The River Coln is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It rises at Brockhampton

Brockhampton, Gloucestershire

Brockhampton is a small village East of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire....

 to the east of Cheltenham

Cheltenham

Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...

, and flows in a south/south-easterly direction through the Cotswold Hills via Andoversford

Andoversford

Andoversford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about six miles east of Cheltenham. The parish had a population of 668 according to the 2001 census....

, Withington, Fossbridge, Bibury

Bibury

Bibury is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is situated on the River Coln, about northeast of Cirencester.The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary is Saxon with altar additions...

, Coln St Aldwyns and Fairford

Fairford

Fairford is a small town in Gloucestershire, England. The town lies in the Cotswolds on the River Coln, about east of Cirencester, west of Lechlade and north of Swindon. Nearby are RAF Fairford and the Cotswold Water Park.-Schools:...

. It joins the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 to the south-west of Lechlade

Lechlade

Lechlade, or Lechlade-on-Thames, is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable. The town is named after the River Leach that joins the Thames near here....

, where it shares a confluence

Confluence

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 with the Thames and Severn Canal

Thames and Severn Canal

The Thames and Severn Canal is a canal in Gloucestershire in the south of England, which was completed in 1789. It was conceived as part of a canal route from Bristol to London. At its eastern end, it connects to the River Thames at Inglesham Lock near Lechlade, while at its western end, it...

, by The Round House Footbridge.

Extensive gravel pits that are now redundant, lying between Fairford and Lechlade, form the Eastern component of the Cotswold Water Park

Cotswold Water Park

The Cotswold Water Park is the United Kingdom's largest water park. It consists of 147 numbered lakeswhich were formed by allowing old gravel quarries to become filled with water.-Location:...

, which is fed and drained by the Coln.

The river is host to many species of freshwater fish including Brown trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

 and Grayling

Grayling (species)

The grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is the type species of its genus. Native to the Palearctic ecozone, the grayling is widespread throughout northern Europe, from the United Kingdom and France to the Ural Mountains in Russia...

.