Law Brook, Surrey

Law Brook
Postford Brook
Law Brook flowing westwards from the hamlet of Brook towards Postford
Country England
County Surrey
Borough Guildford Borough
Source Gasson Farm, The Hurtwood and sources in Peaslake proper
 - location Peaslake, Shere, Borough of Guildford
 - elevation 148 m (486 ft)
 - coordinates 51°11′02″N 0°26′38″W / 51.18389°N 0.44389°W
Mouth River Tillingbourne
 - location Colyers Hanger, Albury (foot), Borough of Guildford
 - elevation 50 m (164 ft)
 - coordinates 51°13′20″N 0°31′00″W / 51.22222°N 0.51667°WCoordinates: 51°13′20″N 0°31′00″W / 51.22222°N 0.51667°W
Discharge for Albury [1]
 - average 0.11 m3/s (4 cu ft/s)
 - max 0.8 m3/s (28 cu ft/s) (15 September 1968)
 - min 0.05 m3/s (2 cu ft/s) (4 August 1992)

The Law Brook or Postford Brook is a tributary of the Tillingbourne in Surrey, thus sub-tributary of the Wey and sub-sub-tributary of the Thames notable in its own right chiefly for its industrial heritage.

Course

It rises sources throughout elevated Peaslake draining the northern Winterfold Forest/Hurtwood in the Greensand Ridge descending along a contour into the land between the North Downs and Greensand Ridge, the Vale of Holmesdale. The upper half catchment area is mostly forest with some pasture other than Peaslake. The lower half of the course adjoins a clustered village of Brook/Little London in Albury on the right bank and on the other Blackheath, a sparsely-inhabited wooded plateau on the left bank.[1]

It divides the civil parishes of Albury and St Martha which contains most of Chilworth.[2] Like the Tillingbourne, the lower Law Brook was harnessed through construction of leats (narrow cuts) and mill ponds to provide power for industrial mills, including a long leat dividing Chilworth and supplying its largest pond known today as The Fish Pond, Chilworth.[3]

The North Downs Line follows the course of the Brook for the upper part of its lower course.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Marsh, T; Hannaford, J, eds. (2008). UK Hydrometric Register. Hydrological data UK series. Wallingford, Oxfordshire: Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. ISBN 978-0-9557672-2-7.
  2. Crocker, Glenys; Crocker, Alan (2000). Damnable Inventions: Chilworth Gunpowder and the Paper Mills of the Tillingbourne. Guildford: Surrey Industrial History Group. pp. 1–3. ISBN 0-9538122-0-0.
  3. Royal Gunpower Mills Newsletter 24. Accessed 2015-04-10.