View source for River Tavy

{{Short description|River in Devon, England}}
{{Redirect|Tavy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = River Tavy
<!---------------------- IMAGE-->
| image              = RiverTavy.jpg
| image_caption      = The Tavy above [[Tavistock, Devon|Tavistock]], on the moor
| image_alt          = 
<!---------------------- MAPS -->
| map                = 
| map_size           = 
| map_caption        = 
| map_alt            = 
| pushpin_map        = Devon#UK
| pushpin_map_size   = 
| pushpin_map_caption= 
| pushpin_map_alt    = 
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = England
| subdivision_type2  = County
| subdivision_name2  = [[Devon]]
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length             = 
| width_min          = 
| width_avg          = 
| width_max          = 
| depth_min          = 
| depth_avg          = 
| depth_max          = 
| discharge1_location= 
| discharge1_min     = 
| discharge1_avg     = 
| discharge1_max     = 
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1            = 
| source1_location   = 
| source1_coordinates= <!-- {{Coord|...}} -->
| source1_elevation  = 
| mouth              = [[River Tamar]]
| mouth_location     = [[Bickleigh, South Hams|Bickleigh]]
| mouth_coordinates  = {{Coord|50|28|N|4|09|W|display=inline,title|region:GB-DEV_type:river_source:GNS-enwiki}}
| mouth_elevation    = 
| progression        = 
| river_system       = 
| basin_size         = 
| basin_landmarks    = 
| basin_population   = 
| tributaries_left   = {{ubl|[[Collybrooke]]|[[River Walkham]]}}
| tributaries_right  = {{ubl|[[River Burn, Devon|River Burn]]|[[River Wallabrooke]]|[[River Lumburn]]}}
| waterbodies        = 
| waterfalls         = 
| bridges            = 
| ports              = 
| custom_label       = 
| custom_data        = 
| extra              = 
}}

The '''Tavy''' ({{IPAc-en|'|t|eɪ|v|i}}) is a [[river]] on [[Dartmoor]], [[Devon]], [[England]]. The name derives from the [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]] root {{lang|cel-x-combrit|tam}}, once thought to mean 'dark' but now generally understood to mean 'to flow'.<ref>{{cite book |last=Owen |first=Hywel Wyn |author-link=Hywel Wyn Owen |title=A Pocket Guide to the Place-Names of Wales |year=1998 |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=[[Cardiff]] |page=103 |isbn=0708314589 }}</ref> It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and the villages of [[Mary Tavy]] and [[Peter Tavy]].

It is a [[tributary]] of the [[River Tamar]] and has as its own tributaries: [[Collybrooke]], [[River Burn, Devon|River Burn]], [[River Wallabrooke]], [[River Lumburn]], and [[River Walkham]]. At [[Tavistock, Devon|Tavistock]] it feeds a canal running to [[Morwellham Quay]].

Its mouth is crossed by the [[Tavy Bridge]] which carries the [[Tamar Valley Line|Tamar Valley railway line]].

==Navigation==
{{River Tavy Routemap}}

The river is navigable inland as far as [[Lopwell]], where a [[weir]] marks the [[normal tidal limit]], about a {{convert|9|mi|adj=on}} journey from North Corner Quay at [[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]].<ref>[[Ordnance Survey]] mapping</ref> River transport was an important feature of the local farming, mining, tourism, and forestry economies.<ref>{{cite map|publisher=Admiralty|title=SC871 Rivers Tamar, Lynher and Tavy|year=2000|inset=D}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/lopwellpanel.pdf|title=Welcome to Lopwell|publisher=Plymouth City Council|access-date=5 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609171642/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/lopwellpanel.pdf|archive-date=9 June 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

The [[Queen's Harbour Master]] for Plymouth<ref>[http://www.gov.uk/government/groups/qhm-plymouth Queen's Harbour Master Plymouth]</ref> is responsible for managing navigation on the River Tavy up to the normal tidal limit.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/2029/made The Dockyard Port of Plymouth Order 1999]</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:Lopwell Dam on the River Tavy - geograph.org.uk - 1533352.jpg|Lopwell weir, highest point of navigation
File:River Tavy - geograph.org.uk - 698852.jpg|{{Center|Kayaking on the Tavy.}}
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Tamar–Tavy Estuary]] SSSI

==References==
* Armstrong, Robin (1985). ''The Painted Stream''. London: Dent. {{ISBN|0-460-04702-7}}.
{{Reflist}}

{{Devon}}
{{Rivers of Dartmoor}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tavy, River}}
[[Category:Rivers of Devon|Tavy, River]]
[[Category:River navigations in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Tamar catchment|1Tavy]]

{{Devon-geo-stub}}
{{England-river-stub}}