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River Ivel

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River Ivel
Footbridge at Radwell
Map
Location
CountryUnited Kingdom.
CountiesHertfordshire and Bedfordshire
SettlementsBaldock, Radwell, Stotfold, Arlesey, Henlow, Langford, Biggleswade, Sandy, Tempsford.
ContinentEurope
Constituent CountryEngland
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationIvel Springs, Baldock.
 • coordinates51°59′35″N 0°11′31″W / 51.99310°N 0.19194°W / 51.99310; -0.19194
 • elevation57 metres (187 ft)[1]
MouthRiver Great Ouse
 • location
Tempsford, Bedfordshire
 • coordinates
52°10′04″N 0°18′14″W / 52.16767°N 0.30384°W / 52.16767; -0.30384
 • elevation
16 metres (52 ft)[2]
Length21 mi (34 km) [3]
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftPix brook and River Hiz
 • rightPotton Brook[4]

The River Ivel (/ˈaɪvəl/) is a chalk stream in England. It rises at Ivel Springs in Baldock, it flows primarily through Bedfordshire before joining the River Great Ouse at its confluence near Tempsford. The river has a length of 21 mi (34 km). The River Ivel catchment is bounded by the Chiltern Hills to the south and the Greensand Ridge to the north. The River Ivel and the River Flit and other tributaries rise from the springs in the Chiltern Chalk.

The Ivel was made navigable under the River Ivel Navigation Act 1757 and it was navigable for supplying coal and timber to the towns of Biggleswade and Shefford. The canal was extended to Shefford in 1823, with locks at Biggleswade, Holme, Stanford and Clifton. The canal was abandoned in 1876, when a dam was built across it at Sandy. The Great Northern Railway caused its gradual decline.

Geography

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The total length of the river is 21 mi (34 km).[3] Its source is at Ivel Springs near Baldock at an elevation of 57 m (187 ft).[1] The River Ivel flows through the settlements of Radwell, Stotfold, Arlesey, Henlow, Langford, Biggleswade, Sandy, and Blunham, before joining the River Great Ouse near Tempsford at an elevation of 16 m (52 ft).[3][2] The River Ivel catchment is bounded by the Chiltern Hills to the south and the Greensand Ridge to the north. The River Ivel and the River Flit, and other tributaries, rise from the springs in the Chiltern chalk.[5] Other watercourses (Running Waters, Chicksands Brook and Millbridge-Common Brooks) rise from the Woburn Sands aquifer.[5] The River Ivel headwaters are predominant in the North Hertfordshire towns of Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock.[5] Other towns are Ampthill, Biggleswade and Sandy.[5]

River Ivel north of Blunham

There are three notable tributaries of the River Ivel including:

Tributaries of the Ivel
Tributary Location of confluence
Pix Brook Joins the Ivel at its confluence near Arlesey.[6]
River Hiz Joins the Ivel northeast of Henlow.[6][7]
Potton Brook[4]


Geology

[edit]
A geological map of the Victorian county of Bedford

The River Ivel is a chalk stream,[a][11] it receives baseflow from underlying chalk aquifers.[9] In the county of Bedfordshire, there are two sources of aggregate: Pleistocene river and glacial gravel and sands. The valley gravels lie in the Ivel valley.[12] For part of its extent, it is concealed by the boulder clay and alluvium of the valley of the Ivel, and it attains an elevation in the vicinity of Sandy, having a prominent escarpment and its maximum thickness of 220 feet (67 m).[13]

Lower Cretaceous sandstones in Bedfordshire produce an intermittent escarpment, and the dissected dip is primarily known locally as the Greensand Ridge. This formation is particularly clear around Sandy, where it is cut by the River Ivel.[14] Less extensive deposits, in places interbedded with organic muds, occur beside the River Ivel, north of Baldock.[15]

Ecology

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Several nature reserves are located along the River Ivel, including Ivel Springs and Stotfold Mill Meadows, which contain habitats such as wetlands and meadows.[16][17] Local conservation groups, such as RevIvel, records water levels, groundwater abstraction, and pollution. RevIvel is a member of the Chalk Aquifer Alliance (CAA).[18]

In the River Ivel catchment, there are water vole and otter populations.[5] At Clophill Lakes and in the River Ivel catchment, an invasive species, Himalayan Balsam, was removed.[19] A study was published in the 1960s describing the River Ivel as an 'unpolluted chalk stream' as a result of the activity of attached plants and mud, the water and the planktonic algal populations were relatively low. The average water velocities rarely exceed 6cm/s in the River Ivel.[11]

Hydrology

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The table below lists the gauging station data of the River Ivel.

Gauging Station data on the River Ivel
Gauging Station Date of greatest depth recorded Greatest depth Depth Range
Biggleswade 11 February, 2009 1.14 m (3 ft 9 in)[20] 0.13–0.48 m (5.1 in – 1 ft 6.9 in)[20]
Blunham 3 January, 2003 1.45 m (4 ft 9 in)[21] 0.18–0.55 m (7.1 in – 1 ft 9.7 in)[21]

Groundwater levels fluctuate seasonally, typically reaching the highest level in spring accumulating rainfall over the autumn and winter periods recharges the aquifer. Groundwater levels typically reach the lowest level in late summer, as during the summer months, when the temperatures are higher, evaporation and uptake of water by plants reduces the amount of accumulating rainfall.[10]

The channelisation of the River Ivel from a multi-channelled stream into a single embanked channel, deepened and narrowed of the flow of water.[22]


Water quality

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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 invertebrates, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.[23]

The water quality of the River Ivel system was as follows in 2019.

River Ivel water quality
Water body name Water body type Ecological status Chemical status Overall status Hydromorphological designation Length Catchment size
Ivel (US Henlow)[24] River Good Fail Moderate Heavily modified 9.669 km (6.008 mi) 32.318 km2 (12.478 sq mi)
Ivel (DS Langford to Roxton)[25] River Moderate Fail Moderate Heavily modified 19.665 km (12.219 mi) 43.565 km2 (16.821 sq mi)

The reasons for the quality being less than good include sewage discharge and physical modification of the channel.

History

[edit]
River Ivel Navigation Act 1757
Act of Parliament
coat of arms
Parliament of Great Britain
Long titleAn Act for making the River Ivel and the Branches there of navigable, from the River Great Ouse at Tempsford in the County of Bedford, to Shotling Mill otherwise called Burnt Mill in the Parish of Hitchin in the County of Hertford, and to Black Horse Mill, in the Parish of Bygrave in the said County of Hertford, and to the South and North Bridges in the Town of Shefford in the said County of Bedford.
Citation30 Geo. 2. c. 62
Territorial extent Great Britain
Dates
Royal assent17 May 1757
Commencement2 December 1756[b]
Other legislation
Relates to
  • Ivel Navigation (Abandonment) Act 1876
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Holme Mill Iron Bridge, a Scheduled monument.[26]

The River Ivel, which commences in the River Ouse, or Ouze, at Tempsford, in the county of Bedford, and about 11 mi (18 km) in a southerly direction, to the town of Shefford, in the same county, was made navigable under the River Ivel Navigation Act 1757 (30 Geo. 2. c. 62).[27] Locks had been constructed at Tempsford, Blunham, South Mills, and Sandy. The river was made navigable for supplying coal and timber to the towns of Biggleswade and Shefford. The canal had been extended to Shefford in 1823, with locks at Biggleswade, Holme, Stanford and Clifton.[3][28] In 1758, five locks were built from Tempsford to Biggleswade, at a cost of £6,000.[29]

Ivel Navigation (Abandonment) Act 1876
Act of Parliament
coat of arms
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleTo provide for the closing of the Ivel Navigation; the Extinction of the Commission; and for other purposes.
Citation39 & 40 Vict. c. cxiv
Dates
Royal assent13 July 1876
Other legislation
Relates to
  • River Ivel Navigation Act 1757
Text of statute as originally enacted

The canal was abandoned when a dam was built across it at Sandy, having been authorised by the Ivel Navigation (Abandonment) Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. cxiv). The introduction of the Great Northern Railway caused its decline. Remnants, such as Holme Lock, remain close to Jordan's Mill.[3]

Stotfold Mill, restored after the 1992 fire.

Stotfold Mill, a Grade-II listed watermill,[30] had one of the widest corn waterwheels in the United Kingdom.[31] It is one of four mills in Stotfold recorded on the 1086 Domesday Book.[31] It is recorded as an early 19th-century structure of gault bricks, with additions and alterations made in the late 19th-century.[32] The earlier parts of the building have weatherboarding on the upper floors.[32] It was destroyed by a fire in 1992 and subsequently rebuilt by the Stotfold Mill Preservation Trust.[31] Other corn mills along the river include Bowman's Mill at Astwick, now a Grade II listed private home,[33][34] Holme Mill at Holme, still working as a museum,[35] and Franklin's Mill at Biggleswade,[36] converted to apartments. A map published in the 1900s included a mill near Norton, a corn mill in Radwell and Blackhorse Farm near Baldock.[37] In the 1880s, a map was published and it included a lock, weir, and a mill near Sandy, which is called Sandy Mill,[38] and notably a bridge named "Girtford Bridge" is a Grade II listed building dated in 1783 with three slightly flattened arches.[39]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Chalk streams are rivers that receive baseflow from the underground chalk aquifer (stores of water in porous rock) and they are often 'gin clear', there are 260 chalk streams globally, 224 of them are in England.[8][9][10]
  2. ↑ Start of session.

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 "Detailed maps & routes to explore across the UK | OS Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 9 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Detailed maps and routes to explore the UK | OS Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Chris Howes (2023). The River Great Ouse and its Tributaries: including the Rivers Cam, Lark, Little Ouse & Wissey, Hundred Foot River, Relief Channel. Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson Ltd. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-78679-568-7. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  4. 1 2 Marshall G. Hall (2024). Medieval Bridges of Middle England. Windgather Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-914427-30-5.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ivel Operational Catchment | Catchment Data Explorer". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  6. 1 2 "North Hertfordshire District Council Strategic Flood Risk Assessment" (PDF). North Herts Council. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  7. ↑ Frederic Seebohm (1896). "The" English Village Community. Longmans. p. 429.
  8. ↑ "Chalk Streams|Engage Environment Agency". Environment Agency. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  9. 1 2 "River Ivel restoration". Affinity Water. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Revitalising the River Ivel Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" (PDF). Affinity Water. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  11. 1 2 Southgate, B. A. (2 October 2013). Advances in Water Pollution Research: Proceedings of the International Conference Held in London, September 1962. Elsevier. ISBN 978-1-4832-8391-3.
  12. ↑ Tony Brown (2009). The Environment and Aggregate-Related Archaeology. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78297-280-8.
  13. ↑ The Victoria History of the county of Bedford. Westminster (A. Constable). 1904. p. 10.
  14. ↑ "The Mapping of Landscapes, Geology and Soils of Bedfordshire & Cambridgeshire". Cranfield University. p. 3. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  15. ↑ "Geology of the country around Hitchin. Memoir for 1:50 000 Geological Sheet 221". webapps.bgs.ac.uk. British Geological Survey. Retrieved 20 June 2026.
  16. ↑ "Ivel Springs". North Hertfordshire Council. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "Stotfold mill nature reserve". Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  18. ↑ "About us". revivel.org. RevIvel. Retrieved 6 April 2026.
  19. ↑ "Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS)". ubocp.org.uk. Upper Bedford & Ouse Catchment Partnership. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  20. 1 2 "River Ivel level at Biggleswade - GOV.UK". check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  21. 1 2 "River Ivel level at Blunham - GOV.UK". check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2026.
  22. ↑ Leary, Jim (13 May 2016). Past Mobilities: Archaeological Approaches to Movement and Mobility. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-317-08344-3.
  23. ↑ "Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  24. ↑ "Ivel (US Henlow) | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  25. ↑ "Ivel (DS Langford to Roxton) | Catchment Data Explorer | Catchment Data Explorer". environment.data.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  26. ↑ "Holme Mill Iron Bridge, Southill - 1005395 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  27. ↑ Clarke, Mike (December 2021). "The Inland Waterways of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament" (PDF). Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 43.
  28. ↑ Priestley, Joseph (1831). Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, Throughout Great Britain: As a Reference to Nichols, Priestley & Walker's New Map of Inland Navigation, Derived from Original and Parliamentary Documents in the Possession of Joseph Priestley, Esq. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green. p. 379.
  29. ↑ Skempton, A. W. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Thomas Telford. ISBN 978-0-7277-2939-2.
  30. ↑ "Stotfold Mill". UK Government.
  31. 1 2 3 "Stotfold Mill". Historic England. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
  32. 1 2 "Stotfold Mill, Stotfold - official list entry". Historic England. 18 February 2026. Retrieved 27 June 2026.
  33. ↑ "Bowman's Mill, Astwick". Mills Archive. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  34. ↑ "Bowman's Water Mill, Astwick - 1393880 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  35. ↑ "Holme Mills, Holme". Mills Archive. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  36. ↑ "Franklin's Mill, Biggleswade". Mills archive. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
  37. ↑ "View map: Ordnance Survey, Bedfordshire XXVII.NE (includes: Baldock; Bygrave; Clothall; Letchworth; Newnham; Radwell; Stotfold.... - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952". maps.nls.uk. National Library of Scotland (Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba). Retrieved 11 July 2026.
  38. ↑ "View map: Ordnance Survey, Bedfordshire XVIII.NW (includes: Biggleswade; Northill; Sandy; Sutton.) - Ordnance Survey Six-inch England and Wales, 1842-1952". maps.nls.uk. National Library of Scotland (Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba). Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  39. ↑ "Girtford Bridge, Sandy - 1114503 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Historic England. Retrieved 12 July 2026.

Bibliography

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