The River Arrow rises on Beacon Hill in the Lickey Hills Country Park in the Lickey Hills in the north of Worcestershire, England, and heads generally south eastwards to become a major tributary of the River Avon. The river flows through Cofton Hackett, Bittell (where it feeds Lower Bittell Reservoir) and Alvechurch before becoming the core of the Arrow Valley Country Park in Redditch. At the eastern boundary of Redditch the river enters Warwickshire and flows through the river meadows at Studley, and then on through Spernall to the back of Coughton Court, a National Trust property, where it crosses a minor road as a ford.
The Arrow then flows through the small market town of Alcester and is joined by the River Alne. The river continues south through the village of Arrow with the stately home of Ragley Hall, the seat of the Marquess of Hertford and then through the small villages of Wixford and Broom. The river has its confluence with the River Avon at Marriage Hill, near Salford Priors, close to the boundary of Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
In 1998 the river flooded for the first time since 1956 spilling over its defences and flooding a large part of Alcester.
The river burst its banks again during the night of 20/21 July 2007 flooding about 112 homes in Alcester. It breached the defences by Gunnings Bridge in Alcester and a large torrent of water flowed through the town and made a lake at the bottom of the High Street and Stratford Road.
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