The River Ivel () 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 . 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

The total length of the river is . Its source is at Ivel Springs near Baldock at an elevation of . 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 . 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 River Ivel rises in the East Anglian Chalk; it passes through the area to join the Great Ouse. Other watercourses (Running Waters, Chicksands Brook and Millbridge-Common Brooks) rise from the Woburn Sands aquifer. The River Ivel headwaters are predominant in the North Hertfordshire towns of Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock. Other towns are Ampthill, Biggleswade and Sandy. There are eight notable tributaries of the River Ivel including:

Pix Brook - it joins the Ivel at its confluence near Arlesey. River Hiz - joins the Ivel near Henlow. Potton Brook Cat Ditch - joins the Ivel near Astwick- a notable tributary. Ickwell Brook - it joins the River Ivel near Sandy. Henlow Brook - it joins the River Ivel near Langford. River Flit River Hit Geology

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. 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 . In addition to the Ivel valley, Glacio-fluvial deposits are present. Less extensive deposits, in places interbedded with organic muds, occur beside the River Ivel, north of Baldock. Extensive spreads of gravel extend along the Ivel valley. In the New Town church pits, geological data by Edmonds and Dinham in 1965, listed in the table below, recorded:

+Geological data by Edmonds and Dinham (1965)Coarse GravelGrey GravelSandy Ocherous GravelFlintQuartziteChalk45%5%50%

North of Biggleswade, of sand and gravel rests on the Woburn Sands. In a quarry south of Sandy, excavated deposits of the First Terrace revealed the deposition occurring as bars and sheets in a braided river regime. Fossilferous silt within the gravel indicate the deposition accumulated under slow moving or still water in an abandoned meander channels. In Bedfordshire, Lower Cretaceous sandstones are present, the sandstone produces an escarpment which is the Greensand Ridge. It is clear that this feature is around Sandy, where the River Ivel cuts through it.

Ecology Nature reserves located on the River Ivel are Ivel Springs, which is the river’s source and has areas of wildlife which includes woodland, wetland and pasture. Species in the River Ivel catchment, with populations of water vole and otter, are present. Fish, such as barbel, 1,412 of them went into the river at Biggleswade Mill and Blunham weir.

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.

Hydrology

The River Ivel at Biggleswade has a normal depth range from . In 11 February 2009, it reached a depth of . In Blunham, the normal depth range is . Its greatest depth was in 3 January 2003, at a depth of . The station at Blunham is a crump-weir at a width of . The Environment Agency splits the River Ivel in two: Ivel (US Henlow) and Ivel (DS Langford to Roxton). Ivel (US Henlow) has a length of and a catchment area of . While, Ivel (DS Langford to Roxton) has a length of 19.665 km and a catchment area of 43.656 km2.

A study published in the mid-1990s described the River Ivel per km fall as less than 1 metre, compared to Pix Brook's noted 'relatively steep' gradient fall of 2.8 metres per km. The River Ivel is a chalk stream, it receives baseflow from underlying chalk aquifers. The river has been heavily modified, with the wetland and the springs in particular. The large part of the site was covered with commercial watercress beds, exceeding the surrounding area.

Water quality 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.

The water quality of the River Ivel system was as follows in 2019. +River Ivel water qualityWater body nameWater body typeEcological statusChemical Biological quality elements Hydromorphological designation LengthCatchment areaIvel (US Henlow)River Heavily modified Ivel (DS Langford to Roxton)River Heavily modified

History The Gifle were inhabitants of the River Ivel, where its name remains in the villages of Northill and Southill on the 1086 Domesday Book,(Nortgiuele, Sudgiuele).

In 2001 a gold coin bearing the name Coenwulf was found at Biggleswade on a footpath beside the River Ivel. The 4.33 g (0.15 oz) mancus, worth about 30 silver pennies, is only the eighth known gold coin dating to the mid to late Anglo-Saxon period. Its inscription, "DE VICO LVNDONIAE", shows it was minted in London.EMC Number 2004.167, Early Medieval Corpus, Fitzwilliam Museum. Initially it was sold to American collector Allan Davisson for £230,000 at auction but the British Government subsequently put in place a temporary export ban in the hope of saving it for the nation. The British Museum bought the coin in February 2006 for £357,832, with the help of funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the British Museum Friends. At the time it was the most expensive British coin purchased.

The River Ivel, which commences in the River Ouse, or Ouze, at Tempsford, in the county of Bedford, and about in a southerly direction, to the town of Shefford, in the same county, was made navigable under the (30 Geo. 2. c. 62). Locks had been constructed at Tempsford, Blunham, South Mills, and Sandy. In 1758, five locks were built from Tempsford to Biggleswade, at a cost of £6,000. 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.

The canal was abandoned when a dam was built across it at Sandy, having been authorised by the (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.

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

See also Potton Brook List of rivers of England

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Case study of the River Ivel Walk nr Biggleswade Restoring the Upper Ivel, a short (11 min) documentary film provided by the RevIvel Association.