The River Frome, once also known as the Stroudwater, is a small river in Gloucestershire, England. It is to be distinguished from another River Frome in Gloucestershire, the Bristol Frome, and the nearby River Frome, Herefordshire. The river is approximately long.
It flows broadly westwards, from its source high up on the Cotswold escarpment, initially through a narrow, steep-sided valley, which it shares with the Thames and Severn Canal and the Golden Valley line railway. Below Stroud, the main town on the river, it is swelled by flows from several tributaries, and the valley opens out, with the channel splitting into two before reuniting into a single channel. The river, as well as its tributaries, has been used for milling since the time of the Domesday Book. Some early mills were used for milling corn but subsequently the river was important for the woollen industry, until that experienced a series of depressions in the early 19th century. The area then became known for the production of walking sticks and umbrella sticks, an industry that lasted into the mid-20th century. Steam engines were installed from the 1810s onwards, but were often used to assist when water power was insufficient, rather than to replace water power. Despite the demise of milling, many mill buildings survive along the course of the river, a significant number of which are listed buildings, in recognition of their architecture.
The river has undergone modification over the years, not least to power the mills. There was an early attempt to make it navigable as far as Stroud, using cranes to move containers from boats at one level to those at another level, at places where a mill dam prevented through navigation. The scheme was abandoned before it was completed, due to the cost of construction and the time taken to tranship the containers. Communication was later provided by the Stroudwater Navigation, a separate canal which followed the route of the river from the River Severn to Wallbridge and opened in 1779. This was later extended through to the River Thames by the construction of the Thames and Severn Canal, which opened in 1789. Both are now part of the Cotswold Canals Trust, and are being restored. A small part of both canals near their junction is classified as a main river, because three of the tributaries of the Frome were diverted into them in the 1950s as part of a flood prevention scheme.
Despite the number of historical weirs and modern flood defence structures, the river is not classified as heavily modified, although the modification of its channel, together with the volume of water abstracted to supply the canals and for the drinking water industry, means that its water quality is only rated moderate under the terms of the Water Framework Directive, as both factors affect the ability of fish to move freely along the river.
Course The River Frome flows from high up on the Cotswold escarpment in the north east of its catchment, initially heading southwards, and then turning to the west. Just upstream of its junction with the Holy Brook or Holly Brook, at Whitehall Bridge it becomes a main river, as classified by the Environment Agency. It inhabits a steep-sided narrow valley, which it shares in the upper reaches with the Thames and Severn Canal and the Golden Valley line railway. It flows to the north to reach Stroud and then to the west again to Ebley Mill, where there is a gauging station to measure its flow. Below Stroud, it shares its course with the Stroudwater Navigation, which with the Thames and Severn is now part of the Cotswold Canals, which are undergoing restoration. The final section flows to the north-west, although much of its flow is then diverted into the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal to provide a drinking water supply for Bristol. For most of its length, the underlying bedrock is oolitic limestone and liassic sandstone. Below Ebley, the river valley widens into a floodplain, and the channel splits into two, which reunite at Churchend. Large parts of this final section are embanked, to protect low lying land from flooding.
Upper reaches The Frome rises from several springs at Nettleton (about a mile southeast of Birdlip)Source – Nettleton springs and in springs at Climperwell Farm (southwest of Brimpsfield). The two branches meet just south of Caudle Green and Syde in Miserden Park,Ordnance Survey, 1:2500 map a grade II* listed house with park and garden, which was begun by Sir William Sandys in 1620, and remodelled in the 20th century by Edwin Lutyens after fire damage in 1919. The Frome continues to meander its way south passing the site of Edgeworth Mill and forming the western boundary of Pinbury Park, a wooded area containing early 20th-century terraced gardens and a country house dating from the 16th century. It continues to flow to the south and west past disused mills at Henwood and Dorvel to reach Daneway and Sapperton, where the derelict Thames and Severn Canal emerges from Sapperton tunnel. The canal is initially on the north bank of the river, and runs parallel to the river for most of the rest of its course. Holy Brook, which flows southwards, passes under the canal to join the river. As it enters Golden Valley to the north of Frampton Mansell, it is joined by the Golden Valley line, a railway which runs from to and emerges from the Sapperton railway tunnel nearby.
Near Puck Mill Upper Lock, the canal crosses to the south side of the river, and there is a large reservoir, built to supply water to the Thames and Severn Canal. The reservoir is some long and could hold . In order to ensure it could be filled, the canal company bought Puck's Mill, which was located upstream from its intake. The mill house dates from the 17th century, with a 1960s extension. The river continues westwards to Chalford industrial estate, where it is crossed by the A419 Cowcombe Hill bridge and the canal. It is spanned by the New Mill at Bliss Mill, built by William Dangerfield in 1870, and consisting of three storeys with 18 bays. A small bridge with a single arch carries the Bisley to Minchinhampton road over the river. It was built around 1800 when the road was diverted. Below the bridge is the mill pond for Belvedere Mill, an early 19th-century cloth mill now reused as offices. Brookside is a detached three-storey house dating from the late 17th century, with two-storey additions made in 1730, which was part of Iles's Mill.
Both the river and canal are crossed by the railway, which moves to the north side of the valley. To the west is St Mary's Mill, build in 1820 for Samuel Clutterbuck. Nearby is St Mary's House, built for the mill owner in the late 16th century, and several weavers' cottages, some dating from the late 16th century and some from the late 17th century. A second mill building lies just to the north of St Mary's Mill. It dates from the early 18th century, and has a mid-19th-century chimney. After passing Wimberley Mills, a railway viaduct carries the railway back to the south side of the valley, passing between the buildings of Bourne Mills, on the southern edge of Brimscombe. The main mill building is to the north of the railway track, and consists of a four-storey block with a three-storey block forming an L-shaped plan. Most of it dates from the early 19th century, but one corner was cut off and rebuilt to allow for the construction of the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway in 1844, and the east wall appears to have been rebuilt at the same time. Nearby is another small mill building with three storeys, also dating from the early 19th century, which was probably once a gig mill, while to the south of the railway viaduct is a former wool stove, where scoured and dyed wool was heated to dry it out. Prior to cloth manufacture, there were two fulling mills there in 1690, and part of the site was used as a corn mill in 1820. By 1860, it was making mattress-wool, mill-puff and shoddy, which had been superseded by cabinet making by 1901. After making walking sticks in the mid-20th century, the site is now used for light industry, and the wool stove is used as a store.
To the western end of Brimscombe Port, where goods were transferred between trows from the River Severn and Thames barges from the Thames, was Port Mill. This was probably the site of Field's Mill, which was operational in the 17th century, but had been rebuilt as Port Mill by 1744. Brimscombe Port was constructed around 1785, and had to take account of the mill, with the canal crossing the river to the west of the mill. The mill consists of a central water tower with three ranges attached to it, and was used for cloth production until the early 20th century. In 1948 it became Benson's Tool Works, and has since been converted into offices. After Brimscombe Port, the river turns northwest towards Stroud. The large mill pond that formerly powered Brimscombe Mill is still fed by the river, but that for Hope Mill has been filled in. A trading estate occupies the site of the Phoenix Iron Works, after which is Ham Mill. This consists of a four-storey block dating from the early 19th century, with a three-storey west wing. The pit for the water wheel is thought to be intact within the wing. Nearby are two small bridges dating from the early or mid 18th century, which now stand in a private garden. The river continues through the Griffin Mill estate to reach Stafford Mills.
Below Stroud
At Bowbridge a 19th-century dye works, now used as a warehouse by Orchard and Peers is all that remains of Bowbridge Mill. The millpond for Arundell Mill still exists, and the associated 17th century dye works has become a carpenter's shop and a cottage. The canal crosses to the north side of the river, and a viaduct carries the railway over the river and Dr Newton's Way, a bypass built over the course of the canal, which now has its own bypass around the road. Beyond the viaduct is Stroud railway station. The narrow strip of land bordering the river to the south of the bypass is managed as Frome Banks nature reserve. It is owned by the county council, but day-to-day management is the responsibility of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and Stroud Valleys Project. The river loops in a semi-circle around the site of Wallbridge Mills, where the two-storey Wallbridge Mill Printing Department still stands, the building dating from the 18th century. The A46 Bath Road crosses before the river reaches Lodgemoor Mills, rebuilt in 1871–1873 to the designs of James Ferrabee, an architect from Brimscombe, after a fire destroyed the previous mill, dating from 1815. Nearby offices, cottages and a bridge form a group of listed buildings, which are complemented by Fromehall Mills, immediately downstream. The main building dates from the early 19th century, but some of the other buildings date from the 17th and 18th centuries.