Editing River Yare

{{short description|River in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox river
| name                = Yare
| native_name         = 
| native_name_lang    = 
| name_other          = 
| name_etymology      = 
| image               = River Yare Thorpe.JPG
| image_size          = 
| image_caption       = The river at Thorpe Green, Norwich
| map                 = 
| map_size            = 
| map_caption         = 
| pushpin_map         = United Kingdom Norfolk
| pushpin_map_size    = 
| pushpin_map_caption= Location of the river mouth within Norfolk
| subdivision_type1   = Country
| subdivision_name1   = England
| subdivision_type2   = 
| subdivision_name2   = 
| subdivision_type3   = Region
| subdivision_name3   = [[Norfolk]]
| subdivision_type4   = 
| subdivision_name4   = 
| subdivision_type5   = 
| subdivision_name5   = 
| length              = {{cvt|83.5|km|mi}}
| width_min           = 
| width_avg           = 
| width_max           = 
| depth_min           = 
| depth_avg           = 
| depth_max           = 
| discharge1_location = 
| discharge1_min      = 
| discharge1_avg      = 
| discharge1_max      = 
| source1             = 
| source1_location    = west of [[Shipdham]]
| source1_coordinates = {{coord|52|37|9|N|0|50|17|E|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation   = {{cvt|79|m}}
| mouth               = North Sea
| mouth_location      = 
| mouth_coordinates   = {{coord|52|34|21|N|1|44|15|E|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation     = {{cvt|0|m}}
| progression         = 
| river_system        = [[River Wensum]]
| basin_size          = 
| tributaries_left    = 
| tributaries_right   = 
}}
{{River Yare map}}
The '''River Yare''' is a river in the English county of [[Norfolk]]. In its lower reaches it is one of the principal navigable waterways of [[The Broads]] and connects with the rest of the network.

The river [[source (river)|rises]] south of [[Dereham]] to the west to the village of [[Shipdham]]. Above its confluence with a tributary stream from [[Garvestone]] it is known as the Blackwater River.<ref name=os>Ordnance Survey of Great Britain</ref> From there it flows in a generally eastward direction passing [[Barnham Broom]] and is joined by the [[River Tiffey]] before reaching [[Bawburgh]]. It then skirts the southern fringes of the city of [[Norwich]], passing through [[Colney]], [[Cringleford]], [[Lakenham]] and [[Trowse]]. At [[Whitlingham]] it is joined by the [[River Wensum]] and although the Wensum is the larger and longer of the two, the river downstream of their confluence continues to be called the Yare. Flowing eastward into [[The Broads]] it passes the villages of [[Bramerton]], [[Surlingham]], [[Rockland St. Mary]] and [[Cantley, Norfolk|Cantley]]. Just before [[Reedham, Norfolk|Reedham]] at '''Hardley Cross''' (erected in 1676<ref>[http://www.the-plunketts.freeserve.co.uk/boundarycrosses.htm Norwich Boundary Crosses<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013013237/http://www.the-plunketts.freeserve.co.uk/boundarycrosses.htm |date=13 October 2006 }}</ref>) it is joined by the [[River Chet]]. The cross marks the ancient boundary between the City of [[Norwich]] and Borough of [[Great Yarmouth]]. Beyond Reedham the river passes the famously isolated marshland settlement of [[Berney Arms]] before entering the tidal lake of [[Breydon Water]]. Here the Yare is joined by the Rivers [[River Waveney|Waveney]] and [[River Bure|Bure]] and finally enters the [[North Sea]] at [[Gorleston]], [[Great Yarmouth]].<ref>Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads''. {{ISBN|0-319-23769-9}}.</ref><ref>Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 237 - Norwich''. {{ISBN|0-319-21868-6}}.</ref>

The Yare is the frequent subject of landscape paintings by members of the early 19th century [[Norwich School (art movement)|Norwich School]] of artists. The [[National Gallery of Art]] in Washington D.C. contains an oil painting by [[John Crome]] entitled ''Moonlight on the Yare''. [[Joseph Stannard]] depicted the river in ''Thorpe Water Frolic, Afternoon'' (1824) and ''Boats on the Yare near Bramerton'' (1828) which is in the [[Fitzwilliam Museum]], Cambridge.

The river is navigable to small coastal vessels from [[Norwich]] to the sea, and in former times carried significant commercial traffic to that city. At Reedham the river is joined by the [[Haddiscoe Cut]], a canal which provides a direct navigable link to the River Waveney at [[Haddiscoe]] avoiding Breydon Water.

==Navigation==
The river provides a navigable link between [[Port of Norwich|Norwich]] and the North Sea, but silting has been a long-standing problem. In 1698, an [[Act of Parliament]] was obtained which allowed duty to be collected for any coal traffic using the river. The money raised was to pay for improvements to the course of the river and to the harbour at Great Yarmouth, but the majority of it went towards harbour improvements, and little improvement of the river occurred. Three more acts attempted to rectify the situation, but the river continued to be neglected. A fifth act, obtained in 1772, sought to address the problem in a different way, and specified how the tolls were to be used. 15 per cent was to be given to Norwich for river improvements between the city and Hardley Cross, 25 per cent was given to Yarmouth for improvements to the lower river between Hardley Cross and the town, with a further 40 per cent set aside for maintenance of Yarmouth harbour. Other rivers benefitted from the remaining 20 per cent.<ref name=boyes>{{cite book |title=The Canals of Eastern England |date=1977 |first1=John |last1=Boyes |first2=Ronald |last2=Russel |isbn=978-0-7153-7415-3 |oclc=3650731 |publisher=Newton Abbot}}{{page needed|date=December 2016 }}</ref>

The size of vessels that could reach Norwich was limited by the shallow channel crossing Breydon Water, and so all goods arriving from the North Sea had to be trans-shipped to smaller vessels at Yarmouth. In order to improve the situation the merchants of Norwich asked [[William Cubitt]] to look for a solution in 1814. His proposal consisted of dredging a new channel to the south side of Breydon Water and making various improvements to the river. This was costed at £35,000, but the plan was opposed by Yarmouth Corporation when it was made public in 1818. [[John Rennie the Younger|John Rennie]], acting for the corporation, concluded that the plan might result in silting of the harbour, and so Cubitt proposed an alternative, which would link the Yare to [[Lowestoft]]. This was also opposed by Yarmouth Corporation, but despite the cost being more than double,{{clarify|date=August 2019}} and assurances from [[Thomas Telford]] and James Walker that improved navigation to Norwich would not harm Yarmouth, this was the plan that was laid before Parliament in 1826.<ref name=boyes/>

The Act would authorise dredging of the Yare between Norwich and Reedham, from where a {{convert|2+1/2|mi|km|0|adj=on}} canal would be built to connect to the River Waveney at Haddiscoe. Oulton Dyke would be enlarged, and a cut and lock built to link [[Oulton Broad]] to [[Lake Lothing]], and hence the North Sea. At the formal enquiry, six engineers gave evidence for the proposal, but the opposition of Yarmouth and local landowners who feared potential flooding resulted in the bill being narrowly defeated. Similar plans were submitted in the next parliamentary session, with Yarmouth spending £8,000 to ensure its defeat. Evidence for the plan included details of widespread theft during the transshipment process at Yarmouth. A man had hidden in a wicker basket to record the conversations and activities of the thieves, and ultimately 18 men were convicted of taking the goods and one of receiving it. The Act was granted on 28 May 1827.<ref name=boyes/>

The Act allowed the Norwich and Lowestoft Navigation Company to raise £100,000 as capital, with an additional £50,000 if necessary. Work started at the Lowestoft end, with Alderman Crisp Brown of Norwich cutting the first sod in the autumn. The lock and channel between Oulton Broad and Lake Lothing were completed by 1829, and the first vessel used Lowestoft harbour on 3 June 1831. Costs overran, and to complete the Haddiscoe cut, the additional £50,000 authorised by the Act was raised by taking a loan from the [[Exchequer Bill Loan Commission]]ers. The cut was completed in 1832, and the improvements of the remaining {{convert|32|mi|km}} to Norwich were finished by the autumn of 1833. A grand opening was held on 30 September 1833, when it was planned that the ''Jarrow'' would tow two vessels, the ''City of Norwich'' and the ''Squire'', which were moored at Lowestoft, to Norwich. Unfortunately, the ''Jarrow'' was at Yarmouth, and the Corporation refused to open the bridge at the head of Breydon Water to allow the vessel to pass. The captain eventually cut down the funnel, but the delay resulted in him missing the tide, and he had to wait to cross Breydon Water. The convoy reached Norwich the following day, where 10,000 people lined the banks of the river to witness the event.<ref name=boyes/>

Despite high hopes, the venture was not a success, as operating costs exceeded revenue, and the loan from the [[Exchequer Bill Loan Commission]] could not be repaid. The arrival of the railways added an element of competition, and the Commissioners took over the Haddiscoe Cut in 1842, selling it on to Sir [[Samuel Morton Peto]], a railway developer.<ref name=boyes/> A new cut was made at Thorpe in 1844, where the railway crossed a loop in the river. The bridges at both ends of the old course restrict headroom to about {{convert|6|ft|m|1}}.<ref name=jane>''Inland Waterways of Great Britain'', (2009), Jane Cumberlidge, Imray Laurie Norie and Wilson, {{ISBN|978-1-84623-010-3 }}</ref> The City of Norwich attempted to buy the navigation in 1848, but were again opposed by Yarmouth, and withdrew their bill from Parliament. Silting of Lake Lothing became a problem, and traffic gradually reverted to using the route through Yarmouth. A grandiose plan to build a ship canal between Yarmouth and Norwich with a commercial dock at Whitlingham and a naval base at Rockland Broad, proposed in 1908, came to nothing, but steam tugs continued to haul barges of coal to Norwich until the 1960s. Commercial traffic has now been replaced by leisure boating.<ref name=boyes/>

The river is tidal as far as Trowse Mills, with a tidal range of {{convert|2+1/2|to|3|ft|m}} at Reedham and {{convert|1+1/2|to|2|ft|m}} at Norwich. High water at Reedham occurs some {{frac|1|1|2}} hours after high water at Yarmouth, and at Norwich it is {{frac|4|1|2}} hours after Yarmouth.<ref name=jane/>

==Hydronymy==
The derivation of the name has been the subject of debate, [[M. R. James]] states that the [[Saxon Shore]] fort, [[Gariannonum]] (which he identified as [[Burgh Castle (Roman fortification)|Burgh Castle]]) takes its name from the original [[Common Celtic]] name for the Yare.<ref>{{cite book |last1=James |first1=Montague Rhodes |title=Complete Works of M. R. James |date=2013 |publisher=Delphi Classics |isbn=978-1909496705 }}</ref> Ptolemy records a Latinized version of this name as ''Gariennos'' around 150 AD.<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Jacek Fisiak |editor2=Peter Trudgill |title=East Anglian English |date=2001 |publisher=Brewer |location=Woodbridge, Suffolk |isbn=9780859915717 |page=40 |edition=1. publ }}</ref> [[Eilert Ekwall]] gives another derivation, that the river name is a [[back-formation]] from Yarmouth.{{cn|date=October 2023}}

==Wherryman's Way==
Opened in 2005, the 35 mile long [[Wherryman's Way]] follows the route of the historic Broads trading [[Norfolk wherry|wherries]] between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. It winds through existing footpaths, open marshes, reedbeds, grazing meadows and riverside villages along the banks of the River Yare.  The path passes numerous information panels, sculptures and audio posts which seek to bring to life the characters and history of the route.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/news/press-releases/2005/wander-the-wherryman-s-way.html |title=Wander the Wherryman's Way - Broads Authority<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=13 June 2007 |archive-date=30 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430190637/http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/news/press-releases/2005/wander-the-wherryman-s-way.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==External links==
* {{cite web |url=http://www.wherrymansway.net |title=Wherrymans Way |date= |access-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190311100039/http://www.wherrymansway.net/ |archive-date=11 March 2019}}
* [http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/yare,_river.htm River Yare Literary Links]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|River Yare}}
{{Rivers of Norfolk}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Breckland District]]
[[Category:Great Yarmouth]]
[[Category:Norfolk Broads]]
[[Category:Rivers of Norfolk|Yare]]
[[Category:Yare catchment| ]]