The River Churn is the first tributary river of the River Thames. Approximately long, it rises in the Cotswolds at Seven Springs, England and flows south, joining the Thames in Cricklade. Its length from source to confluence with the Thames is considerably greater than that of the Thames from Thames Head, though the Churn is regarded as a tributary historically and therefore by most geography guides. The name Churn is ancient, certainly pre-Roman, and probably has its origins in the Celtic language.
Description
The River Churn is the first tributary river of the River Thames. It rises in the Cotswolds at Seven Springs near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England and flows south across the Cotswold dip slope, passing through Cirencester and joining the Thames in the parish of Cricklade in Wiltshire. Its length from source to confluence with the Thames is considerably greater than that of the Thames from Thames Head; its flow is also more consistent than the winterbourne Thames, but the Churn is regarded as a tributary historically and therefore by most geography guides. The length of the Churn is approximately. It is classed as a main river and thus falls under the jurisdiction of the Environment Agency as opposed to the local authority.
Etymology
The name Churn is ancient, certainly pre-Roman and probably has its origins in the Celtic language, spoken by the Dobunni tribe, who controlled the area before the Roman conquest in the 1st century. The original name may have sounded similar to Korinn. It has been suggested that the origin of the word is associated with the ancient British Cornovii tribe. 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. Cirencester's original recorded name of Corinium Dobunnorum also shares this root.
History
Much of the catchment basin of the Churn is known to have been an important area of Roman settlement in the second to fourth centuries AD.
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. However, the river is known to stop flowing completely at times; in September 2011 the river bed was completely dry at Latton.
