River Slea

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The River Slea is an 18-mile long tributary of the River Witham, in Lincolnshire, England. It rises near West Willoughby, two miles SW of Ancaster, at an altitude of 70 metres. It descends 30 metres in the first 3 km of its course to and through Ancaster. It then flows on past the Site of Special Scientific Interest alongside Rauceby Golf Course, to the major town of Sleaford.

At Sleaford it flows above ground in two separate courses, and then curves around the foot of The Hub (the largest arts & crafts gallery outside London) where a new riverside sculpture walk follows it. Leaving Sleaford, it passes through the unspoiled ancient woodland at Haverholme, then runs down through the increasingly wildlife-rich South Kyme to join the River Witham at Chapel Hill.

The River Slea was made navagable from the Witham up to Sleaford in 1794, although these navigations were closed in 1878, having been made uneconomic by the arrival of the railway in 1857. There is now an active Sleaford Navigation Trust that aims to reopen to navigations again as far as Sleaford.

In 1872 the river was described as "a never-ending source of pure water", and was a trout river renowned throughout the East coast of England. But in the late 1960s, the Anglian Water Authority took control of the river, and thereafter it became rapid degraded, due mostly to over-abstraction of water for use in farming.

[edit] External links

• Map sources for: grid reference SK964427 - source on Willoughby Heath and TF209540 - confluence with the Witham
• Sleaford Navigation Trust