Kennet Catchment
The Kennet Catchment stretches from the upper reaches of the Winterbournes above Avebury west of Marlborough in Wiltshire, to Reading in Berkshire where the Kennet flows into the Thames. It includes the rivers Og, Aldbourne, Lambourn, Dun, Shalbourne, Enborne, Holy Brook, Burghclere Brook, Foudry Brook and Clayhill Brook, as well as the small streams which drain into those tributaries.
Mainly rural in character, the catchment is defined by the chalk uplands of the Marlborough and Berkshire Downs to the North and the Hampshire Downs to the south. Much of the area falls within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Chalkstreams are magical habitats and it is vital that we protect them.
The three largest tributaries are the Lambourn, Dun and Enborne. The principal towns are Reading, Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and Marlborough.
There are three Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) wholly or partly in the catchment:
The Kennet and Lambourn Floodplain
River Lambourn
Kennet Valley Alderwoods
There are two river Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the Kennet Catchment:
The River Lambourn
The River Kennet from Marlborough to Woolhampton
