River Lambourn - Upper Lambourn and Lynch Wood

Upper Lambourn and Lynch Wood

The highest source of the Lambourn is on the Maddle Road in the village of Upper Lambourn, near the Wiltshire and Oxfordshire borders. It emerges from a rainwater drain and occasionally flows down a channel between the road and pavement. In the village it runs underground in a pipe until re-emerging alongside the road opposite The Malt Shovel and along Malt Shovel Lane. At this point it is usually little more than a damp, muddy ditch, and remains so until halfway through Lynch Wood. Here it is fed by several springs, two of which are close to the Goose Green road, forming a short stream that runs ten feet downhill into the river. These springs quickly fill the channel and the river swells ten to twenty feet wide and over three feet deep, submerging several fallen trees. Although bourne until Great Shefford the river was not dry below Lynch Wood in 2007-08. However, it dried up in June-July 2009 and the riverbed remained dry until January 2010 due to 4-5 inches of snow melting in a thaw.