River Ivel

This article is about the river in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. For the river in Somerset, see River Yeo (South Somerset). For Other uses, see Ivel (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with River Ive.

River Ivel
Footbridge at Radwell
Location
Country	United Kingdom.
Counties	Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire
Settlements	Baldock, Radwell, Stotfold, Arlesey, Henlow, Langford, Biggleswade, Sandy, Tempsford.
Continent	Europe
Constituent Country	England
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Ivel Springs, Baldock.
• coordinates	51°59′35″N 0°11′31″W
• elevation	57 metres (187 ft)
Mouth	River Great Ouse
• location	Tempsford, Bedfordshire
• coordinates	52°10′04″N 0°18′14″W
• elevation	16 metres (52 ft)
Length	21 mi (34 km)
Basin features
Progression	River Ivel → Great Ouse → North Sea
Tributaries
• left	Pix brook, River Hiz, Henlow Brook and Ickwell Brook.
• right	Potton Brook and Cat Ditch.

The River Ivel (/ˈaɪvəl/) is a chalk stream in England. It rises at Ivel Springs in Baldock, it flows primarily through Bedfordshire before joining the River Great Ouse at its confluence near Tempsford. The river has a length of 21 mi (34 km). The River Ivel catchment is bounded by the Chiltern Hills to the south and the Greensand Ridge to the north. The River Ivel and the River Flit and other tributaries rise from the springs in the Chiltern Chalk.

The Ivel was made navigable under the River Ivel Navigation Act 1757 and it was navigable for supplying coal and timber to the towns of Biggleswade and Shefford. The canal was extended to Shefford in 1823, with locks at Biggleswade, Holme, Stanford and Clifton. The canal was abandoned in 1876, when a dam was built across it at Sandy. The Great Northern Railway caused its gradual decline.

Geography

The river at Ivel Springs, the river’s source.

The total length of the river is 21 mi (34 km). Its source is at Ivel Springs near Baldock at an elevation of 57 m (187 ft). The River Ivel flows through the settlements of Radwell, Stotfold, Arlesey, Henlow, Langford, Biggleswade, Sandy, and Blunham, before joining the River Great Ouse near Tempsford at an elevation of 16 m (52 ft). The River Ivel catchment is bounded by the Chiltern Hills to the south and the Greensand Ridge to the north. The River Ivel and the River Flit, and other tributaries, rise from the springs in the Chiltern chalk, the River Ivel rises in the East Anglian Chalk; it passes through the area to join the Great Ouse. Other watercourses (Running Waters, Chicksands Brook and Millbridge-Common Brooks) rise from the Woburn Sands aquifer. The River Ivel headwaters are predominant in the North Hertfordshire towns of Hitchin, Letchworth and Baldock. Other towns are Ampthill, Biggleswade and Sandy.

River Ivel north of Blunham

There are six notable tributaries of the River Ivel including:

• Pix Brook - it joins the Ivel at its confluence near Arlesey.
• River Hiz - joins the Ivel near Henlow.
• Potton Brook
• Cat Ditch - joins the Ivel near Astwick- a notable tributary.
• Ickwell Brook - it joins the River Ivel near Sandy.
• Henlow Brook - it joins the River Ivel near Langford.

Geology

A geological map of the Victorian county of Bedford

The River Ivel is a chalk stream, it receives baseflow from underlying chalk aquifers. In the county of Bedfordshire, there are two sources of aggregate: Pleistocene river and glacial gravel and sands. The valley gravels lie in the Ivel valley. For part of its extent, it is concealed by the boulder clay and alluvium of the valley of the Ivel, and it attains an elevation in the vicinity of Sandy, having a prominent escarpment and its maximum thickness of 220 feet (67 m). In addition to the Ivel valley, Glacio-fluvial deposits are present. Less extensive deposits, in places interbedded with organic muds, occur beside the River Ivel, north of Baldock. Extensive spreads of gravel extend along the Ivel valley. In the New Town church pits, geological data by Edmonds and Dinham in 1965, listed in the table below, recorded:

Geological data by Edmonds and Dinham (1965)

Coarse Gravel	Grey Gravel	Sandy Ocherous Gravel	Flint	Quartzite	Chalk
1.21 m (4 ft 0 in)	1.36 m (4 ft 6 in)	1.21 m (4 ft 0 in)	45%	5%	50%

North of Biggleswade, 10.05 m (33.0 ft) of sand and gravel rests on the Woburn Sands. In a quarry south of Sandy, excavated deposits of the First Terrace revealed the deposition occurring as bars and sheets in a braided river regime. Fossilferous silt within the gravel indicate the deposition accumulated under slow moving or still water in an abandoned meander channels. In Bedfordshire, Lower Cretaceous sandstones are present, the sandstone produces an escarpment which is the Greensand Ridge. It is clear that this feature is around Sandy, where the River Ivel cuts through it.

Ecology

Nature reserves located on the River Ivel are Ivel Springs, which is the river’s source and has areas of wildlife which includes woodland, wetland and pasture.

In the River Ivel catchment, populations of water vole and otter are present.

A study was published in the 1960s describing the River Ivel as an 'unpolluted chalk stream' as a result of the activity of attached plants and mud, the water and the planktonic algal populations were relatively low. The average water velocities rarely exceed 6cm/s in the River Ivel.

Hydrology

The table below lists the gauging station data on the River Ivel.

Gauging Station data on the River Ivel

Gauging Station	Date of greatest depth recorded	Greatest depth	Depth Range
Biggleswade	11 February, 2009	1.14 m (114 cm)	0.13–0.48 m (13–48 cm)
Blunham	3 January, 2003	1.45 m (145 cm)	0.18–0.55 m (18–55 cm)

Groundwater levels fluctuate seasonally, typically reaching the highest level in spring accumulating rainfall over the autumn and winter periods recharges the aquifer. Groundwater levels typically reach the lowest level in late summer, as during the summer months, when the temperatures are higher, evaporation and uptake of water by plants reduces the amount of accumulating rainfall.

The channelisation of the River Ivel from a multi-channelled stream into a single embanked channel, deepened and narrowed of the flow of water. The station at Blunham is a crump-weir at a width of 7.31 m (24.0 ft).

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 invertebrates, angiosperms and fish. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.

The water quality of the River Ivel system was as follows in 2019.

River Ivel water quality

Water body name	Water body type	Ecological status	Chemical	Biological quality elements	Hydromorphological designation	Length	Catchment area
Ivel (US Henlow)	River	Good	Fail	Good	Heavily modified	9.669 km (6.008 mi)	32.318 km2 (12.478 sq mi)
Ivel (DS Langford to Roxton)	River	Moderate	Fail	Good	Heavily modified	19.665 km (12.219 mi)	43.565 km2 (16.821 sq mi)

History

The Gifle were inhabitants of the River Ivel, where its name remains in the villages of Northill and Southill on the 1086 Domesday Book,(Nortgiuele, Sudgiuele).

River Ivel Navigation Act 1757
Act of Parliament
Parliament of Great Britain
Long title	An Act for making the River Ivel and the Branches there of navigable, from the River Great Ouse at Tempsford in the County of Bedford, to Shotling Mill otherwise called Burnt Mill in the Parish of Hitchin in the County of Hertford, and to Black Horse Mill, in the Parish of Bygrave in the said County of Hertford, and to the South and North Bridges in the Town of Shefford in the said County of Bedford.
Citation	30 Geo. 2. c. 62
Territorial extent	Great Britain
Dates
Royal assent	17 May 1757
Commencement	2 December 1756
Other legislation
Relates to	Ivel Navigation (Abandonment) Act 1876
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted

Holme Mill Iron Bridge, a Scheduled monument.

The River Ivel, which commences in the River Ouse, or Ouze, at Tempsford, in the county of Bedford, and about 11 mi (18 km) in a southerly direction, to the town of Shefford, in the same county, was made navigable under the River Ivel Navigation Act 1757 (30 Geo. 2. c. 62). Locks had been constructed at Tempsford, Blunham, South Mills, and Sandy. In 1758, five locks were built from Tempsford to Biggleswade, at a cost of £6,000. The river was made navigable for supplying coal and timber to the towns of Biggleswade and Shefford. The canal had been extended to Shefford in 1823, with locks at Biggleswade, Holme, Stanford and Clifton.

Ivel Navigation (Abandonment) Act 1876
Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	To provide for the closing of the Ivel Navigation; the Extinction of the Commission; and for other purposes.
Citation	39 & 40 Vict. c. cxiv
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent	13 July 1876
Other legislation
Relates to	River Ivel Navigation Act 1757
Text of statute as originally enacted

The canal was abandoned when a dam was built across it at Sandy, having been authorised by the Ivel Navigation (Abandonment) Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. cxiv). The introduction of the Great Northern Railway caused its decline. Remnants, such as Holme Lock, remain close to Jordan's Mill.

Stotfold Mill, restored after the 1992 fire.

Stotfold Mill, a Grade-II listed watermill, had one of the widest corn waterwheels in the United Kingdom. It is one of four mills in Stotfold recorded on the 1086 Domesday Book. It is recorded as an early 19th-century structure of gault bricks, with additions and alterations made in the late 19th-century. The earlier parts of the building have weatherboarding on the upper floors. It was destroyed by a fire in 1992 and subsequently rebuilt by the Stotfold Mill Preservation Trust. Other corn mills along the river include Bowman's Mill at Astwick, now a Grade II listed private home, Holme Mill at Holme, still working as a museum, and Franklin's Mill at Biggleswade, converted to apartments. A map published in the 1900s included a mill near Norton, a corn mill in Radwell and Blackhorse Farm near Baldock. In the 1880s, a map was published and it included a lock, weir, and a mill near Sandy, which is called Sandy Mill, and notably a bridge named "Girtford Bridge" is a Grade II listed building dated in 1783 with three slightly flattened arches.

See also

• Potton Brook
• List of rivers of England

References

 This article incorporates text published under the British Open Government Licence v3.0: "Ivel Operational Catchment | Catchment Data Explorer". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. Retrieved 25 April 2026.

Bibliography

• Chris Howes (2023). The River Great Ouse and its Tributaries: including the Rivers Cam, Lark, Little Ouse & Wissey, Hundred Foot River, Relief Channel. Imray, Laurie, Norie and Wilson Ltd. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-78679-568-7. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
• Marshall G. Hall (2024). Medieval Bridges of Middle England. Windgather Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-914427-30-5.
• Tony Brown (2009). The Environment and Aggregate-Related Archaeology. Oxbow Books. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-78297-280-8.
• Priestley, Joseph (1831). Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, Throughout Great Britain: As a Reference to Nichols, Priestley & Walker's New Map of Inland Navigation, Derived from Original and Parliamentary Documents in the Possession of Joseph Priestley, Esq. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green. p. 379.
• Skempton, A. W. (2002). A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Thomas Telford. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-7277-2939-2.
• Southgate, B. A. (2 October 2013). Advances in Water Pollution Research: Proceedings of the International Conference Held in London, September 1962. Elsevier. p. 324. ISBN 978-1-4832-8391-3.

External links

• Case study of the River Ivel Walk nr Biggleswade
• Videos documenting the conservation efforts of the River Ivel
• Drone view of the River Ivel