River Mole

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The Mole River is a tributary of the River Thames in southern England. Climb in West Sussex near Horsham and flow northwest through Surrey for 80 km (50 miles) to the Thames River at East Molesey, opposite Hampton Court Palace. The river gave its name to Surrey district in the Mole Valley. Mole crosses the North Downs between Dorking and Leatherhead, where it cuts a steep canyon, known as the Mole Gap, through chalk. Most of the catchment areas are located on top of non-deckable stones (including Wealden Clay and London Clay), which means that the river level responds rapidly to heavy rain.

During the second half of the 20th century pollution levels in the river it was high, but since 1995 water quality has increased dramatically and Mole now offers the diversity of the largest fish species of any river in the UK. Twelve Special Scientific Interest Sites (SSSIs) covering wetland habitats located within the Mole catchment area and the stretch of the river through Leatherhead have been designated as a Local Nature Reserve. The Mole gap is part of the Special Conservation Area and is a SSSI for European interests.

The river has captured the imaginations of some writers and poets, especially since in the very hot summer the river channel can become dry between Dorking and Leatherhead (most recently during the 1976 drought). On the map of 1611 John Speed ​​in Surrey, this stretch of river is symbolized by a series of hills accompanied by the legend of "The river flows beneath." However, the name of the river may not be derived from this behavior: The Oxford Place Language Lexicon indicates that Mole is derived from the Latin mola (milling) or is a rear formation of Molesey (Pulau Mul). The Domesday Book lists twenty grinding in the river in 1086, where Sidlow Mill is the oldest, dating from the Saxon era.

Video River Mole

Area tangkapan Edit

The Mole River drainage area is 512 km ² and forms 5% of the Thames River catchment area above Teddington. Each year the catchment area receives 761 mm of rain each year, the largest mean rainfall rate is 800 mm of rain around Crawley. The Mole catchment reaches a maximum elevation of 265 m (869 ft) above Ordnance Datum at Leith Hill in south west Dorking. There is only one aquifer in the drainage basin, in Fetcham, meaning that much of the water in the river comes from surface drainage, especially from Gatwick Airport and the urban areas of Horley and Crawley, and that the flow rate responds rapidly to rainfall.

Maps River Mole

Course Edit

Top Mole Edit

The Mole River rises in Baldhorns Copse 0.7 km (0.4 miles) south of Rusper village in West Sussex. The river flows initially to the south as far as 1 km (0.6 miles) to a small lake in Baldhorns Park, before heading east through the countryside to Crawley. The first tributary to join the young river dries the northernmost part of St. Leonard Forest, between Horsham and Crawley, although many forests are in the Arun River catchment area. Mole skirts north of Crawley where he joins the first tributary, Ifield Brook, which dries Ifield Mill Pond.

The first measuring station at Mole is located south of Gatwick Airport (57 m above OD). The average stream was 0.33 m ³ /s (12 cuÃ, ft/s) and the river dried up at this point for the first time in the summer of 1995. Mole runs under the airport runway in a culvert- culvert that was completed in 1985. The Mole line at the airport perimeter has been changed several times since commercial flights began in 1945; but the meanders seen on the map of the 1839 tents in a 1.5 km stretch immediately north of the runway were restored in 1999, in a 1.2 million pound project to facilitate the expansion of the airport.

The Mole enters Surrey in southern Horley, where he meets the Gatwick Stream, a logging forest of a river drained to the southeast of Crawley. The second largest Wastewater Treatment Work (STW) in Mole Breeding is located at Gatwick Stream 3 km (1.9 mi) upstream meeting with Mole: Crawley STW removes 15 megalithres (15,000 m ³ ) water per day, and in the prolonged dry period it accounts for up to 75% of the downstream flow of the Mole from the meeting. The average flow measured at the Horley measuring station (52 m above the OD) is 1.40 m ³ /s (49Ã, cuÃ, ft/s). Mole passes Horley to the west, flowing north toward Sidlow and into the countryside. 0.7 km (0.4 mi) south of Sidlow average flow measured as 2.21 m ³ /s (78Ã, cuÃ, ft/s) at Kinnersley Manor gauging station (48 m in over OD). The Earlswood Brook, a tributary that dries up the urban areas of Reigate and Redhill, joins Mole in Sidlow. The largest STW in Mole (Reigate STW) catches up to 118.5 megalithres per day to Earlswood Brook.

From Sidlow, Mole turns northwest toward Brockham. A number of small tributaries join the river from the west and usually second order streams deplete the forest and fertile soil between Horsham and Dorking. The 18th century boulevard at Betchworth was modified in 2004 to facilitate the installation of two low-head turbines with a capacity of 27.5 kW. About 90% of the energy generated is fed into the regional power grid, while the remainder is used to supply the Betchworth Park Estate, where the weir is located. The river leaves Wealden Clay in Brockham, past Betchworth Castle and flows briefly across the greensand and the Gault Clay to Pixham, 1km (0.6 mi) northeast of Dorking. The average flow of 3.74m ³ /s (132Ã, cuÃ, ft/s) was measured at the fourth measurement station, located in Castle Mill (39 m above OD). At Pixham the Mole meets Pipp Brook, a tributary that dries the northeastern slope of Leith Hill.

Mole Gap Edit

Between Dorking and Leatherhead, Mole cuts down a steep valley (Mole Gap) though the North Downs, carve a 170 meter (560 feet) river cliff on the west side of Box Hill and a smaller 50 meters (160 ft) cliff at Ham Bank at Norbury Park. The sudden shift from Wealden Clay became impermeable to permeable lime and increased river slope (which falls 15 m within six miles (10 km) between Brockham and Leatherhead, compared to 3 m at 12 miles (19 km) between Horley and Brockham) water falling under the river bed. Water is able to flow out of the river through swallowing holes in beds and banks, reducing the volume of water carried in the main channel. The river route through Norbury Park was partially straightened when the Epsom railway to Horsham was built in 1837, with the removal of a small fettle to the north of Westhumble. The dappled was restored in 1997, in an attempt to increase the area of ​​this National Park, although it has been blocked by mud. The entire Gap Mole is located within the superb Surrey Hills of Natural Beauty area.

Lower Mole Edit

At Leatherhead, Mole leaves the limestone and spins northwest to cross the opaque, winding London Clay toward Cobham. The water table rises at this point and much water flows out of the channel through the chalk back through the spring at the bottom of the river. The aquifer in Fetcham is the only one in the entire catchment area. The next major tributary, The Rye, (which drains Ashtead) joins north of Leatherhead, before the river is crossed by the M25 highway. At Cobham, a swinging river revolves around a tortuous ax-head through the Painshill Landscape Park, where a 35 foot (11 m) diamond water mill raises 5 meters (16 feet) of water from the river to feed the ornamental lake in the park.

From the Painshill Park the river flows northeast to the River Thames, westward to the Esher Commons and then forms the boundary between Hersham and Esher, where the average river flow is 5.43 m ³ /s (192a , CuÃ,ft/s). In response to the massive floods in East Molesey and Thames Ditton in September 1968, the river was converted downstream Albany Bridge to the Thames and new flooded defense. Eventually the Mole is divided into two branches on the Island Barn Reservoir near Molesey: the northern (and smaller) northern branches continue when the Mole River and southern branches are known as the Ember River. Both rivers flowed on either side of the reservoir, before going side by side in the north east, joining 400 m before meeting the River Thames, at a range over Teddington Lock. (For the rest of this article, the Mole River and the Ember River are treated as a single entity.)

Before the last Ice Age, the Thames followed a more northerly route to the North Sea, from Reading via Marlow, Chorleywood, St Albans, Hertford, and along the Suffolk-Essex border. During this period, Mole allegedly joined the Wey River near Byfleet and then flowed northeastward through Richmond to meet proto-Thames near Ware in Hertfordshire, (today Mole and Wey are less than 2 km (1.2 n, mi) apart at their nearest point near Painshill Park). During the Middle Pleistocene period, large ice sheets stretch across much of the East of England, reaching as far south as St Albans and Chelmsford, blocking the proto-Thames pathway. Glacial ice from the Anglican ice sheets, causing the Thames River to veer south and flood the Mole-Wey river valley, thus adopting the current route through London.

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Ecology Edit

Water quality Edit

The quality of raw water from Mole and its tributaries has increased since the 1990s. In 1990, the Environmental Agency assessed 23% of the tributaries as Class B (good) or better. In 2002 this figure was 60%. Investments in Waste Treatment Works Working in water catchment areas has improved the quality of river drainage and modifications on runways and apron drainage systems at Gatwick Airport means that surface water is transferred to aeration control of lagoon pollution and balancing pools for treatment including alkaline acid/neutralization prior to release to the river.

In 1972, a sub-debate on future Mole hygiene was carried out by Lords involving members of the Southeast Strategic Committee, from the Thames Conservancy (replaced by the Environment Agency) and four others. In this case it says "... I can not see the future for [The Mole] Mole Valley has been polluted, the Mole where I used to tickle the trout in my youth is the sewer, and it will still drain." Rebuttals include that the Mole is "Surrey's charming vapor" and "If Lord Lytton goes fishing on the Mole River - and there is still a fishing club there - he will find that he can still catch trout".

The most contaminating disposal has become less common but has occurred since 2000: In 2003, Gatwick Airport Ltd pleaded guilty to allegations of allowing chemical contamination to enter the Mole River after detergent, used to clean rubber and oil from runways, washed into the Brook Crawler by airport workers. The Environment Agency estimates that up to 5200 fish from 14 different species are killed as pollution flows downstream. The airport was fined Ã, Â £ 30,000 by Lewes Crown Court. In May 2003, the leaking waste from a pump operated by Thames Water leaked into the Stanford River that killed a rough fish in the Gatwick river.

Biodiversity Edit

The Swamp Frog ( Pelophylax ridibundus , a non-native species introduced from Europe in the 1930s) is now commonly found in upper Mole and its tributaries around Newdigate and Gatwick. There is no evidence that frog presence has a damaging effect on native amphibians. The second non-native species, edible frog ( Pelophylax cl. ) was introduced to a site in Newdigate in the early 1900s. This was recorded in 2008 in the tributary of the Mole River in Capel and Brockham.

The Mole River has the most diverse fish population of any river in England. Gatwick Stream is dominated by rough fish such as brown trout, lamprey brook, and eel. In 2003, the upper Mole River near Meath Green Lane, Horley, was upgraded to create a pebble spawning area to encourage chubs and daces in addition to roaches. In 1974 zander, a native non-native fish native to Europe, was legitimately introduced to Old Bury Hill Lake supplying Pipp Brook. Zander has been captured in the Lower Mole under Dorking since the 1980s.

In Mole Gap between Dorking and Leatherhead rivers support populations of chub, dace, barbells, brown trout. Both barbell and brown trout are very sensitive to water quality and pollution. Below Leatherhead rivers have historically supported larger predatory fish including chub, perch, spear, and eel, but in recent years the number of chubs and eels has begun to decline. To the north of Esher, the old river channel is dominated by a floating pennywort, a highly invasive weed, which cuts all light to the river bed, reduces oxygen levels and produces bad fish habitats. The Ember flood relief channel has a diverse population of fish, including chub, dace, roach, gloom, large spears and barbells. At the Mole and River Thames meeting at Hampton Court Palace it is possible to capture various types of coarse fish.

The geographic distribution of many invertebrate species on the river reflects the geology of the catchment area. Viviparid snails and water scorpions (from the genus Nepidae ) are usually found where rivers flow over London Clay. Crayfish are often found in areas associated with high alkalinity especially around Brockham and the tributaries that flow over Clay Wealden provide excellent habitat for stone flies, caddisflies, quickflies and riffle beetles. The beautiful Demoiselle ( Calopteryx virgo ) disappeared from the Mole River during the 1960s due to deteriorating water quality, but has since been recolonized. The white-legged damselfly ( Platycnemis pennipes ) is also found along the river and the hairless emerald ( Cordulia aenea ) is found between Box Hill and Leatherhead. The Mole is one of only three locations in England where the river shingle beetle ( Meotica anglica ) is found.

The national rare species commonly common in the Mole River is the larger dodder ( Cuscuta europaea ).

Preservation Edit

The mole catch area includes twelve Special Scientific Interest Sites (SSSI) covering wetland habitats and river stretching through Leatherhead has been designated as a Local Nature Reserve. The Mole gap is part of the Special Conservation Area and is a SSSI for European interests.

The creek between Thorncroft Manor (1 km south of Leatherhead) and River Lane in Fetcham have been designated as a Local Nature Reserve. Although much of the surrounding land has been taken up by residential and commercial development, this section of Mole supports 20 different mammal species, 20 species of butterflies and 15 species of dragonflies. The geology of the local area is very complex, because the river leaves the Mole Gap limestone at this point and flows over gravel and clay, creating patches of different habitats including shrubs, forests, hedges, banks, and grasslands as well as the water itself. The river also provides corridors for wildlife through Leatherhead center.

The West End Common is part of the Esher Commons, owned and run by the Elmbridge Borough Council. The Mole River forms a common western boundary, flowing through a locally known steep sand region as The Ledges . Typical plant species from ancient forest are found in this area, including bluebells ( Hyacinthoides non-scriptus ), marijold marsh ( Caltha palustris ) and gold saxifrages ( Chrysosplenium sp.). large bittercress ( Cardamine amara ) and non-native Himalayan balsam ( Impatiens glandulifera ).

The Molesey Heath Local Nature Reserve is located on the western edge of Mole, west of the Island Shelter Reservoir. The Heath is an area of ​​rough scrubland and, despite its name, is a reclaimed landfill site then a large but artificial mound and small plains. This site is a rich habitat for birds including redshank and small ringed plover.

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Angling Edit

Below is a list of rough fish records for the Mole River

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Geology Edit

Upper Mole (geology) Edit

The Mole above Dorking flows an area of ​​340 km ² (130Ã, sqÃ, mi), of which about 60% are in Wealden Clay or Atherfield Clay, 20% are in Tunbridge Wells Sand and 20% are in greensand. Brickearth deposits are common in the valley around Betchworth and east of Dorking. The upper Mole basin is dominated by a wide terrace, which continues to run from the entrance to the Mole Gap as far south of Tilgate Forest. Above Meath Green (near Horley), the terrace corresponds to the river flood plain, but from this point downstream to Brockham, the creek cuts a narrow ditch no more than 150m wide. The same trench runs several Mole tributaries, especially along Deanoak Brook that follow local attacks. The presence of trenches protects the soil from floods making it suitable for agriculture.

Mole Gap (geology) Edit

Between Dorking and Leatherhead, Mole cuts a steep valley through the North Downs, creating a 170-meter-high river bank on the west side of Box Hill. The bedrock is lime permeable and the water table is located permanently below the river bottom level, allowing water to flow out of the river through the swallowing hole in the bed and the bank. The amount of water lost from the river is significant and in very hot summers it can be dry between Mickleham and Thorncroft Manor; this was noted recently in 1949 and 1976. At Leatherhead, the river leaves chalk and flows across the watertight Clay London. At this point that the water level rises enough to allow water to flow back into the main river channel.

In a survey in 1958, the geologist C.C. Fagg identified 25 active swallowing holes between Dorking and Mickleham; mostly only a few centimeters in diameter and located on the vertical edges of the river below the waterline. Most holes are difficult to observe during normal or severe flow and are susceptible to silting because new holes continue to form. Some of the larger swallowing holes were also observed separately from the main river by a channel of about one meter. Around six bigger swallow pits were found west of the Burford Bridge Hotel, along the A24 Mickleham Bypass motorway during its construction in 1936. Initially surveyors tried to fill the holes with debris to prevent the foundations of new trails. subsided. However this proved to be impractical and they were instead covered by a concrete dome, up to 18 m in diameter, each fully supported by surrounding limestone and equipped with manhole and access to allow periodic inspections. In the late 1960s the dome was reopened and examined and alluvium in the largest swallowing holes observed had subsided by 1.5 meters (4 ft 11 inches) beneath the center of one of the domes. When the Dorking to Leatherhead train was built in 1859, fossilized swallowing holes were found at the cutting at the southern end of Box Hill and Westhumb railway stations, suggesting that even in early history, the river had swallowed a hole.

Author Daniel Defoe, who went to Dorking school and probably grew up in the village of Westhumble, described the swallowing hole in the Mole River in his book The Tour of the 'Island of All Great Britain (first published in 1724):

.. the river currents are severely hindered by the diversion of the hills, called Box Hill... it forces such water to find their way as best as they can; and to do this, begin, I say, where the river comes close to the foot of the Box-Hill cliff, called Stomacher, the water that sinks unreasonably, and in some places to be seen (and I have seen them) out on the side of the river, where the water in the not-so-large river would fill a quarter-inch diameter pipe, out of the river, and sink into the ground. In this way it goes, reducing the flow of the river over a mile, almost two, and these are called Swallows.

Not all water discharged from the river by swallowed holes is returned to the channel at Leatherhead. The aquifer is also feeding the springs at the southern end of the Fetcham Mill Pond, which is never known to be dry. A survey in March 1883 estimated that Fetcham springs produce about 3.6 million gallons of water (16,000 m ³ ) daily. A second survey in 1948 estimated that the same spring produced about 5 million gallons of water (22,000 m ³ ) a day. The water table in the Wey Gap lime is significantly higher than expected from natural rainforest percolations alone. It has been argued that the proportion of excess water comes from the Mole Gap.

Lower Mole (geology) Edit

At Leatherhead, the river leaves limestone, moving to London Clay. The meandering river passes an alluvial plain between 400 and 800 meters in the direction of Cobham, where it begins to descend to the lower flood plain which in turn widens into the head twists in the Garden Painshill. The east of the flood plain narrows into a 60 m wide trench, where the entire river flows north along 6.5 km (4.0 mi) past the Hersham and Esher fields, where the river enters the flood plain of the River Thames.

Mole's history course has settled the upstream pebbles of London Clay in parts of Cobham, Fieldcommon, Hersham and Esher. Their depth generally varies from 2.5 m (8 ft) to 7 m (20 ft), and the undercoat is generally very dense and cemented together with red-brick iron oxide while the loose upper layer is packed with flint and corner sand. The rest of the gravel terrace further contains cherts and flints up to a depth of 4 m (13 ft) east side line of St. George's Hill.

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History Edit

Etymology Edit

The river was first recorded in the Red Book of Thorney in AD 983 as Emen and in AD 1005 Cartulary of the Abbey of Eynsham as both Emen and ÃÆ' â € men . Variations in names were recorded throughout the Middle Ages and rivers appear as Amele in the Domesday Book and subsequently as Emele in the 12th and 13th Century Rolls. This name may be derived from the Old English word ÃÆ'Â|men which means foggy or causes fog , and the Ember River name may have its origin in this name.

The name Mole did not appear until the 16th century, first appeared as Moule in Harrison English Description in 1577. The antique William Camden uses the Latin Form Molis in the 1586 edition Britannia and Michael Drayton was the first to use Mole in his poem Poly-Olbion i published on 1613. In the 1611 John Speed ​​map of Surrey, the stretch of the river is symbolized by a series of hills accompanied by the legend of "The river flows beneath." However, the name of the river may not be derived from this behavior: The Oxford Place Language Lexicon indicates that Mole is derived from the Latin mola (milling) or is a rear formation of Molesey (Pulau Mul). In the 1768 map of John William of Surrey, the name Moulsey River is used.

archeology Edit

As with most of the remaining Wealds, the earliest evidence of human settlements along the Upper Mole dates from the Mesolithic Period (20,000-7000 BC). Mesolithic sites in Wonham, Flanchford and Sidlow. The findings at Wonham include an arrowhead and a plano-convex knife. The Lower Mole appears to have been completed during the same period and the stone ax originating from the Mesolithic period was found in the spit of land close to the River Mole at Cobham in 1965. The remains of a flat dug boat were found at the Mole and Thames meeting in 1877 by a local boatman. This canoe is preserved at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.

The Mole Gap and North Downs never seem to be resolved until the end of the Stone Age: The big ax, a typical "rough ax" produced during the Neolithic period, which was discovered in 1952 during building work in Westhumble, A stone quarry from the same period has been found in East Horsley along with Neolithic flint spears at Fetcham and Headley Heath.

Significant Bronze Age findings include a bronze sword found near the northern river from the Amberley Plantation near Charlwood and a small arsenal of two palstave axes and a sarong chape was discovered in 2003 at Norbury Park close to Ham Bank.

Navigation Edit

It is not clear how far Moles were used for navigation in the past: By the end of the thirteenth century, Thorncroft Manor (south of Leatherhead) bought a shout , a kind of boat up to 16 meters (52 × ft) in length was used to bring the proceeds to the market and have suggested that rocks cut from mines in Reigate are transported to London via the river.

During the 17th century, two bills came before the parliament to make the river sections navigable. The first, in 1663, was passed by the House of Commons but defeated at the House of Lords. During the following year (1664), an act was passed by both Houses of Parliament to make the River Mole navigate from Reigate to the River Thames, but never executed. The only river that Surrey has made entirely surfed is the Wey River.

In 1798 William Marshall advocated the canalisation of a short stretch of the Mole River between Betchworth and Dorking to facilitate the movement of limestone from mine to market. In 1810, engineer John Rennie proposed a canal linking River Medway to Portsmouth that would have a branch to London following the Mole for most of its length. Between 1825 and 1828 the architect and civil engineer Nicholas Wilcox Cundy proposed the Great Imperial Ship Channel from Deptford to Chichester through the Mole Gap, but he could not attract enough financial interest in his plans.

Today Mole is navigated for 400 m from a meeting with the River Thames to Molember Weir in East Molesey where there is a private mooring facility. The river can be rowed throughout the year by canoeing between Brockham and Fetcham with appropriate licenses from the British Canoe Union.

Second World War Defense Edit

During the Second World War several sites along the way were fortified Mole for London defense against the invasion of the south. GHQ Line B ran along the North Downs of Farnham and Guildford, crossing the Mole Gap to the north of Dorking and following the river to Horley. Between Betchworth and Box Hill, the northern banks of the Mole River became steady and made steeper to prevent wheeled vehicles from passing. At Boxhill Farm, where access to the river from the north bank is required for dairy herds, a row of twelve concrete cylinders is cast as an anti-tank measure. Gun mounts are also installed to protect Boxhill and Deepdene bridges and some pill boxes are installed. An anti-tank trench was dug from Stepping Stones eastward across the fields of Bradley Farm (now Denbies vineyard).

The river crossing at Sidlow Bridge is highly preserved and the pill box line is built on the north bank of the river. Concrete anti-tank dragon teeth are built on both sides of the river, a short distance to the upper reaches of the bridge, as a barrier for armored vehicles.

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Mole Crossing Edit

Mole Gap Edit

The North Downs Way crosses the river on Box Hill through seventeen hexagonal stepping stones, which are often submerged after heavy rains. The stones are currently dedicated in September 1946 by Prime Minister Clement Attlee, replacing the ones destroyed during the Second World War as an anti-invasion measure. This location is popular among anglers and families, but swimming is strongly discouraged because water is polluted in some places. The stones gave their name to a pub in the nearby Westhumble village.

When the Burford Bridge was rebuilt in 1937, the excavation revealed "the flint-surface approach to [a] wading at low levels had all the signs of Roman workmanship" indicating that Stane Street (which runs from London to Chichester via Dorking) crossed the river at a time this. In the time of Defoe, there was a pedestrian bridge at this point, but the wagon and train had to cross the river by crossing over.

Leatherhead Edit

There are three bridges listed at Leatherhead where 14 Leatherhead Town Bridge arches are the oldest. The first bridge on this site was probably built during the late Middle Ages and was rebuilt and enlarged by county surveyor George Gwilt in 1782-83. This bridge is a long structure of 14 segmental arches that rest on low pillars, finished in red bricks in Flemish ties, with some Portland dressing stones.

A few meters downstream of the Leatherhead Bridge is a Grade II listed railway bridge carrying the Leatherhead line to Dorking over the river. The bridge was built in 1867 and, at the urging of Thomas Grissell, the landowner, was given a luxurious architectural care.

Shell's single-bound bridge stands on the Thorncroft Manor field, south of the City Center. The bridge was built as an ornamental feature in a garden laid out by Brownian Capability at the end of the 18th century. The bridge is composed mostly of flint and has a large inverted clamshell in place of keystone and similar shells on spandrels on each side. The bridge was renovated and reinforced in 1999 by a group of Canadian engineers working on the Terra Nove project. The restoration project is dedicated to the memory of Canadian soldiers stationed in the manor during the Second World War.

Cobham Edit

A wooden bridge is thought to have existed on the Cobham Bridge site since the 12th century, the maintenance of which is the responsibility of the adjacent landowner. The bridge was built by George Gwilt in 1792, after the responsibility for maintenance has been transferred to the County Council by the Parliament Act. The bridge has nine low arches and is mainly constructed of red brick with stone countermeasures. The parapets were rebuilt in 1914 and the structure was given a Grade II list in 1953.

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Watermills Edit

The Domesday book listed twenty factories on the Mole River in 1086.

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Horley Mill was first mentioned in the early deed of the 13th century. The last plant was destroyed in 1959, although the factory house is still standing.

The first factory in Sidlow was built during the Saxon era. The final mill on the site was destroyed in 1790, but the remains of the mill were still visible.

Mention is made of grinding at Brockham in 1634 and the remainder of the refinery race is still visible.

Lower Mole Edit

Slyfield Mill near Stoke d'Abernon is first mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is used to fill woolen fabrics and corn milling.

The five factories mentioned in the Domesday Book are in the Elmbridge area.

Downside Mill, Cobham is a milling manor of Downe. Until the Dissolution of the Temple was owned by Chertsey Abbey. It has been used for many purposes including processing corn, paper, iron, tinplate and herd and electricity generation. The building dates from the 18th century but is not accessible to the public.

Cobham Mill, downstream of Leatherhead, consists of two factories used to grind corn. In 1953, a larger factory was destroyed by the Surrey County Council to tackle traffic congestion on Mill Road. The remaining red brick factory dates from 1822 and was used until 1928. Renewed into full-fledged work by the Cobham Mill Preservation Trust, and is now open to the public from 2 pm to 5 pm on the second Sunday of each month. (between April and October).

Esher Mill is at the end of Lower Green Road where there is now an industrial estate. It is used to process corn, brass wire, iron, paper, linoleum, and books. For many years there may be two factories on site for milling corn and industrial use. There was a series of fires for a century and after the last in 1978 the buildings were destroyed.

East Molesey Upper Mill is associated with the Molesey Matham manor. It was used to produce gunpowder from the Commonwealth period until about 1780. The island where it stands now is part of the ornamental gardens of a housing development called "The Wilderness".

East Molesey Lower Mill, also known as Sterte Mill, is associated with a manor of Molesey Prior. During the Commonwealth it was used for the manufacture of gunpowder, but after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 it returned to the corn mill. The old wood structure was replaced by a brick building in the 1820s which can be seen from the bridge over the Buckets at Hampton Court Way.

In addition there is the Ember Mill, which stands on the edge of the old Ember River line near Hampton Court Way.

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River Ember Flood Relief Channel and meeting with Thames Edit

The Mole River originally flowed into the River Thames at the point where the Hampton Court bridge now crosses the River Thames (about 500 m upstream from the current meeting, on a range above Teddington Lock).

However, in the early 1930s, when the Hampton Court Way and the bridge were built, the Mole River was switched to flow to the Ember River and the two rivers now entered the Thames River in a wide and straightened channel once occupied by the Ember River. There are further changes to this two river program in the major flood prevention schemes since the serious floods in the area in 1947 and 1968.

Literature Edit

The river has captured the imaginations of some writers and poets, especially since in the very hot summer the river channel can become dry between Dorking and Leatherhead (most recently during the 1976 drought).

In The Faerie Queene (first published in 1590) Edmund Spenser writes about the river:

And Mole, which is like a nousling mouse makes

The road is still underground until Thamis he caught up.

In Poly-Olbion (first published in 1612) the poet Michael Drayton describes the trip taken by the River Thames to the sea:

As it still trains well but every hour is growing,

And from Surrian smart beach Wey down to meet

His Greatnes, who Tames is very friendly greet

It's with Fearne-crown'd Flood that he's minion-like play:

But is not this Brook, care for him to stay.

But because they, with a smug, come sport in shole,

Gainst Hampton-Court she meets softly and softly Mole .

His eyes are so piercing his chest, which looks like foreslowe

The way he long meant was to leave,

With a little up and down, he wanders here and there;

And that he's in front of him, transparent might be interesting,

Apply himself to Ford, and set his joy,

On what might make him satisfied in his vision.

But Tames will hardly: often turn around to show,

For her beloved Mole how loth she should go.

Mother of Mole , old Holmsdale , also acting

Witness their child, as sick with them:

But Mole respects his words, like vaine and idre dreames,

Comparing with that high joy, to be Belov'd from Tames:

And the head-long held his way, his company to win.

Mole digging its own way, working day and night

(According to his name, to show his nature correctly)

And beneath the Earth, for a space of three creep miles:

Until it disappears from view, enough from her mother continues,

The thing he wants is the rogue Nymph who runs;

As longing to mimic the child's tame and Isis ...

He writes in the appendix to Song XVII

It runs into the earth, about a mile from Darking in Surrey, and after about two miles to see the light againe, to make sure it has been confirmed by the Occupants there about making a report about it.

John Milton (c.1562-1647) describes the river as

Moll scowling that goes under

In the same vein, Alexander Pope (1688-1744) wrote in his poem of Windsor Forest (first published 1713)

And a sullen Moll that hides his diving flood

Robert Bloomfield (1766-1823) wrote the following line about the Mole Valley in the poem of 1806 Wild Flower .

Sweet Health, I'm looking for you! Either take it

Your Balm that softens human disease;

Let's come a long flying cloud

Their shadow is in Surry-Hills.

Yon green-topt hills, and far

Where is my late freedom of stealing,

And spend a delicious day

In your wild wild bank Mole.

Ay there is a scene! Outside the sweeps

From clouds collected in London,

Dark-eyed wood, steep inclines,

And the valley without the crowd!

Here Thames I watch your stream flow,

Ten thousand screens I am proud to see;

But where Mole all glide silently

Dwells Peace - and Peace is a wealth to me.

Extracts from Mole River or Emlyn Stream by Mary Drinkwater Bethune, published in 1839.

Who can recount the forgotten time

When water first forces an outlet here:

When this stedfast hill foundation

Is shaken, and the old jail stream

Flowing through the abyss yawning? That horrible day

But leaving his mark. Water found their way,

Now laughing in the sun - now swallowed

In caves that just rot them,

They let the channel dry, and hide for a while

Their silent stream; such as bitter tears, not palpable

From the dim eyes, before the careless world

Regardless of our sorrow; but the swelling is still

In a full heart, which is spotless, invisible,

And contemplate o'er destroys hope, and the days go by.

Tributaries Edit

The main tributaries of the Mole River are Ifield Brook, Gatwick Stream, Earlswood Brook, Pipp Brook and The Rye, which drain Ashtead. The full list of tributaries is given in the table below.

Distributary Edit

• Ember River

See also Edit

• List of rivers in the UK
• The creek from the River Thames

Note Edit

References Edit

External links Edit

• Environmental Agency: Mol Mol River information
• Ground water quality

Source of the article : Wikipedia