| Colne | |
|---|---|
 The River Colne in Colchester, looking south | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| Region | Essex |
| City | Colchester |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | nearCornish Hall End |
| • coordinates | 52°00′52″N0°26′19″E / 52.0144°N 0.4387°E /52.0144; 0.4387 |
| • elevation | 104 m (341 ft) |
| Mouth | North Sea |
• location | Brightlingsea |
• coordinates | 51°48′03″N1°00′37″E / 51.8007°N 1.0102°E /51.8007; 1.0102 |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 62 km (39 mi) |
TheRiver Colne (/koʊn/or/koʊln/) is a small river that runs throughEssex,England and passes throughColchester. It is not atributary of any other river, instead having anestuary that joins the sea nearBrightlingsea. The river's name is of Celtic origin, combining the word for rock "cal" with a remnant of the word "afon", or river, giving the meaning "stony river". However, another authority states that the river's name was originallyColonia Fluvius, the "waterway of theColonia":[1] a reference to Colchester's status in Roman times. There aretwo other rivers in the UK that share the same name.
Two of the Colne's tributaries start near the villages ofStambourne Green andBirdbrook in Essex, before converging inGreat Yeldham. A longer tributary, however, starts to the north-west ofCornish Hall End, flowing into the other sources just south of Great Yeldham. The river then flows south-east throughSible Hedingham,Halstead,Earls Colne,Colne Engaine,White Colne,Chappel andFord Street before reaching Colchester.
Between Great Yeldham andWakes Colne, the river follows the route of the formerColne Valley and Halstead Railway which ran fromHaverhill before closing to passenger traffic in 1961. A mile of the route around Castle Hedingham is preserved as theColne Valley Railway.
The Colne Valley has aflood plain approximately 300 metres in width by the time it enters Colchester. This area is used aspasture because the river at this stage has no safeguards against it rising the two feet it needs to burst its banks, although it is split between two pasture areas in Spring Lane, OldLexden. Somewhat to the south ofColchester North railway station, the river passes under a bridge and into a concrete-lined area that was used as an open-air bathing facility until the 1970s, and is now used bycanoeists.
It then meanders under a road bridge at the bottom of North Hill, and tumbles down aweir used for discharge control at Middlemill, the site of a now-demolished mill. It forms the border of Colchester'sCastle Park and the cricket ground, and footbridges cross it to provide access from the town centre to residential areas on the north side of the flood plain, which occasionally floods should the river rise too much. The river encircles one side of a small lake, and then turns south-east, and then south, before falling over a large weir and becoming tidal.
Beyond this point, the river shows significant mud banks at low tide, and flows through the Hythe, past theUniversity of Essex campus, and then through the village ofRowhedge, where it is attributed to by theRoman River. It continues past the town ofWivenhoe and the Colne Barrier[2] and down toBrightlingsea. Downstream from the barrier, the Colne is marked by navigation buoys.
The banks of the Colne frequently incorporatepillboxes dating from theSecond World War, particularly close to navigable crossings.
From Castle Park to Wivenhoe Railway Station,National Cycle Network Route 51 roughly follows the course of the Colne. This is a mixture of tarmac-surfaced shared-use paths, a short tarmac/gravel-surfaced area and, once out of the urban area of Colchester, a hard dirt path on the northlevee of the river that passes the Hythe and the university all the way to Wivenhoe.
The Hythe area of Colchester, through which the Colne flows, was, from Roman times, a small port that supplied the town. However, the river is no longer deep enough to support ships large enough to make this viable, and water trade is now non-existent. Victorian-era plans to dredge the river once more ultimately failed.
The River Colne has been polluted by sewage works after changes in regulations, along with many other waterways in the United Kingdom. This has caused moderate uproar in the surrounding communities, who like to swim in the river, and they are also concerned about the impact on wildlife.[3]
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