Great Eau

{{Short description|River in Lincolnshire, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

File:Calceby.jpg

File:Great Eau from Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1003352.jpg

File:The tidal reach of the Great Eau from the bridge.jpg

The Great Eau is a river in Lincolnshire, England, rising from the Chalk Streams of the Lincolnshire Wolds and running to Saltfleet Haven on the coast. It is joined by its companion stream, the Long Eau.{{cite web|title=Steeping, Great Eau and Long Eau CAMS area overview|url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Business/Steeping_CAMS_Consult_Doc_part1.pdf|work=The Steeping, Great Eau and Long Eau Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy|publisher=Environment Agency|accessdate=18 May 2013|pages=3|date=January 2007|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905201417/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Business/Steeping_CAMS_Consult_Doc_part1.pdf|archivedate=5 September 2012}} (map)

The placename element Eau for a river is common in Lincolnshire and comes not from the French, but from Old English Ea – a river, related to modern Germanic Aa.{{cite book|last=Partridge|first=Eric|title=Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English|publisher=Routledge|pages=129|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xA9dxrhfa5kC&pg=PA129|accessdate=18 May 2013|date=5 Sep 1977|isbn=9780415050777}}