Foudry Brook
Encyclopedia
Foudry Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises near the Hampshire
village of Baughurst
named as Beaumonts Stream or Beaumonts Brook.
and the Pamber Forest nature reserve; thereafter it turns northeastwards, skirting below and around Silchester Roman Town, and its name changes to Silchester Brook.
Once in Berkshire it adopts its final name of Foudry Brook before flowing through Mortimer
and onward towards Swallowfield, here it is prevented by slightly higher ground from joining the River Loddon
, so instead it turns North towards the town of Reading
.
After passing under the M4
motorway, the stream passes through the Green Park Business Park, near Whitley
, where it provides the water for the landscaped lakes. It travels North, alongside the A33 dual carriageway, before entering the Kennet and Avon Canal
as its easternmost main tributary just after Canal Bridge Bridge No8A, and near the Brunel Retail Park.
is the major aquifer in the Berkshire area. In the areas underlying Foudry Brook an overlying layer of clay and sand confines the chalk
Foudry Brook has the typical characteristic of clay catchment rivers. It has a very variable flow rates, a low base flow component and a ‘flashy’ nature; it responds quickly to extreme rainfall events due to the impermeable nature of the clay over which it flows and the resulting high surface water runoff.
General Quality Assessment (GQA) scheme for biological and chemical quality (with ‘a’ being the highest quality and grade ‘f’ the lowest). This is possibly as a result of treated effluent being discharged into the lower reaches.
The brook is prone to flooding along its length, and this has caused the most problems on the outskirts of Whitley; however, the presence of Water Voles along this stretch of the Brook has hampered efforts to provide improved flood prevention measures.
In July 2010 a serious leak from sewage works into the Brook near Silchester caused the death of hundreds of fish and other aquatic organisms on a three-mile stretch of the brook.
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
village of Baughurst
Baughurst
Baughurst is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is located west of the town of Tadley, north of Basingstoke. In the 2001 census it had a population of 2,473....
named as Beaumonts Stream or Beaumonts Brook.
Geography
From Baughurst the brook flows eastwards though TadleyTadley
Tadley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire.During the 1950s and 1960s, the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment , now known as AWE, became the area's largest employer, and a large number of houses were built during this period to accommodate AWRE workers...
and the Pamber Forest nature reserve; thereafter it turns northeastwards, skirting below and around Silchester Roman Town, and its name changes to Silchester Brook.
Once in Berkshire it adopts its final name of Foudry Brook before flowing through Mortimer
Mortimer Common
Mortimer Common, generally referred to as Mortimer, is a village in the civil parish of Stratfield Mortimer in Berkshire. Mortimer is in the local government district of West Berkshire and is seven miles south-west of Reading.-Geography:...
and onward towards Swallowfield, here it is prevented by slightly higher ground from joining the River Loddon
River Loddon
The River Loddon is a river in the English counties of Berkshire and Hampshire. It is a tributary of the River Thames, rising within the urban area of Basingstoke and flowing to meet the Thames near the village of Wargrave...
, so instead it turns North towards the town of Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
.
After passing under the M4
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
motorway, the stream passes through the Green Park Business Park, near Whitley
Whitley, Berkshire
Whitley is a suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.-Geography:Whitley, commonly known as one of the larger suburbs of Reading, is bounded to the north and east by a ridge of high ground carrying the road to Shinfield, to the west by the valleys of the River Kennet and the Foudry...
, where it provides the water for the landscaped lakes. It travels North, alongside the A33 dual carriageway, before entering the Kennet and Avon Canal
Kennet and Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section...
as its easternmost main tributary just after Canal Bridge Bridge No8A, and near the Brunel Retail Park.
Geology and hydrogeology
ChalkChalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
is the major aquifer in the Berkshire area. In the areas underlying Foudry Brook an overlying layer of clay and sand confines the chalk
Foudry Brook has the typical characteristic of clay catchment rivers. It has a very variable flow rates, a low base flow component and a ‘flashy’ nature; it responds quickly to extreme rainfall events due to the impermeable nature of the clay over which it flows and the resulting high surface water runoff.
Ecology
Foudry Brook has a has a grade of ‘c’ to ‘d’ on the Environment AgencyEnvironment Agency
The Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...
General Quality Assessment (GQA) scheme for biological and chemical quality (with ‘a’ being the highest quality and grade ‘f’ the lowest). This is possibly as a result of treated effluent being discharged into the lower reaches.
The brook is prone to flooding along its length, and this has caused the most problems on the outskirts of Whitley; however, the presence of Water Voles along this stretch of the Brook has hampered efforts to provide improved flood prevention measures.
Pollution
In a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency in 2002, Total Fina Elf UK Ltd was fined a total of £54,000 for causing petrol to enter groundwater and a tributary of the Foudry Brook, from its service station in Tadley, Hampshire. Between January 1999 and March 2001 the petrol station lost between 2,000 and 10,000 litres of fuel into the ground following leaks in an underground petrol tank, and filler and suction lines.In July 2010 a serious leak from sewage works into the Brook near Silchester caused the death of hundreds of fish and other aquatic organisms on a three-mile stretch of the brook.