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84-588: The Wom Brook is a stream in South Staffordshire , England . It flows through the large village of Wombourne , and has played an important part in its industrial history. It is an important tributary of the River Smestow and part of the Severn catchment. The name of the stream is probably a back-formation from the name of the village of Wombourn or Wombourne. The word burna was used for

168-403: A bed armor layer, and other depositional features, plus well defined banks due to bank erosion, are good identifiers when assessing for perennial streams. Particle size will help identify a perennial stream. Perennial streams cut through the soil profile, which removes fine and small particles. By assessing areas for relatively coarse material left behind in the stream bed and finer sediments along

252-658: A continuous aquatic habitat until they reach maturity. Crayfish and other crustaceans , snails , bivalves (clams), and aquatic worms also indicate the stream is perennial. These require a persistent aquatic environment for survival. Fish and amphibians are secondary indicators in assessment of a perennial stream because some fish and amphibians can inhabit areas without persistent water regime. When assessing for fish, all available habitat should be assessed: pools, riffles, root clumps and other obstructions. Fish will seek cover if alerted to human presence, but should be easily observed in perennial streams. Amphibians also indicate

336-470: A continuous or intermittent stream. The same non-perennial channel might change characteristics from intermittent to ephemeral over its course. Washes can fill up quickly during rains, and there may be a sudden torrent of water after a thunderstorm begins upstream, such as during monsoonal conditions. In the United States, an intermittent or seasonal stream is one that only flows for part of

420-615: A creek, especially one that is fed by a spring or seep . It is usually small and easily forded . A brook is characterised by its shallowness. A creek ( / k r iː k / ) or crick ( / k r ɪ k / ): In hydrography, gut is a small creek; this is seen in proper names in eastern North America from the Mid-Atlantic states (for instance, The Gut in Pennsylvania, Ash Gut in Delaware, and other streams) down into

504-422: A drainage network. Although each tributary has its own source, international practice is to take the source farthest from the river mouth as the source of the entire river system, from which the most extended length of the river measured as the starting point is taken as the length of the whole river system, and that furthest starting point is conventionally taken as the source of the whole river system. For example,

588-655: A hazard to motorists after heavy rain. Immediately after comes the confluence with the Merryhill Brook, which joins the Wom next to Tyre Hill, the remains of a disused quarry. The brook flows through the Poolhouse estate, on the site of the former Heath Mill complex. Disappearing under the Bridgnorth road, it then flows through an area of industrial estates, finally discharging into the River Smestow directly opposite

672-540: A larger stream. Common terms for individual river distributaries in English-speaking countries are arm and channel . There are a number of regional names for a stream. A stream's source depends on the surrounding landscape and its function within larger river networks. While perennial and intermittent streams are typically supplied by smaller upstream waters and groundwater, headwater and ephemeral streams often derive most of their water from precipitation in

756-563: A new importance as a leisure and environmental amenity. The Wom Brook Walk was established in 2004 by the Friends of Wom Brook and was declared a local nature reserve by South Staffordshire Council in 2008. The Wom Brook Walk follows the Wom Brook stretching for about one and half miles on either one or sometimes both banks, the walk is split into four sections: Pool House estate, Giggetty, Wombourne Village West and Wombourne Village East it

840-404: A path into mines or other underground chambers. According to official U.S. definitions, the channels of intermittent streams are well-defined, as opposed to ephemeral streams, which may or may not have a defined channel, and rely mainly on storm runoff, as their aquatic bed is above the water table . An ephemeral stream does not have the biological, hydrological, and physical characteristics of

924-412: A perennial stream and include tadpoles , frogs , salamanders , and newts . These amphibians can be found in stream channels, along stream banks, and even under rocks. Frogs and tadpoles usually inhabit shallow and slow moving waters near the sides of stream banks. Frogs will typically jump into water when alerted to human presence. Well defined river beds composed of riffles, pools, runs, gravel bars,

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1008-483: A perennial stream, fine sediment may cling to riparian plant stems and tree trunks. Organic debris drift lines or piles may be found within the active overbank area after recent high flow. Streams, headwaters, and streams flowing only part of the year provide many benefits upstream and downstream. They defend against floods, remove contaminants, recycle nutrients that are potentially dangerous as well as provide food and habitat for many forms of fish. Such streams also play

1092-562: A power station at Stourport. The power station closed in 1949, and after that, the only commercial traffic was on the stretch between Autherley and Aldersley Junctions. In 1959 the British Transport Commission planned to close the canal but it was saved by a volunteer group, the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Society. In 1968 the canal was reclassified as a cruiseway, and the following year all of it

1176-406: A slow-moving wetted channel or stagnant area. This is evidence that iron-oxidizing bacteria are present, indicating persistent expression of oxygen-depleted ground water. In a forested area, leaf and needle litter in the stream channel is an additional indicator. Accumulation of leaf litter does not occur in perennial streams since such material is continuously flushed. In the adjacent overbank of

1260-639: A small valley. Just before the Longford, walkers can cross or linger on a small bridge, modelled on the Poohsticks bridge in Ashdown Forest . Beyond the Longford, walkers are required to make a short diversion over the canal via a pavement to the Giggetty section. This consists of scrub land and wooded banks, with the stream meandering under trees over a gravel bed. The walk is then intersected by

1344-486: A stream as intermittent, "showing interruptions in time or space". Generally, streams that flow only during and immediately after precipitation are termed ephemeral . There is no clear demarcation between surface runoff and an ephemeral stream, and some ephemeral streams can be classed as intermittent—flow all but disappearing in the normal course of seasons but ample flow (backups) restoring stream presence — such circumstances are documented when stream beds have opened up

1428-454: A stream in the oldest strata of Old English toponyms . The village name was long thought to mean "Womb Stream", or stream in a hollow, because this is a reasonable description of the situation. The stream itself is not named in Domesday and medieval documents relating to the village. However, to turn the first element in the village name into a designation for the stream was logical and

1512-424: A stream is a critical factor in determining its character and is entirely determined by its base level of erosion. The base level of erosion is the point at which the stream either enters the ocean, a lake or pond, or enters a stretch in which it has a much lower gradient, and may be specifically applied to any particular stretch of a stream. In geological terms, the stream will erode down through its bed to achieve

1596-717: A sufficient head of water. Well before 1700, there was a development of considerable enterprises, under wealthy and powerful iron-masters, who sought to control the local market through the forming of cartels. The development of coke-fired furnaces in the Industrial Revolution greatly stimulated iron-working along the Wom and other streams in the area, while the construction of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal in 1770-72 made it easy to transport both raw materials and finished products in bulk. The 1775 Yates map of Staffordshire shows three important mills on

1680-524: A thin layer called sheet wash, combined with a network of tiny rills, which together form the sheet runoff; when this water is focused in a channel, a stream is born. Some rivers and streams may begin from lakes or ponds. Freshwater's primary sources are precipitation and mountain snowmelt. However, rivers typically originate in the highlands, and are slowly created by the erosion of mountain snowmelt into lakes or rivers. Rivers usually flow from their source topographically, and erode as they pass until they reach

1764-627: A vital role in preserving our drinking water quality and supply, ensuring a steady flow of water to surface waters and helping to restore deep aquifers. The extent of land basin drained by a stream is termed its drainage basin (also known in North America as the watershed and, in British English, as a catchment). A basin may also be composed of smaller basins. For instance, the Continental Divide in North America divides

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1848-435: Is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel, and the phenomenon is known as river bifurcation . Distributaries are common features of river deltas , and are often found where a valleyed stream enters wide flatlands or approaches the coastal plains around a lake or an ocean . They can also occur inland, on alluvial fans , or where a tributary stream bifurcates as it nears its confluence with

1932-756: Is no precise information on how these mills were used. From the Middle Ages, the Smestow, the Stour and their tributaries were the home of a thriving iron industry. By the 17th century, when civil and colonial strife greatly increased the demand for iron, this industry used overshot watermills to drive simple machinery for hammering, rolling, cutting, slitting and sharpening iron, smelted with local supplies of charcoal . This required considerable investment, as well as political and legal influence, as weirs or dams, and often small canals, had to be constructed to maintain

2016-474: Is possible to walk either one of the four sections or the whole walk. After being declared a local nature reserve in 2008, it received a Green Flag Award . Starting off on the western edge of Wombourne near the Pool House estate the walks begins in a small woodland before eventually opening up into grass land with mature trees such as oak and willow. The walk runs through a housing estate, although in

2100-425: Is sometimes termed a "young" or "immature" stream, and the later state a "mature" or "old" stream. Meanders are looping changes of direction of a stream caused by the erosion and deposition of bank materials. These are typically serpentine in form. Typically, over time the meanders gradually migrate downstream. If some resistant material slows or stops the downstream movement of a meander, a stream may erode through

2184-456: Is usually called a creek and marked on topographic maps with a solid blue line. There are five generic classifications: "Macroinvertebrate" refers to easily seen invertebrates , larger than 0.5 mm, found in stream and river bottoms. Macroinvertebrates are larval stages of most aquatic insects and their presence is a good indicator that the stream is perennial. Larvae of caddisflies , mayflies , stoneflies , and damselflies require

2268-475: The River Severn immediately below Stourport as far as Diglis , to improve navigation to and from the canal. At Stourport there were four basins, linked by broad locks, that allowed broad-beamed Severn trows to enter them from the river. Goods could then be trans-shipped from the canal narrow boats to the trows for onward shipment to Bristol. Trade declined when the newer Worcester and Birmingham Canal

2352-501: The South Staffordshire Railway Walk and dropping again, the Wom enters the wooded Giggetty section, where it meanders through trees well below the level of the nearby housing. Beyond Giggetty, the Wom disappears briefly into a culvert beneath a road and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal . Walkers take a short detour to find the brook flowing out from the culvert across the road at Longford, still

2436-484: The South Staffordshire Railway Walk , and walkers must ascend and descend a series of paths to resume their way along the stream banks. This opens up the Wombourne Village West section, which initially goes through Ham Meadow. This is an undulating open area, close to the village centre. The meandering stream has cut a steep-sided valley through the meadow, flanked by trees. At Lower End, walkers cross

2520-738: The Staffordshire Potteries southwards to Gloucester and Bristol, and trade from the Black Country northwards to the Potteries via the junction with the Birmingham Canal at Aldersley . The company obtained a second act of Parliament, the Severn Navigation Act 1790 ( 30 Geo. 3 . c. 75), on 9 June 1790, authorising it to raise another £12,000 (equivalent to £1,810,000 in 2023), to improve

2604-691: The Tombigbee River basin. Continuing in this vein, a component of the Mississippi River basin is the Ohio River basin, which in turn includes the Kentucky River basin, and so forth. Stream crossings are where streams are crossed by roads , pipelines , railways , or any other thing which might restrict the flow of the stream in ordinary or flood conditions. Any structure over or in a stream which results in limitations on

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2688-464: The West Midlands region during the 20th century, Wombourne itself became a residential and light industrial centre. Housing spread on both sides of the brook to the west of the village centre, and industrial estates along the lower course, down to the confluence with the Smestow, but the threat of flooding preserved a green corridor. Wildlife was able to re-establish and the Wom has thus taken on

2772-480: The velocity of the stream. A perennial stream is one which flows continuously all year. Some perennial streams may only have continuous flow in segments of its stream bed year round during years of normal rainfall. Blue-line streams are perennial streams and are marked on topographic maps with a solid blue line. The word "perennial" from the 1640s, meaning "evergreen," is established in Latin perennis, keeping

2856-544: The Birmingham Canal at a higher level than the junction, crossed the Staffordshire and Worcestershire by an aqueduct, and then dropped down by a series of locks to join the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal north of Autherley junction. The canal company decided to reduce its tolls rather than lose the trade altogether. Further concessions were obtained by the other two canal companies by threats to resurrect

2940-704: The Caribbean (for instance, Guinea Gut , Fish Bay Gut , Cob Gut , Battery Gut and other rivers and streams in the United States Virgin Islands , in Jamaica (Sandy Gut, Bens Gut River, White Gut River), and in many streams and creeks of the Dutch Caribbean ). A river is a large natural stream that is much wider and deeper than a creek and not easily fordable, and may be a navigable waterway . The linear channel between

3024-588: The Dunstall Water Bridge, a small aqueduct planned by Brindley to preserve the flow of the river, before dropping into the valley and running alongside it. Skirting Wolverhampton between the steep hillsides of Compton and Tettenhall , through the Smestow Valley Local Nature Reserve, the canal reaches Wightwick . Here it bears south, cutting across a wide bend in the course of the Smestow. Descending sharply through

3108-639: The Penk, which has its source at Perton, well to the west of the canal. The canal enters north-west Wolverhampton. Here it is joined, in rapid succession, by the Shropshire Union Canal at Autherley Junction and the BCN Main Line at Aldersley Junction. South of Aldersley, the canal begins to shadow the River Smestow , part of the Severn catchment. The Smestow actually crosses the canal via

3192-525: The Sow valley, closely following the river, to Weeping Cross, on the south east edge of Stafford , the confluence of the River Penk with the Sow. The canal then swings at right angles to the south, taking up the course of the Penk. It then runs via Acton Trussell and Penkridge to Calf Heath, where it is joined by the now-derelict Hatherton Canal . Continuing south via Coven , it begins to bear away from

3276-405: The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Navigation", which was empowered to raise an initial £70,000 (equivalent to £12,300,000 in 2023), , with a further £30,000 (equivalent to £5,270,000 in 2023), if needed, to fund the canal's construction. The canal was completed in 1771 for a cost that exceeded the authorised capital, and opened to trade in 1772. It was a commercial success, with trade from

3360-518: The Wodehouse since at least 1570, and it has been used for fulling as well as grinding corn. The present building dates back to 1840. In the 17th century, the Smestow had been divided north of Seisdon and a stream diverted left from the main river. Channelled by embankments, it reinforced the flow on the lower Wom, creating a mill pond with a substantial drop to power the Heath Mill. Around

3444-468: The Wom Brook is so-named on Ordnance Survey maps, although not on earlier maps. The Old English term brōca , another word for a stream, is later than burna and its derivative, brook , continues in use as a common noun in the English Midlands, while burn has become confined to Scotland and Northern England. This makes it fairly certain the name Wom Brook is of considerably later origin than

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3528-470: The Wom Brook is the large village of Wombourne . 52°31′57″N 2°11′10″W  /  52.5326°N 2.1861°W  / 52.5326; -2.1861 Stream The flow of a stream is controlled by three inputs – surface runoff (from precipitation or meltwater ), daylighted subterranean water , and surfaced groundwater ( spring water ). The surface and subterranean water are highly variable between periods of rainfall. Groundwater, on

3612-459: The Wom: at the Wodehouse , at what is now called Pool Dam and Heath Forge, near the confluence with the Smestow - the beginning of the Heath Mill complex. The pools that regularised the flow at the Wodehouse were already well-developed by this stage, providing both a steady power source and a striking landscape feature for the estate of the influential Hellier family. There had been a large watermill at

3696-574: The adult population involved in nail-making a similar trades. The 1889 OS map shows a smithy close to the Pool Dam, one of the many small iron-working concerns that used the Wom for power or cooling water, as well as the larger developments at the Wodhouse and Heath. By this time, the latter used the Wom not only for power, but also to supply watercress beds and fish ponds. Millhouse Farm, close to Lower End, had grown up next to yet another mill close to

3780-652: The arrival of Wombourne's very first little egret in October/November 2010. It was seen hunting and roosting around the Wombrook on a number of occasions and Daniel Traynor captured the very first image of the bird which was later shown in the Parish News. The main tributaries of the Wom Brook, starting from its confluence with the River Smestow, are: For about three centuries, the River Smestow

3864-533: The atmosphere either by evaporation from soil and water bodies, or by plant evapotranspiration. By infiltration some of the water sinks into the earth and becomes groundwater, much of which eventually enters streams. Most precipitated water is partially bottled up by evaporation or freezing in snow fields and glaciers. The majority of the water flows as a runoff from the ground; the proportion of this varies depending on several factors, such as climate, temperature, vegetation, types of rock, and relief. This runoff begins as

3948-525: The base level of erosion throughout its course. If this base level is low, then the stream will rapidly cut through underlying strata and have a steep gradient, and if the base level is relatively high, then the stream will form a flood plain and meander. Typically, streams are said to have a particular elevation profile , beginning with steep gradients, no flood plain, and little shifting of channels, eventually evolving into streams with low gradients, wide flood plains, and extensive meanders. The initial stage

4032-597: The base stage of erosion. The scientists have offered a way based on data to define the origin of the lake. A classified sample was the one measured by the Chinese researchers from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. As an essential symbol of the river formation environment, the river source needs an objective and straightforward and effective method of judging . A calculation model of river source catchment area based on critical support flow (CSD) proposed, and

4116-449: The canal is cut through very steep sandstone banks and passes through a tunnel at Dunsley all the way closely following the river while slicing across its many meanders. Running through Kinver , Caunsall , Cookley and Wolverley , it serves a series of wharves in the old industrial town of Kidderminster . Finally it reaches its end in a complex of wharves and basins in the canal town of Stourport-on-Severn , where it descends steeply to

4200-618: The course of tributaries, to break through the watershed between the Trent and Severn north-west of Wolverhampton , at the Aldersley Gap, a minor glacial feature turned to advantage by Brindley. The northern starting point of the canal at Great Haywood, its junction with the Trent and Mersey Canal, is only about 330 yards (300 m) from the confluence of the River Sow with the Trent. The canal runs west through Tixall Wide and along

4284-602: The edge of the village of Wombourne . At this point the Wom Brook Walk, a local nature reserve begins. The stream is soon interrupted by the Pool Dam, the remains of a forge mill, where it tumbles steeply to the lower level. Passing just south of the village centre and behind the Civic Centre, it arrives at Lower End, the site of another former mill, where it passes under a road. The banks then open out into Ham Meadow, an area of grassland and trees. Flowing under

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4368-707: The flow is reduced to a trickle or less. Typically torrents have Apennine rather than Alpine sources, and in the summer they are fed by little precipitation and no melting snow. In this case the maximum discharge will be during the spring and autumn. An intermittent stream can also be called a winterbourne in Britain, a wadi in the Arabic -speaking world or torrente or rambla (this last one from arabic origin) in Spain and Latin America. In Australia, an intermittent stream

4452-447: The form of rain and snow. Most of this precipitated water re-enters the atmosphere by evaporation from soil and water bodies, or by the evapotranspiration of plants. Some of the water proceeds to sink into the earth by infiltration and becomes groundwater, much of which eventually enters streams. Some precipitated water is temporarily locked up in snow fields and glaciers , to be released later by evaporation or melting. The rest of

4536-484: The head of water further up the Wom Brook. These were always fertile sources of legal and political dispute among users of streams in the early modern period. The result was a large waterfall, providing a reliable source of power for the mill, which continued grinding corn until the 1930s. The channel and pool fell into disuse and were later filled in, although the route is still traceable as the main public footpath from Wombourne to Trysull. The only sizeable settlement on

4620-407: The immediate vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone . Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction , streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity . The study of streams and waterways in general is known as surface hydrology and is a core element of environmental geography . A brook is a stream smaller than

4704-537: The impressive Bratch locks, the canal rejoins the River Smestow just south of Wombourne . From here it follows the river very closely to its confluence with the Stour near Prestwood . The confluence of Smestow and Stour is paralleled closely by the junction of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire with the Stourbridge Canal , which descends through the Stour valley to Stourton . Southward from this point,

4788-512: The intersection with the railway walk involves steep slopes. In 2005 the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust completed a survey, which found an active colony of water voles. The wildlife of Wom Brook includes kingfishers , dippers and the fast declining water vole along with more common species such as grey herons , long-eared bats , green woodpeckers , bees and butterflies . There has also been great excitement over

4872-532: The lake has significant feeder rivers. The Kagera River, which flows into Lake Victoria near Bukoba's Tanzanian town , is the longest feeder, though sources do not agree on which is the Kagera's longest tributary and therefore the Nile's most remote source itself. To qualify as a stream, a body of water must be either recurring or perennial. Recurring (intermittent) streams have water in the channel for at least part of

4956-683: The mainly easterly-draining Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean basins from the largely westerly-flowing Pacific Ocean basin. The Atlantic Ocean basin, however, may be further subdivided into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico drainages. (This delineation is termed the Eastern Continental Divide .) Similarly, the Gulf of Mexico basin may be divided into the Mississippi River basin and several smaller basins, such as

5040-412: The meaning as "everlasting all year round," per "over" plus annus "year." This has been proved since the 1670s by the "living years" in the sense of botany. The metaphorical sense of "enduring, eternal" originates from 1750. They are related to "perennial." See biennial for shifts in vowels. Perennial streams have one or more of these characteristics: Absence of such characteristics supports classifying

5124-414: The modern A449 dual-carriageway. The Walk is also contained entirely within the boundaries of the village of Wombourne where parking is to be found. In recent years, signs have been erected at all intersections to indicate the route, and there are information boards at many points to indicate important points of local and industrial history. The whole of the walk is accessible to wheelchair users, although

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5208-634: The movement of fish or other ecological elements may be an issue. Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands . It is 46 miles (74 km) long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywood Junction by Great Haywood . James Brindley

5292-453: The neck between two legs of a meander to become temporarily straighter, leaving behind an arc-shaped body of water termed an oxbow lake or bayou . A flood may also cause a meander to be cut through in this way. The stream load is defined as the solid matter carried by a stream. Streams can carry sediment, or alluvium. The amount of load it can carry (capacity) as well as the largest object it can carry (competence) are both dependent on

5376-596: The origin of the Nile River is the confluence of the White Nile and the Blue Nile, but the source of the whole river system is in its upper reaches. If there is no specific designation, "length of the Nile" refers to the "river length of the Nile system", rather than to the length of the Nile river from the point where it is formed by a confluence of tributaries. The Nile's source is often cited as Lake Victoria, but

5460-430: The other hand, has a relatively constant input and is controlled more by long-term patterns of precipitation. The stream encompasses surface, subsurface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls. Streams are important as conduits in the water cycle , instruments in groundwater recharge , and corridors for fish and wildlife migration. The biological habitat in

5544-415: The parallel ridges or bars on a shoreline beach or river floodplain, or between a bar and the shore. Also called a swale . A tributary is a contributory stream to a larger stream, or a stream which does not reach a static body of water such as a lake , bay or ocean but joins another river (a parent river). Sometimes also called a branch or fork. A distributary , or a distributary channel ,

5628-464: The plans on two subsequent occasions. Despite the competition, and later competition from the railways, the canal company paid dividends to its shareholders until nationalisation, although profits fell steadily from the 1860s. It remained independent until the Transport Act 1947 nationalised Britain's canals on 1 January 1948. In its latter years the major trade was in coal from Cannock to

5712-469: The relationship between CSA and CSD with a minimum catchment area established. Using the model for comparison in two basins in Tibet (Helongqu and Niyang River White Water), the results show that the critical support flow (Qc) of the housing dragon song is 0.0028 m /s. At the same time, the white water curvature is 0.0085 m /s. Besides, the critical support flow can vary with hydrologic climate conditions, and

5796-474: The road into the Wombourne Village east section, with a mixture of open grassy areas, giving views of the village centre, and denser woodland . Here it is possible divert a little from the path to descend to the foot of the Pool Dam, the site of an old forge mill . Finally, the eastern end of the walk is found near Rushford Bridge, which crosses the old Stafford-Worcester Road, now in the shadow of

5880-476: The section to Great Haywood. Faced with a high volume of trade using the 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (800 m) stretch between Aldersley and Autherley Junctions, the company levied very high tolls. In order to resolve the situation the Birmingham Canal Company and the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Company jointly promoted an act of Parliament to authorise a short canal that would have left

5964-425: The side of the stream or within the floodplain will be a good indicator of persistent water regime. A perennial stream can be identified 48 hours after a storm. Direct storm runoff usually has ceased at this point. If a stream is still flowing and contributing inflow is not observed above the channel, the observed water is likely baseflow. Another perennial stream indication is an abundance of red rust material in

6048-411: The start of the 19th century, the Heath Mill was developed further. The mill pool was greatly enlarged by diverting the Merryhill Brook into it, and it had to be held back by a large embankment above the small valley of the Wom. A large waterfall carried its water down to the Wom, where it powered a number of mills. A building at the pool-side, now long gone, gives its name to the large Poolhouse estate, on

6132-405: The village centre. From the mid-19th century, water power lost its importance as coal-powered steam engines became more reliable, and coal transported by the canal became more economic as a fuel. The Wom Brook lost its industrial importance long before the village of Wombourne. The mills returned to grinding corn before closing entirely and falling into neglect. With the decline of heavy industry in

6216-640: The village name. Occasionally it is found in elided form as Wombrook . The name Wom Brook is generally applied to a stream that emerges from the pools at the Wodehouse - the product of the confluence of the Penn Brook, the Lyden Brook and other streams that drain water from the Colton Hills on the southern fringe of Wolverhampton . Flowing south-west, it goes beneath both A449 and the older Stafford-Worcester road that runs alongside it, emerging at

6300-427: The village of Smestow. The Wom Brook has played an important part in the industrial history of Wombourne and the surrounding area. Despite considerable variations in flow, it provided a source of power for many centuries. Domesday , around 1086, recorded two mills already at Wombourne. These would have been undershot watermills, which were already diversifying in use beyond corn grinding in that period, although there

6384-655: The vital support flow Qc in wet areas (white water) is larger than in semi-arid regions (heap slot). The proposed critical support flow (CSD) concept and model method can be used to determine the hydrographic indicators of river sources in complex geographical areas, and it can also reflect the impact of hydrologic climate change on river recharge in different regions. The source of a river or stream (its point of origin) can consist of lakes, swamps, springs, or glaciers. A typical river has several tributaries; each of these may be made up of several other smaller tributaries, so that together this stream and all its tributaries are called

6468-512: The water flows off the land as runoff, the proportion of which varies according to many factors, such as wind, humidity, vegetation, rock types, and relief. This runoff starts as a thin film called sheet wash, combined with a network of tiny rills, together constituting sheet runoff; when this water is concentrated in a channel, a stream has its birth. Some creeks may start from ponds or lakes. The streams typically derive most of their water from rain and snow precipitation. Most of this water re-enters

6552-524: The western side of Wombourne and to a farm just beyond the village edge. The mill-owners, a branch of the Foley family, grew rich and constructed a large house above the Wom. The main mill was switched to grinding corn in the 1820s and continued in use for more than a further century. The mid-19th century marked the zenith of Wombourne's contribution to the Industrial Revolution , with many of

6636-521: The year and is marked on topographic maps with a line of blue dashes and dots. A wash , desert wash, or arroyo is normally a dry streambed in the deserts of the American Southwest , which flows after sufficient rainfall. In Italy, an intermittent stream is termed a torrent ( Italian : torrente ). In full flood the stream may or may not be "torrential" in the dramatic sense of the word, but there will be one or more seasons in which

6720-402: The year. A stream of the first order is a stream which does not have any other recurring or perennial stream feeding into it. When two first-order streams come together, they form a second-order stream. When two second-order streams come together, they form a third-order stream. Streams of lower order joining a higher order stream do not change the order of the higher stream. The gradient of

6804-489: Was also a tributary of its own tributary, the Wom Brook. Channels were taken from the Smestow in the Seisdon and Trysull areas to feed various mills and pools. One of these, a small contour canal , led from just north of Trysull to Heath Mill. Here it fed a very large mill pool, which was also supplied by a similar channel from further up the Wom Brook. The purpose of this scheme was probably to avoid flooding or reduction of

6888-413: Was declared a Conservation Area. This has resulted in historical buildings and structures being retained and improved sympathetically. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal links two of southern Britain's largest river catchments: The canal was a major north–south route for the west of England, linking other canals to create a network running: The canal essentially follows river valleys, shadowing

6972-468: Was opened in 1815, providing a more direct route between Birmingham and Bristol. To remain competitive, the company increased the hours when locks could be used, and by 1830 they were available 24 hours a day. Another setback occurred when the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal opened its new route to Chester and Merseyside, meeting the canal at Autherley Junction. This took much of the traffic from

7056-578: Was the chief engineer of the canal, which was part of his "Grand Cross" plan for waterways connecting the major ports at Hull (via the Trent ), Liverpool (via the Mersey ), Bristol (via the Severn ) and London (via the Thames ). The act of Parliament authorising the canal, the Severn and Trent Canal Act 1766 ( 6 Geo. 3 . c. 97), was passed on 14 May 1766. This created "The Company of Proprietors of

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