page_title: River Wey
hierarchical_section_title: River Wey
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the River Wey, Surrey, England
context_page_description: The River Wey in south east England is the longest tributary of the Thames, excluding the Medway which enters into its lower estuary. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey where the river meanders in a broad vale through high ground of the Lower Greensand Group, until past Godalming in the east, then the river heads north, passing through the centre of Guildford and places such as Sutton Place and RHS Wisley to meet the Thames at Weybridge. Its lower part is the backdrop to Newark Priory and setting of Brooklands.
  The consecutive Wey and Godalming Navigations, built in the 17th century share in a little of the river but are mainly in-canal, alongside, from Godalming to the mouth where the Thames is also controlled by weirstreams and locks.
  The Wey has a drainage basin of 904 square kilometres: taking in a little bit of north Hampshire and West Sussex, and almost all of the south-west quarter of Surrey. Its average rank of discharge to the Thames is third, being behind the Kennet and Cherwell, again, excluding the Medway.
context_section_description: The River Wey in south east England is the longest tributary of the Thames, excluding the Medway which enters into its lower estuary. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey where the river meanders in a broad vale through high ground of the Lower Greensand Group, until past Godalming in the east, then the river heads north, passing through the centre of Guildford and places such as Sutton Place and RHS Wisley to meet the Thames at Weybridge.  Its lower part is the backdrop to Newark Priory and setting of Brooklands.
  The consecutive Wey and Godalming Navigations, built in the 17th century share in a little of the river but are mainly in-canal, alongside, from Godalming to the mouth where the Thames is also controlled by weirstreams and locks.
  The Wey has a drainage basin of 904 square kilometres (350 sq mi): taking in a little bit of north Hampshire and West Sussex, and almost all of the south-west quarter of Surrey. Its average rank of discharge to the Thames is third, being behind the Kennet and Cherwell, again, excluding the Medway. River morphology, biodiversity and flow are well-studied, with many places to take samples and record data. The main tributary is the south branch, about 1 mile (1.6 km) shorter than the north branch, and is otherwise the Tillingbourne, which rises on the western slopes of Leith Hill and flows westwards to end south of Guildford, between Shalford and Peasmarsh.
  The name Wey is of unknown origin and meaning.
caption: Map of the River Wey
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