 52.32653; 0.00069
Media related to Great Ouse at Wikimedia Commons
