Essex Rivers Hub

The roman River flows through predominantly rural, arable land at source, although a small area of woodland is present upstream. This section meets the Essex Way south of Great Tey at the downstream end.

The area (land use)

The dominant land use for this stretch of river is arable.

No livestock were recorded.

Channel characteristics

The river channel consists of mainly gravel, and riffles are present.

At the time of recording the flow of water was slow and the channel was <1m / 1-2m wide and 0.5-1m in depth.

For most of this stretch the channel profile is steep.

Bankside trees were frequent, marginal plants and in-channel plants are frequent. Woody debris was noted to be frequent.

Engineering

The channel has not been straightened and man-made enhancements are present along this stretch of river.

Field drains were recorded as present and barriers / culverts are present.

Condition

Areas of trampling / poaching were absent and areas of erosion were absent at the time of the survey.

Additional comments

This section shows evidence of having been reinforced in places, but debris from old structures in the channel are now collapsing and causing a barrier to flow in places. Potential issues with overland run off were also recorded along this stretch, as was evidence of previous fires that could be a source of phosphates leaching into the channel.