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SEVERN

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 724 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SEVERN , a See also:

river of See also:Wales and See also:England. It rises on the N.E. See also:side of See also:Plinlimmon, on the S.W. border of See also:Montgomeryshire, and flows with a nearly semicircular course of about 210 M. to the See also:Bristol Channel; the See also:direct distance from its source to its mouth is about 8o m. Its Welsh name is Hafren, and its See also:Roman name was Sabrina. Through Montgomeryshire its course is at first in a S.E. direction, and for the first 15 M. it flows over a rough precipitous See also:bed. At Llanidloes it bends towards the N.E., passing See also:Newtown and See also:Welshpool; this See also:part of the valley bearing the name of the Vale of See also:Powis. It receives the See also:Vyrnwy near Melverley, and forms a mile of the Welsh border, and then turning in an E.S.E. direction enters See also:Shropshire, and See also:waters the broad See also:rich See also:plain of See also:Shrewsbury, after which it bends southward past Ironbridge and See also:Bridgnorth to See also:Bewdley in See also:Worcestershire. In Shropshire it receives a number of tributaries, the See also:chief of which is the See also:Tern. Continuing its southerly course through See also:Worcester-See also:shire it passes See also:Stourport, where it receives the See also:Stour (See also:left), and Worcester, shortly after which it receives the Teme (right). It enters See also:Gloucestershire See also:close to See also:Tewkesbury, where it receives the Upper See also:Avon (left), after which, bending in a S.W. direction, it passes the See also:city of See also:Gloucester, below which it becomes estuarine and tidal. A high See also:bore or tidal See also:wave, for which the Severn is notorious, may See also:reverse the flow as high up as Tewkesbury See also:Lock (134 M. above Gloucester), and has sometimes caused See also:great destruction. The See also:estuary merges into the Bristol Channel at the point where it receives on the left the See also:Lower or Bristol Avon, and on the right the Wye. The source lies at an See also:elevation of about 2000 ft.; the fall from Llanidloes is about 55o ft., from Newtown 365 ft. and from Shrewsbury, 90 M. above Gloucester, 18o ft.

The scenery of the upper valley is See also:

wild and picturesque, and that of the lower river is at some points very beautiful. The course between the height of the Wrekin and See also:Wenlock Edge (despite the manufacturing towns on the See also:banks at this point), the valley above Bewdley, where the See also:Forest of Wyre See also:borders the left See also:bank, and the See also:fine position of Worcester, with its See also:cathedral rising above the river, may be noticed. The distance from Gloucester to Avonmouth is 44 m., but the upper part of the estuary is tortuous, and, owing to the bores and shifting shoals, difficult of See also:navigation: On this See also:account the Gloucester and See also:Berkeley See also:Ship See also:Canal, 164 m. in length, was constructed, admitting vessels of 350 tons to Gloucester from the docks at Sharpness on the estuary. The navigation extends up to Arley, above Bewdley, 47 M. from Gloucester, but is principally used up to Stourport (43 m.), from which the See also:Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal gives See also:access to the See also:Wolverhampton See also:industrial See also:district and the See also:Trent and See also:Mersey navigation. The Berkeley canal and the Worcester and See also:Birmingham canal are maintained by the Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester and Birmingham navigation See also:company. There is connexion with the See also:Thames by the Stroudwater canal from Framilode on the estuary, joining the Thames and Severn canal near See also:Stroud. The Wye is in part navigable; the Bristol Avon gives access to the great See also:port of Bristol, and the Upper Avon is in part navigable. The Severn is a See also:good See also:salmon river, and is famous for its lampreys, while many of the tributaries afford fine See also:trout-fishing, such as the Teme and the Vyrnwy. The drainage See also:area of the Severn is 685o sq. m., including the Wye and the Bristol Avon, or 4350 sq. m. without these See also:rivers. Severn See also:Tunnel.—The first See also:bridge above the mouth of the Severn is that near Sharpness, which carries the Great Westernand Midland See also:joint railway between Berkeley Road and Lydbrook Junction. But the Severn tunnel, carrying the Great Western; railway under the estuary 14 m. below the bridge, forms the direct route between the See also:south of England and South Wales. Before the tunnel was made there was a See also:steam See also:ferry at a point known as " New Passage," where a ferry had existed from See also:early times.

The steam ferry was opened in connexion with the Bristol and South Wales See also:

Union railway in 1863, and was subsequently taken over by the Great Western company. See also:Parliamentary See also:powers to construct the tunnel were obtained by this company in 1872, and See also:work began in the following See also:year. The originator of the See also:scheme and chief engineer was Mr See also:Charles See also:Richard-son, and See also:Sir See also:John See also:Hawkshaw was consulting engineer. The See also:principal difficulty encountered in the construction was the tendency to flooding, owing both to the river breaking into the See also:works, and, more especially, to the underground springs encountered, one of which when tapped completely flooded the works at a See also:rate of 6000 gallons per See also:minute, and delayed the work for more than a year. In 1879, after this disaster, the See also:contract for the whole work was let to Mr T. A. See also:Walker. The See also:total length of the tunnel is 4 m. 624 yds., of which 2i m. are beneath the river. On the See also:east side the cutting leading to the tunnel has a gradient of I in too, which is continued in the tunnel itself until the deepest part is reached beneath the river-channel known as " the Shoots," which has a See also:depth of about 6o ft. at See also:low See also:tide and too at high tide (See also:ordinary See also:spring). Beneath this the rails run level for 12 chains, after which the ascent of the tunnel and cutting on the See also:west side is on a gradient of I in 90. At Sudbrook on the west side there is a pumping and ventilating station.

The tunnel was completed in 1886; the See also:

time for passenger trains between Bristol and See also:Cardiff was immediately reduced by nearly one See also:half, and the value of the new route was especially apparent in connexion with the See also:mineral See also:traffic between the South Wales See also:coal-See also:field and See also:London and the ports of the south of England.

End of Article: SEVERN

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SEVERN TUNNEL (4 M. 281 chains in length)

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