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{{Short description|River in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{Infobox river
| name = River Churn
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| name_other =
| name_etymology =

| image = River Churn, Cirencester - geograph.org.uk - 696822.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = River Churn in [[Cirencester]]
| map =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_map_size =
| pushpin_map_caption=

| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[England]]
| subdivision_type2 =
| subdivision_name2 =
| subdivision_type3 = Counties
| subdivision_name3 = [[Gloucestershire]], [[Wiltshire]]
| subdivision_type4 = Districts / Boroughs
| subdivision_name4 =
| subdivision_type5 = Towns
| subdivision_name5 = [[Cirencester]], [[Cricklade]]

| length_km = 37.3
| width_min =
| width_avg =
| width_max =
| depth_min =
| depth_avg =
| depth_max =
| discharge1_location= Cerney Wick, [[South Cerney]]
| discharge1_min = {{convert|0.00|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}5 November 1995
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|0.86|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_max = {{convert|4.70|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}31 January 1971
| discharge2_location= [[Cirencester]]
| discharge2_min =
| discharge2_avg = {{convert|0.77|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge2_max =
| discharge3_location= Perrott's Brook
| discharge3_min =
| discharge3_avg = {{convert|0.62|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge3_max =

| source1 =
| source1_location = [[Seven Springs, Gloucestershire|Seven Springs]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|51.8511|-2.0504|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation = {{convert|200|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth = [[River Thames]]
| mouth_location = [[Cricklade]], [[Wiltshire]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|51.6450|-1.8533|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|79|m|abbr=on}}
| progression =
| river_system = [[River Thames]]
| basin_size =
| tributaries_left = Hilcot Brook, Gumstool Brook
| tributaries_right = Elkstone Brook, Daglingworth Stream
| custom_label =
| custom_data =
| mapframe-frame-height = 250
}}

The '''River Churn''' is a tributary of the [[River Thames]] in central England. It rises at [[Seven Springs, Gloucestershire|Seven Springs]] in [[Gloucestershire]] and flows south for approximately {{Convert|37.3|km|abbr=on}} to meet the Thames at [[Cricklade]] in [[Wiltshire]]. Its length from its source to the [[Confluence (geography)|confluence]] with the Thames is greater than that of the Thames from [[Thames Head]], but the Churn is regarded as a [[tributary]], rather than the main river.

== Description ==
The River Churn is the first tributary river of the [[River Thames]]. It rises in the [[Cotswolds]] at [[Seven Springs, Gloucestershire|Seven Springs]], south of [[Cheltenham]], [[Gloucestershire]], England and flows south across the Cotswold [[dip slope]], passing through [[North Cerney]] and [[Cirencester]], and joining the Thames in the parish of [[Cricklade]] in [[Wiltshire]]. Its length from source to [[Confluence (geography)|confluence]] with the Thames is considerably greater than that of the Thames from [[Thames Head]], and its flow is also more consistent than the [[Winterbourne (stream)|winterbourne]] Thames, but the Churn is regarded as a [[tributary]] historically and therefore by most geography guides.

The length of the Churn is approximately {{Convert|37.3|km||abbr=}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Churn (source to Perrots Brook)|url=https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB106039029810|access-date=12 September 2020|website=Catchment Data Explorer|publisher=[[Environment Agency]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Churn (Baunton to Cricklade)|url=https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB106039029750|access-date=12 September 2020|website=Catchment Data Explorer}}</ref> It is classed as a main river and thus falls under the jurisdiction of the Environment Agency as opposed to the local authority.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brantacan.co.uk/churnbridge.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405082827/http://www.brantacan.co.uk/churnbridge.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2007-04-05|title=River Churn Crossing and Data|access-date=2019-09-09}}</ref>

The main tributaries are the Elkstone Brook, which joins at Perrots Brook Farm, and the Daglingworth Stream, also known as the Dunt Stream or Duntisbourne, which joins at Barton Mill, Cirencester. Two smaller tributaries are the Hilcot Brook and the Gumstool Brook.

== Etymology ==
The name ''Churn'' is ancient, certainly pre-[[Roman Britain|Roman]] and probably from a [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]], possibly that spoken by the [[Dobunni]] tribe, which controlled the area before the Roman conquest in the 1st century AD. The original name may have sounded similar to ''Korinn'', but its meaning is unknown.<ref>''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.v. CORINIUM; {{ISBN|9780521168557}}.</ref> It has also been suggested that the origin of the word is associated with the ancient British [[Cornovii]] tribe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cirencester.co.uk/history.htm |title=Cirencester History Summary |publisher=Cirencester.co.uk |access-date=2019-09-09}}</ref> Cognate names and name elements from the area are ''Cerney'', ''Ciren'' and ''Corin'' as found in the settlement names of [[North Cerney]], [[Cirencester]], [[South Cerney]], and Cerney Wick (all on or close to the river).<ref>''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.vv. ''North CERNEY'', ''South CERNEY'', ''CERNEY WICK''; {{ISBN|9780521168557}}.</ref> Cirencester's name, first recorded as ''[[Corinium Dobunnorum]]'', is in original identical with the name of the river.<ref>''The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society'', ed. by Victor Watts (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), s.vv. ''CIRENCESTER'', ''CORINIUM''; {{ISBN|9780521168557}}.</ref>

== History ==
Much of the catchment basin of the Churn was a key Roman settlement in the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, as [[Corinium Dobunnorum]] rose to likely status of capital of a division of Britain.<ref>Wacher, John (1995). The Towns of Roman Britain. London: B T Batsford.</ref>

The Churn and the Thames feed the waters of a western bisection of the [[Cotswold Water Park]], converted since the 1970s from redundant gravel beds between Cirencester and Cricklade.

In 2006, the national government was engaged in a planning study to analyse methods of mitigating future flooding associated with the Churn.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/regions/thames/323150/335688/1468389/?lang=_e |title=United Kingdom Environment Agency River Churn Catchment, Autumn, 2006 |access-date=15 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070111014706/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/regions/thames/323150/335688/1468389/?lang=_e |archive-date=11 January 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the river is known to stop flowing completely at times; in September 2011 the river bed was completely dry at [[Latton, Wiltshire|Latton]].

==Water quality==
The Environment Agency measures the 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 [[invertebrate]]s, [[angiosperm]]s and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/help/glossary |website=Catchment Data Explorer |title=Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status) |publisher=Environment Agency |date=17 February 2016}} [[File:Open Government Licence logo.svg|30px]] Text was copied from this source, which is available under an [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ Open Government Licence v3.0]. © Crown copyright.</ref>

Water quality of the River Churn in 2019:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Section !! Ecological<br/>Status !! Chemical<br/>Status !! Overall<br/>Status !! Length !! Catchment !! Channel
|-
| {{waterqual_title |desc= Churn (source to Perrots Brook) |asset= GB106039029810}}
| {{waterqual_mod}}
| {{waterqual_fail}}
| {{waterqual_mod}}
| {{convert| 16.936 |km|mi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert| 58.642 |km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|
|-
| {{waterqual_title |desc= Churn (Baunton to Cricklade) |asset= GB106039029750}}
| {{waterqual_mod}}
| {{waterqual_fail}}
| {{waterqual_mod}}
| {{convert| 20.414 |km|mi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert| 30.654 |km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|
|-
| {{waterqual_title |desc= Elkstone Brook |asset= GB106039029790}}
| {{waterqual_good}}
| {{waterqual_fail}}
| {{waterqual_mod}}
| {{convert| 4.643 |km|mi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert| 19.793 |km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|
|-
| {{waterqual_title |desc= Daglingworth Stream (Source to Churn) |asset= GB106039029770}}
| {{waterqual_mod}}
| {{waterqual_fail}}
| {{waterqual_mod}}
| {{convert| 11.055 |km|mi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert| 22.369 |km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|
|}

==See also==
* [[Churn Valley]]
*[[Tributaries of the River Thames]]
*[[List of rivers of England]]

== References==
<div style="font-size:90%;">
<references />
</div>

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|River Churn}}
{{River item box
|type=confluence
|river=[[River Thames]]
|upstream= -
|downstream=[[River Key]] (south)}}
{{Transport in Gloucestershire}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Churn}}
[[Category:Rivers of Gloucestershire]]
[[Category:Rivers of Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Thames drainage basin|1Churn]]

River Churn - Revision history

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