^8 proceedings of the cotteswold club 



Basin of the Cherwell* 



and its three sub-basins, the swere, sor brook, 

 and the deddington stream above oxford 



The Cherwell is the most important river supplying the 

 Thames above Oxford, draining a diversified district of no 

 less than 334^ square miles. 



The Pervious Rocks drain 159 square miles, and the 

 Impervious l"]S}4 square miles. 



The chief source of the Cherwell is in the Middle Lias, 

 near Cherwell House, south of Helidon. The river then 

 flowing through the sandy series as far as Telford Bridge, 

 turns west, and flows over the Lower Lias between 

 Edgecott and Chipping Warden to Banbury. 



Below Banbury the Cherwell becomes a large and 

 important stream, the country on both sides yielding 

 tributaries which flow through east and west Valleys, 

 denuded down to the Upper and Middle Lias as far south 

 as Aston Bridge. West and south of Banbury, and 

 north of the Swere, the Sor Brook or Broughton Stream 

 is an important feeder, rising near Blackwell Wood, north 

 of Alkerton, and flowing to Shutford, Broughton, and 

 Alderbury. The rivers occupying the basins of the 

 Sor Brook, the Swere, and the Deddington Streams all 

 rise and drain the extensive district chiefly occupied by 

 the Middle and Upper Lias on the western side of the 

 Cherwell, and are parallel to each other ; the Swere and 

 the Sor Brook are affected by extensive faulting to the 

 west, entering the Cherwell above Somerton and north of 

 Aston Bridge. The Ray, east of the Cherwell, joins the 

 River at Islip, rising near Marsh Gibbon, and flows over 

 the Oxford Clay for 10 miles, from whence the river 



* The Cherwell drains the most northern portion of the Watershed of the Thames, 

 and is one of the chief sources of flood water in the neighbourhood of Oxford, and often 

 to the extent of -^oo.roo.ooo gallons per day. 



