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AVON

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 67 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AVON , the name of several See also:

rivers in See also:England and elsewhere. The word is See also:Celtic, appearing in Welsh (very frequently) as afon, in See also:Manx as aon, and in Gaelic as abhuinn (pronounced avain), and is radically identical with the See also:Sanskrit ap, See also:water, and the See also:Lat. aqua and amnis. The See also:root appears more or less disguised in a vast number of See also:river names all over the Celtic See also:area in See also:Europe. Thus, besides such forms as Evan, Aune, See also:Anne, he, Auney, Inney, &e., in the See also:British Islands, Af, Aven, Avon, Aune appear in See also:Brittany and elsewhere in See also:France, Avenza and Avens in See also:Italy, Avia in See also:Portugal, and Avono in See also:Spain; while the terminal syllable of a large proportion of the Latinized names of See also:French rivers, such as the Sequana, the Matrona and the Garumna, seems originally to have been the same word. The names See also:Punjab, See also:Doab, &c., show the root in a clearer shape. In England the following are the See also:principal rivers of this name. 1. The See also:EAST or See also:HAMPSHIRE AvoN rises in See also:Wiltshire See also:south of See also:Marlborough, and watering the Vale of Pewsey collects feeders from the high See also:downs between Marlborough and See also:Devizes. Breaching the high ground of See also:Salisbury See also:Plain, it passes See also:Amesbury, and following a very sinuous course reaches Salisbury. Here it receives on the east See also:bank the See also:waters of the See also:Bourne, and on the See also:west those of the Wylye. With a more See also:direct course, and in a widening, fertile valley it continues past Downton, Fording-See also:bridge and See also:Ringwood, skirting the New See also:Forest on the west, to See also:Christchurch, where it receives the See also:Stour from the west, and 21m. See also:lower enters the See also:English Channel through the broad but narrow-mouthed Christchurch See also:harbour. The length, excluding lesser sinuosities, is about 6o m., Salisbury being 35 M. above the mouth.

The See also:

total fall is rather over 500 ft., and that from Salisbury about 140 ft. The river is of no commercial value for See also:navigation. It abounds in See also:loach, and there are valuable See also:salmon See also:fisheries. The drainage area is 1132 sq. m. 2. The LOWER or See also:BRISTOL AVON rises on the eastern slope of the Cotteswold Hills in See also:Gloucestershire, See also:collecting the waters of several streams south of Tetbury and east of See also:Malmesbury. It flows east and south in a wide See also:curve, through a broad upper valley past See also:Chippenham and See also:Melksham, after which it turns abruptly west to See also:Bradford-on-Avon, receives the waters of the See also:Frame from the south, and enters the beautiful narrow valley in which See also:lie See also:Bath and Bristol. Below Bristol the valley becomes the See also:Clifton See also:Gorge, famous for its wooded cliffs and for the Clifton (q.v.) suspension bridge which bestrides it. The cliffs and See also:woods have been so far disfigured by quarries that public feeling was aroused, and in 1904 an " Avon Gorge See also:Committee " was appointed to See also:report to the See also:corporation of Bristol on the possibility of preserving the beauties of the locality. The Avon finally enters the See also:estuary of the See also:Severn at Avonmouth, though it can hardly be reckoned as a tributary of that river. From Bristol downward the river is one of the most important commercial waterways in England, as giving See also:access to that See also:great See also:port. The Kennet and Avon See also:Canal, between See also:Reading and the Avon, follows the river closely from Bradford down to Bath, where it enters it by a descent of seven locks.

The length of the river, excluding See also:

minor sinuosities, is about 75 m., the distance from Bradford to Bath being 10 m., thence to Bristol 12 m., and thence to the mouth 8 m. The total fall is between 500 and boo ft., but it is only 235 ft. from Malmesbury. The drainage area is 891 sq. See also:miles. 3. The UPPER AVON, also called the See also:Warwickshire, and some-times the " See also:Shakespeare " Avon from its associations with the poet's See also:town of See also:Stratford on its See also:banks, is an eastern tributary of the Severn. It rises near See also:Naseby in See also:Northamptonshire, and, with a course of about 100 m. joins the Severn immediately below See also:Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. Its See also:early course is south-See also:westerly to See also:Rugby, thereafter it runs west and south-west to See also:Warwick, receiving the Learn on the east. Its See also:general direction thereafter remains south-westerly, and it flows past Stratfordon-Avon, receives the Stour on the south and the Arrow on the See also:north and thence past See also:Evesham and See also:Pershore to Tewkesbury. The valley is always broad, and especially from Warwick down-See also:ward, through the Vale of Evesham, the scenery is very beautiful, the See also:rich valley being flanked by the bold Cotteswold Hills on the south and by the wooded slopes of the See also:Arden See also:district of Warwickshire on the north. The view of Warwick See also:Castle, rising from the wooded banks of the river, is unsurpassed, and the positions of Stratford and Evesham are admirable. The river is locked, and carries a small See also:trade up to Evesham, 28 m. from Tewkesbury; the locks from Evesham upward to Stratford (17 m.) are decayed, but the weirs, and See also:mill-dams still higher, afford many navigable reaches to See also:pleasure boats. The total fall of the river is about 500 ft.; from Rugby about 230 ft., and from Warwick 120 ft.

The river abounds in coarse See also:

fish. Among other occurrences of the name of Avon in Great See also:Britain there may be noted—in England, a stream flowing south-east from See also:Dartmoor in See also:Devonshire to the English Channel; in South See also:Wales, the stream which has its mouth at See also:Aberavon in See also:Glamorganshire; in See also:Scotland, tributaries of the See also:Clyde, the See also:Spey and the Forth.

End of Article: AVON

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