River Babingley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| River Babingley | |
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| Geography | |
| Origin: | In the Village of Flitcham. |
| Grid reference: | TF 739 265 |
| Terminates: | Wootton Marsh,joins the Lynn channel of the River Great Ouse |
| Grid reference: | TF 602 234 |
| Length: | 12.2 miles |
| fall: | 25 meters from source to sea level |
| Catchment Area: | Unknown |
| Tributaries: | Unknown |
| Water Mills: | Unknown |
The Babingley is a minor river in the northwest of the county Norfolk in England. It runs 12.2 miles from its source at the village of Flitcham to the River Great Ouse at Wootton Marshes were it terminates.
The Babingley rises in “Further Back Wood”, a little way west of the village of Flitcham, close to Abbey Farm. Its source is at a height of 25 meters. A watermill once stood on the river bank, but traces of it are long gone; the watercourse and the millpond that are all that remain.
From here the river runs through a gentle sloped valley westwards and passes under the B1153 road and into Hillington Park, were it flows into the lake that served another long-gone watermill that stood close to Hillington Hall. From the lake the river runs through a wooded valley out of the Park and into the countryside south of the royal estate of Sandringham. The banks of the river along this stretch are very wooded. Just past Hillington, the river passes the northern edge of a lake that has been used as a camping and caravan site.
The river continues westward skirting the northern edge of a large Forestry Commission plantation and south of Sandringham. At the end of the plantation there once was Babingley Watermill; again, no traces survive.
The river passes under the A 149 road and skirts around the north of the village Castle Rising, were it passes under Babingley Bridge. In the fields on the other side of the bridge once was the village of Babingley, now lost, although the remains of the church of St Felix can still be found.
The river now crosses into fen and marshland and passes under the disused railway bed of the line that runs from King’s Lynn to Wolferton and once carried many members of the royal family on their way to Sandringham. The river now meanders in a northerly direction towards the wash. It then switches back on itself into a man-made watercourse that directs it southward through Wootton Marsh towards Vinegar Middle where the river finally runs into the river Great Ouse at Lynn Channel.
[edit] Saint Felix and the river Babingley
In the hamlet of Babingley, near the river, Saint Felix of Burgundy is said to have landed in 600 AD to introduce Christianity to East Anglia. Local legend has it that St. Felix' ship was wrecked while travelling up the river Babingley. According to legend, he was rescued by beavers, and subsequently made one of the beavers a bishop.[1]
