River Tern

For the bird, see River tern.

The River Tern (also historically known as the Tearne^[1]) is a river in Shropshire, England. It rises north-east of Market Drayton in the north of the county. The source of the Tern is considered to be the lake in the grounds of Maer Hall, Staffordshire. From here it flows for about 30 miles (48 km), being fed by the River Meese and the River Roden, until it joins the River Severn near Attingham Park, Atcham.

River Tern River Tearne
The Tern near Longdon-on-Tern
A map of the Tern and its tributaries. Watershed is shown in cyan.
Location
Country	United Kingdom
State	England
County	Shropshire
City	Market Drayton, Atcham
Physical characteristics
Source	Maer Pool
• location	lake in the grounds of Maer Hall, Staffordshire
• coordinates	52°56′36″N 2°19′03″W
• elevation	114 m (374 ft)
Mouth	River Severn
• location	Attingham Park, Atcham, Shropshire
• coordinates	52°40′42″N 2°39′44″W
• elevation	44 m (144 ft)
Length	30 mi (48 km)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	River Meese, River Strine
• right	River Roden

Extensive peat bog formerly existed,^[2] extending from Crudgington on the Tern as far as Newport.

Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct

At Longdon-on-Tern, the Tern is spanned by the Longdon-on-Tern Aqueduct, the world's first large-scale cast iron navigable aqueduct (Benjamin Outram's 13 m cast iron Holmes Aqueduct pre-dated it by a month), designed by Thomas Telford to carry the Shrewsbury Canal. Although no longer connected to the canal network, The 62-yard (57 m) long structure still stands, but is marooned in the middle of a field.

References

1. Secret Shropshire: Field name map of Withington Parish^{[dead link]}
2. Reported in 1838 by John Selby Prideaux and Sir William Jardine, "An attempt to ascertain the Fauna of Shropshire and North Wales", Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. 2 (1838), p. 538.

External links

• Tern Views - a detailed description with photographs