River Glaven

The River Glaven in the eastern English county of Norfolk is 10½ miles long and flows through picturesque North Norfolk countryside to the North Sea. Rising from a tiny headwater in Bodham the river starts 2½ miles before Selbrigg Pond where three streams combine at the outfall. The scenic value of the Glaven valley is important to the tourist industry in North Norfolk.

Geography

The river has a catchment area of approximately 115 km² and from its source falls 50 metres to the present tidal limit at Cley sluice. The sub-surface geology is predominantly chalk and in parts of the lower valley the river runs over chalk beds. The land adjoining the river consists of a mixture of arable farm land and, in the upper reaches near Edgefield, coniferous plantations. In the middle reaches there are grazing meadows and low-lying washlands especially below Glandford Mill. The Glaven has two major tributaries: Stody Beck joins just above Hunworth Mill (Map Ref TG 066 356), and the Thornage Beck joins close to the unbridged ford on the Thornage to Hunworth road (Map Ref TG 062 363).