Page "River Avon (Bristol)" Paragraph 5

The Avon rises east of the town of Chipping Sodbury in South Gloucestershire, just north of the village of Acton Turville.

Running a somewhat circular path, the river drains east and then south through Wiltshire.

Its first main settlement is the village of Luckington, two miles ( 3 km ) inside the Wiltshire border, and then on to Sherston.

At Malmesbury it joins up with its first major tributary, the Tetbury Avon, which rises just north of Tetbury in Gloucestershire.

This tributary is known locally as the Ingleburn, which in Old English means ' English river '.

Here, the two rivers almost meet but their path is blocked by a rocky outcrop of the Cotswolds, almost creating an island for the ancient hilltop town of Malmesbury to sit on.

Upstream of this confluence the river is sometimes referred to as the ' River Avon ( Sherston Branch )' to distinguish it from the Tetbury Branch.