The River Isbourne

In the Service of Mankind

Below the northern face of Cleeve Hill, a spring brings water to the surface. Here, the River Isbourne begins its journey. Within a matter of feet, the water is put to its first use by mankind. This book is a record of how, over the last thousand years, a small country river has been put to use by the local communities. The most common use of the river has been for watermills, with twenty-two sites identified, but many other diverse uses have also been found for the water of the River Isbourne, from swimming pools to tanning, and from ducking stools to 300-foot-high fountains. Little has been written about the mills of northern Gloucestershire and southern Worcestershire. Mike Lovatt provides details of the mills and the other uses on one river in the area so that this information at least is preserved for future generations. Within the pages of this fascinating, well-illustrated book, the reader is transported down the River Isbourne, from where it rises high on the Cotswold slopes and flows through the towns and villages of north Gloucestershire and south Worcestershire to where it somewhat insignificantly slides into the Avon at Evesham.