River Windrush
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Windrush
| name_native =
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| image = Bourton on the Water 5.JPG
| image_size =
| image_caption = The Windrush at Bourton-on-the-Water
| map =
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| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = England
| subdivision_type2 =
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| subdivision_type3 = Counties
| subdivision_name3 = Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire
| subdivision_type4 = Districts / Boroughs
| subdivision_name4 =
| subdivision_type5 = Towns
| subdivision_name5 = Bourton-on-the-Water, Burford, Witney
| length_km = 65
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| discharge1_location= Newbridge
| discharge1_min = {{convert|0.11|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}26 August 1976
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|3.27|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_max = {{convert|21.6|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}6 December 1960
| discharge2_location= Worsham
| discharge2_min =
| discharge2_avg = {{convert|2.40|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge2_max =
| discharge3_location= Bourton-on-the-Water
| discharge3_min =
| discharge3_avg = {{convert|1.20|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge3_max =
| source1 =
| source1_location = Gloucestershire, Cotswold Hills
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|51|58|54.51|N|1|51|59.64|W|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation =
| mouth = River Thames
| mouth_location = Newbridge
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|51|42|36.03|N|1|25|7.19|W|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation =
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The River Windrush is a tributary of the River Thames in central England. It rises near Snowshill in Gloucestershire and flows south east for {{convert|65|km|mi|abbr=on}} via Burford and Witney to meet the Thames at Newbridge in Oxfordshire.
The river gives its name to the village of Windrush in Gloucestershire.
River
The Windrush starts in the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire northeast of Taddington, which is north of Guiting Power, Temple Guiting, Ford and Cutsdean. It flows for about {{Convert|35|mi|km}}: through Bourton-on-the-Water, by the village of Windrush, Gloucestershire, into Oxfordshire and through Burford, Witney, Ducklington and Standlake. It meets the Thames at Newbridge upstream of Northmoor Lock.
The river-name Windrush is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 779, where it appears as Uuenrisc. It appears as Wenris and Wænric in charters of 949, and Wenríc in one of 969. The name means 'white fen', from the Welsh gwyn and the Old Celtic reisko.Eilert Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.523.
The river may still host trout, grayling, perch, chub, roach and dace. It held good populations of native crayfish until at least the 1980s. Its waters were used in cloth and woollen blanket making in Witney from mid 17th century.{{Cite web |url=http://www.witneyblanketstory.org.uk/WBP.asp?navigationPage=Brief |title=history Witney Blanket Story – A brief history of the wool trade in the Witney area |access-date=17 December 2009 |archive-date=23 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723154739/http://www.witneyblanketstory.org.uk/WBP.asp?navigationPage=Brief |url-status=live }} In 2007, it was among many of the district's rivers to flood. It flooded generally but perhaps most acutely in Witney, whose only bridge across the river was submerged.{{Cite web |url=http://www.witney.net/floods |title=Witney Flood Gallery |access-date=17 December 2009 |archive-date=30 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930165233/http://www.witney.net/floods |url-status=live }} Some decline has been noted, especially in years of release of untreated sewage from plants of Thames Water.{{cite news |last1=Rice |first1=Liam |title=Thames Water asked to tackle sewage pollution in Windrush |url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18060600.thames-water-asked-tackle-sewage-pollution-windrush/ |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Oxford Mail |date=27 November 2019 |archive-date=28 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128191916/https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18060600.thames-water-asked-tackle-sewage-pollution-windrush/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Lane |first1=Ellis |title='Raw untreated sewage' is flowing into Cotswolds river |url=https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/raw-untreated-sewage-flowing-cotswolds-3775077 |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Gloucestershire Live |date=26 January 2020 |archive-date=27 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527084736/https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cheltenham-news/raw-untreated-sewage-flowing-cotswolds-3775077 |url-status=live }} The river after drier spells sees algae formations.{{cite web |title=River Windrush, Barrington, Gloucestershire |url=https://www.wildtrout.org/assets/reports/River%20Windrush%20Advisory%20Visit%20Jan%202017.pdf |publisher=The Wild Trout Trust |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901111558/https://www.wildtrout.org/assets/reports/River%20Windrush%20Advisory%20Visit%20Jan%202017.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite thesis |last=Freeman |first=Anna |date=2019 |title=River phytoplankton biological controls on a microscopic level |publisher=University of Reading |url=http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/88723/1/22839074_Freeman_thesis.pdf |access-date=1 September 2020 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901111558/http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/88723/1/22839074_Freeman_thesis.pdf |url-status=live }}
The ship {{HMT|Empire Windrush}}, synonymous with postwar immigration of West Indian people to the UK, was named after the river.{{cite news |title=HMT Empire Windrush |url=https://issuu.com/editionsbhm/docs/artwork_fnb40419_creative_design_of_4_page_edition |access-date=1 September 2020 |work=Windrush Review |date=June 2020 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901111559/https://issuu.com/editionsbhm/docs/artwork_fnb40419_creative_design_of_4_page_edition |url-status=live }}
See also
References
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{{River confluence start|River=River Thames}}
{{River item line|upstream=River Cole (south)
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