Did you know?

The word Avon is a cognate of the Welsh word afon which means river, so the River Avon actually means River River. This Welsh word has evolved into the name of rivers in a number of locations we actually have number of rivers called the Avon in the UK. So to distinguish ours we call it the Bristol Avon, but it is also sometimes known as the Lower Avon

What is a river catchment?

A river catchment, is all the land from the hills to the sea, drained by a single river and its tributaries. The Bristol Avon River Catchment is the whole geographical area in which any rainfall and groundwater will eventually drain from small streams to larger tributaries.

The Avon rises just north of the village of Acton Turville in South Gloucestershire, dividing into two before merging again and flowing through Wiltshire, before continuing its journey through Somerset passing through Bath, Bristol and finally to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth.

The catchment has many ditches, streams, brooks and smaller rivers which all join up before eventually reaching the River Avon which will eventually reach the estuary and become part of the massive river Severn before heading right out to sea.

Our Study Area

The Bristol Avon Catchment covers a very large area with around 2220km of connected watercourses and some other seperate streams that discharge near the Bristol Avon in the Severn Estuary.