Lam Brook

Lam Brook
Lambroc - Anglo-Saxon
stream
A red brick farm house, with trees set amongst green hills Mill Farm on the upper reaches of the Lam Brook
Country	England
Region	West of England
Municipality	Bath
Source
- location	Lansdown, Bath, South Gloucestershire, England
- elevation	656 ft (200 m)
- coordinates
Secondary source
- location	Cold Ashton, South Gloucestershire, England
- elevation	610 ft (186 m)
- coordinates
Additional source	St Johns Wood
- location	Toghill, South Gloucestershire, England
- elevation	580 ft (177 m)
- coordinates
Mouth	Bristol Avon
- location	Lambridge, Bath, England
- elevation	60 ft (18 m)
- coordinates
Length	2.5 mi (4 km), southerly
River system	Bristol Avon

The Lam Brook is a stream in the West Country of England, which rises in a number of springs on the southern end of the Cotswold Hills and runs in a generally southerly direction for approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) before joining the river Avon at Lambridge in Bath. The brook is mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter of indeterminate date. There is evidence of watermills in the Swainswick valley but no working examples survive. The waters are relatively clean and support a variety of wildlife including the rare white-clawed crayfish.

Course

Streams from a number of springs issuing from the southern end of the Cotswold Hills at Lansdown, Toghill and Cold Ashton in South Gloucestershire converge at Ashcombe Farm near Langridge and the Lam Brook then runs in a generally southerly direction past Ashcombe House and the villages of Upper Swainswick and Lower Swainswick. At Lambridge the stream is joined by an unnamed tributary on the right bank just before joining the Bristol Avon.

History

It is believed that the Roman Fosse Way forded the brook near the present Lambridge. Lam Brook is mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon charter as forming part of the boundaries of the village of Charlcombe. No date has yet been determined for this document. In common with many other local rivers, watermills were constructed, especially in the Swainswick valley and at Lambridge. Mill Farm at Woolley survives but has been converted to other uses. A lease of 1275 refers to "two fulling mills with all appurtenances at Lambrugge ..." and a 1729 map records "Dead Mill" a little further upstream.

Natural history

Salmonidae and white-clawed crayfish have been identified in the waters of the Lam Brook. Every year a road in Charlcombe is closed for seven weeks in February and March to allow newts, frogs and toads to safely travel down the road to reach a lake in the Charlcombe valley on an unnamed tributary of the Lam Brook. Toad patrol volunteer Helen Hobbs received an award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare in 2010 for her work in saving around 4,500 amphibians.