| Pipp Brook | |
|---|---|
 Pipp Brook Mill Pond, Dorking | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| County | Surrey |
| District | Mole Valley |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Mag's Well |
| • location | Leith Hill,Surrey |
| • coordinates | 51°11′51″N0°21′46″W / 51.1975°N 0.3628°W /51.1975; -0.3628 |
| • elevation | 219 m (719 ft) |
| Mouth | River Mole |
• location | Pixham |
• coordinates | 51°14′39″N0°19′08″W / 51.2443°N 0.3189°W /51.2443; -0.3189 |
• elevation | 43 m (141 ft) |
| Length | 9.5 km (5.9 mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • right | Milton Brook |
ThePipp Brook is a left-bank tributary of theRiver Mole,Surrey, England. It rises at two main springs north ofLeith Hill on theGreensand Ridge, then descends steeply in a northward direction, before flowing eastwards along theVale of Holmesdale. It runs to the north ofDorking High Street, before discharging into the Mole atPixham.
The Milton Brook, which rises at a tri-forked source lower than that of the Pipp Brook, is the principal tributary.
The geological varying depth of greensand top layers caused by erosion towards the underlying clay means that there is no uniformspring line in this part of theGreensand Ridge. The tower is the second highest point in the South-East of England.[2] The Pipp Brook's main tributary, the Milton Brook rises at three close points in farmland on the indented north-east edge of the forest.
During the early nineteenth century the sulphate-rich (chalybeate) waters of the Mag's Well spring were attributed by a countryside travel writer as having aided a person's recovery.[3]
Both the Pipp Brook and the largerRiver Tillingbourne drain the northern slopes of Leith Hill and the watershed between the two rivers (which runs roughly north–south, marks the boundary betweenWestcott (which the brook drains entirely) and much larger Wotton.[4][5][note 1]
The Pipp Brook runs almost due east along itsDorking stretch north of much of the town and south of the steep scarp of theNorth Downs atRanmore Common before joining the Mole atPixham.[note 2] The area around the confluence is the subject of occasional riparian (river) flooding as the rate of descent of the Mole decreases significantly and at the Mole Gap becomes or became subterranean, depending on amount of sedimentation.[6]
The Pipp Brook itself has no sewage treatment works, few plains which it drains and as such an extremely narrow and low risk area of riparian flooding.[6] These factors are instead present as to a few parcels of land of east Pixham sometimes considered Dorking by the national media based on a 2010s shorthand by the Environment Agency which has a 'Dorking Flood Area' comprising the sewage works, a handful of properties in Pixham and much of Brockham and Betchworth well upstream along the Mole to the east which are separated by more than a mile from Dorking and are narrowly in its post town.[6][7]
By the 19th century six grain mills stood on the river: Rookery, Westcott, Milton Court, Parsonage, Pippbrook and Pixham Mills.[8] All were defunct by the mid-20th century when bread production was widely commercialised and the product nationally was transformed to slow its staleness. Pippbrook Mill and Pixham Mill survive and are Grade IIlisted buildings.[9][10]
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 ofinvertebrates,angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.[11]
Water quality of the Pipp Brook in 2019:
| Section | Ecological Status | Chemical Status | Overall Status | Length | Catchment | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pipp Brook[12] | Poor | Fail | Poor | 12.164 km (7.558 mi) | 20.965 km2 (8.095 sq mi) | Heavily modified |
Text was copied from this source, which is available under anOpen Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
