29-767: The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England . Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere , join at Tilford in Surrey . Once combined, the flow is eastwards then northwards via Godalming and Guildford to meet the Thames at Weybridge . Downstream the river forms the backdrop to Newark Priory and Brooklands . The Wey and Godalming Navigations were built in
58-440: A cataract into another becomes the upper fork, and the one it descends into, the lower ; or by relative volume: the smaller stream designated the little fork, the larger either retaining its name unmodified, or receives the designation big . Tributaries are sometimes listed starting with those nearest to the source of the river and ending with those nearest to the mouth of the river . The Strahler stream order examines
87-467: A lake . A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean . Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they flow, drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater , leading the water out into an ocean. The Irtysh is a chief tributary of the Ob river and is also the longest tributary river in the world with a length of 4,248 km (2,640 mi). The Madeira River
116-406: A West Fork as well (now filled in). Forks are sometimes designated as right or left. Here, the handedness is from the point of view of an observer facing upstream. For instance, Steer Creek has a left tributary which is called Right Fork Steer Creek. These naming conventions are reflective of the circumstances of a particular river's identification and charting: people living along the banks of
145-414: A forking of the stream to the right and to the left, which then appear on their charts as such; or the streams are seen to diverge by the cardinal direction (north, south, east, or west) in which they proceed upstream, sometimes a third stream entering between two others is designated the middle fork; or the streams are distinguished by the relative height of one to the other, as one stream descending over
174-439: A river, with a name known to them, may then float down the river in exploration, and each tributary joining it as they pass by appears as a new river, to be given its own name, perhaps one already known to the people who live upon its banks. Conversely, explorers approaching a new land from the sea encounter its rivers at their mouths, where they name them on their charts, then, following a river upstream, encounter each tributary as
203-473: A source of power for mills, and many are recorded in the Domesday Book . Between the 17th and 19th centuries there were over 40 mills on the river and more on its tributaries. At various times they have been used for grinding grain, fulling wool, rolling oats, crushing cattle cake, leather dressing, paper production and gunpowder manufacture. Willey Mill, at Farnham, was still in use in 1953. Headley Mill
232-675: Is an unclear one, yet is most likely derived from a Proto-Indo-European (in other words, pre- Iron Age ) word uegh or weg meaning water or running water. The Wey north branch, sometimes referred to as the Alton Wey, has its official nomenclature source in Alton in Hampshire; however is exceeded by length and, in wet weather, in flow by the nearby Caker Stream rising in dendritic drainage spanning fields of Upper Farringdon and Hartley Mauditt , passing Chawton between these places. After
261-418: Is still in commercial operation. Guildford Town Mill , though no longer used for milling, still harnesses the power of the river to generate electricity. During the seventeenth century, the river was made navigable to Guildford and extended in the eighteenth century to Godalming. The Basingstoke Canal and Wey and Arun Junction Canal were later connected to the river. The navigable sections are now owned by
290-452: Is that the upper Blackwater valley proper, north of today's wind gap , is not lower than 226 feet (69 m) (Tongham Pool) and of very low gradient. This transported distinctive gravels containing chert, to deposit them north of the gap in the chalky ridge at Farnham. The source rocks of the gravels prove the former extent of the river. Great erosion has occurred in the Wey down to Tilford, along
319-533: Is the largest tributary river by volume in the world with an average discharge of 31,200 m /s (1.1 million cu ft/s). A confluence , where two or more bodies of water meet, usually refers to the joining of tributaries. The opposite to a tributary is a distributary , a river or stream that branches off from and flows away from the main stream. Distributaries are most often found in river deltas . Right tributary , or right-bank tributary , and left tributary , or left-bank tributary , describe
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#1732779834826348-545: The Kennet and Cherwell . The river morphology and biodiversity of the Wey are well studied, with many places to take samples and record data. The main tributary is the Tillingbourne , which rises on the western slopes of Leith Hill and flows westwards to join the Wey to the south of Guildford, between Shalford and Peasmarsh . The river is first recorded as Waie in the year 675. The meaning and origin of its name
377-640: The National Trust . Wey Valley is a term for the narrowing basin of the River Wey before it empties into the River Thames . Much of the upper reaches of the river are within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The river passes through a variety of habitats including heathland, woodland and watermeadow, resulting in a diversity of wildlife. There are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Nature Reserves along
406-462: The 17th and 18th centuries, to create a navigable route from Godalming to the Thames. The Wey drains much of south west Surrey (as well as parts of east Hampshire and the north of West Sussex) and has a total catchment area of 904 square kilometres (350 sq mi). Although it is the longest tributary of the Thames (if the Medway is excluded), its total average discharge is lower than that of
435-407: The arrangement of tributaries in a hierarchy of first, second, third and higher orders, with the first-order tributary being typically the least in size. For example, a second-order tributary would be the result of two or more first-order tributaries combining to form the second-order tributary. Another method is to list tributaries from mouth to source, in the form of a tree structure , stored as
464-454: The boundary – in the east end of a park, next to one of its three river footbridges. These brooks are fed by six main streams. The farthest are the southern streams. These drain parallel , north, narrow vales between the northerly "fingers" or "ribs" of: The northern streams drain fingers of a single east–west ridge of Greensand , their common names, again from east to west, are: Of varying size, these are long, sandy hills south-east of
493-401: The concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail. Water quality of the River Wey in 2019: 51°10′48″N 0°45′00″W / 51.180°N 0.750°W / 51.180; -0.750 Tributary A tributary , or an affluent , is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ( main stem or "parent" ), river, or
522-500: The exceptional winter storms of 2013–14 . The Environment Agency measure 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
551-723: The midpoint. In the United States, where tributaries sometimes have the same name as the river into which they feed, they are called forks . These are typically designated by compass direction. For example, the American River in California receives flow from its North, Middle, and South forks. The Chicago River 's North Branch has the East, West, and Middle Fork; the South Branch has its South Fork, and used to have
580-568: The navigations' towpath is open to pedestrians. The river joins the Thames at a cascading channel off its Navigation Canal (above Thames Lock) between Hamm Court and Whittet's Ait and a weir-fed navigation east of the ait facing the main weir stream of Shepperton Lock . The River Ock joins at Godalming, Cranleigh Waters and the River Tillingbourne at Shalford and the Hoe Stream at Woking. The river has long been used as
609-428: The orientation of the tributary relative to the flow of the main stem river. These terms are defined from the perspective of looking downstream, that is, facing the direction the water current of the main stem is going. In a navigational context, if one were floating on a raft or other vessel in the main stream, this would be the side the tributary enters from as one floats past; alternately, if one were floating down
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#1732779834826638-418: The river runs through Elstead, Eashing , Godalming, Peasmarsh/Shalford, Guildford, Send , Old Woking , Pyrford , Byfleet , New Haw and forms the historically much more meandering border between Addlestone / Weybridge , today doing so most accurately between Hamm Court and Whittet's Ait respectively. From Godalming the river is intertwined with the Wey and Godalming Navigations. The 20 miles (32 km) of
667-459: The river. A broad basin of aquifers drain steeply to the river so, as with the Mole, in its natural state, much of the flood plains were prone to regular flooding. This has been greatly reduced by flood alleviation measures, upstream lakes such as Frensham Great Pond and, inadvertently, the Wey navigations. The lowest urban areas of Godalming , Byfleet and Weybridge saw extensive flooding in
696-559: The sinuous, multiple-anabranch Waverley Abbey stretch, through, what Blyth notes as, the "soft strata", of that landscape. The Wey South branch stems from two main westward brooks, one now followed by the Portsmouth Direct Line , the other – with longer source brooks – following the Surrey/Sussex boundary, which combine at a point, heading west, where the line first comes as close as 97 metres to
725-489: The summit of Ridge Hill (which is the furthest source). The Wey drains and passes Haslemere's western suburbs then Liphook , Bramshott (including Passfield ), Standford and Lindford , and the large parish of Frensham . It combines with the north branch at Tilford, in which parish all three flows have large meanders . Notable tributaries of the south branch are Cooper's Stream and the River Slea . From Tilford,
754-472: The tributary, the main stream meets it on the opposite bank of the tributary. This information may be used to avoid turbulent water by moving towards the opposite bank before approaching the confluence. An early tributary is a tributary that joins the main stem river closer to its source than its mouth, that is, before the river's midpoint ; a late tributary joins the main stem further downstream, closer to its mouth than to its source, that is, after
783-538: The union in Alton the brook runs quite straight, east north-east through Upper Froyle and Bentley , turning southeast after Farnham's centre to Tilford. The steep-sided valley accentuates entering Surrey, between vast masses termed the Lower Greensand Group (south), then down the more easterly valley on both sides (east and west). Reflecting the crumbly nature of this material which has readily eroded,
812-625: The upper tip of the Devil's Punch Bowl : Gibbet Hill, Hindhead . One of the northern streams adjoins strips of woodland named Weydown Common and Weycombe. The south sources are specifically: a wood-surrounded neighbourhood, Kingsley Green (formerly Marsh) in Fernhurst ; Chase Farm marking the furthest point south in Surrey ; and upper fishponds at Wades Marsh marking the Fernhurst/ Lurgashall boundary (both in West Sussex ), next to
841-472: The valley falls from about 230 feet (70 m) entering Surrey 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Farnham to 60 feet (18 m) lower at Tilford 4 miles (6.4 km) south-east of Farnham and changes from almost v-shaped to a more u-shaped alluvial plain. The upper parts of the branch were the start of the upper River Blackwater 's catchment. The Wey captured this following cumulative flooding and deposition right up to around Aldershot . A vestige of this
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