page_title: River Gwash
section_title: Course
hierarchical_section_title: River Gwash / Course
caption_attribution_description: English: First view of Stamford Walking south-west on the Macmillan Way, from this meadow is the first view of Stamford. The footpath clips the corner of the hedged field on the right then drops down to the River Gwash.
context_page_description: The River Gwash, a tributary of the River Welland, flows through the English counties of Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire. It rises just outside the village of Knossington in Leicestershire, near the western edge of Rutland. It is about 39 kilometres long.
context_section_description: The source of the river is just north-west of the village of Knossington, but the Gwash is formed of several small headwaters that come together near Braunston-in-Rutland  before passing the site of Brooke Priory at SK847062 and running westward to pass under the railway Northwest of Manton (SK876052).
  The Gwash then helps to fill the Rutland Water reservoir which was formed by damming its valley at Empingham.  From the reservoir a controlled flow is released to maintain the flow around Tolethorpe Hall and Stamford and into the River Welland.   The flow is enhanced by the Gwash's tributary, the North Brook, at SK956083 in Empingham, which significantly helps maintain riverlife.
  East of Stamford, its course is now fixed but it lies in a small flood plain which shows clear signs of the river's former meandering. The pasture fields include depressions which fill in wet seasons forming oxbow lakes, though they are not of the classical shape. Near Stamford it is the parish boundary between Stamford and Uffington.
  West of Stamford, the Gwash crossed the Stamford Canal, requiring some elaborate hydraulic works.  Although the canal has been dry for over a century, the Borderville weir has only just been removed, and some meanders re-watered.
  The river feeds the millpond at Newstead Mill in the parish of Uffington before entering the Welland at Newstead Bridge just east of Stamford.
caption: The Gwash Valley east of Stamford on the Macmillan Way
exif: {"Image Make": "Hewlett-Packard", "Image Model": "Photosmart M425", "Image Software": "Version 1.4100,SN:CN633C41XVF", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "136", "EXIF ExposureTime": "23/10000", "EXIF FNumber": "47/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:04:22 12:38:36", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:04:22 12:38:36", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "16/5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "219/25", "EXIF ApertureValue": "223/50", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "8063/1000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "297/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "D55", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "6", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2576", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1920", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "36", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}