Blenheim Estate, River Evenlode – NFM – Cotswold Rivers Trust
The Site
The River Evenlode flows through the wider Blenheim Estate area, which is part of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the Blenheim Palace World Heritage Site.
The river rises near Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire and flows south-east, eventually joining the River Thames near Cassington, Oxfordshire.
The reach is located just upstream of Combe Mill, south of the village of Combe, is a rural area where the river meanders through a landscape that is primarily agricultural, with a mix of arable land, grassland, and woodland. The river in this area, flows over limestone. Historically, sections of the river have been straightened and dredged for land drainage, but restoration efforts by groups like the Evenlode Catchment Partnership are working to create more natural habitats, such as fish spawning beds with gravel and boulders, and wetland areas to improve water quality and biodiversity.
The water quality in the Evenlode catchment has historically been an issue due to pollution from wastewater and agricultural runoff, leading to high nutrient levels and turbidity.
The brief
In November of 2024, Practicality Brown Habitats (PBH) were asked to provide pricing information to support a bid for funding as well as a Flood risk assessment application by the Cotswod Rivers Trust, the funding aplication was to be for a river restoration and natural flood management (NFM) scheme along the River Evenlode as it passes through the Blenheim estate.
With the continued support of PBH, The Cotswold Rivers Trust were eventually sucsessfull in their funding bid, and in the summer of 2025 PBH were comissioned to undertake the work, which was to include the introduction of large woody debris and berm features to the river, as well as making changes to existing flow defletors and intoroducing Gravels.
Practicality Brown Services
We delivered a wide range of services to the client from conception, through to delivery, supporting the project throughout.
- PBH provided the client with early ballpark pricing to support their funding application.
- Continued support provided to the client throughout the FRAP application process, providing designs and methodology.
- Mobilisation of plant, staff, and materials to the site.
- Installation of 15+ Large woody debris features, placed in trenches, and secured with chestnut stakes and wire rope.
- Creation of two large bash berms created from site won timber, felled mechanically using our 9t excavator fitted with tree shear attachment.
- The hinging of several large willow trees into the watercourse and securing them in place using wire and chestnut stakes.
- Repositioning of exiting flow deflectors that had not been functioning as intended.
Challenges
· Remote location meant that materials had to be transported a long way from the nearest road using 4x4s and the excavator and grab attachment.
· A change in specification and budget meant the intended gravel installation needed to be postponed until a later date.
· Steep banks and working in and near the water required additional health and safety protocols.
Outcome
The restoration carried out of this section of the Evenlode has improved instream habitat diversity whilst providing cover for fish and adding variation to flows, the large woody debris features mimic natural windblown trees and will cause eddies and slack water sections in parts of the river that were previously uniform and lacking in hydrological interest, this will allow for natural processes to take place including gravel deposition and in channel weed establishment.
With the future planned introduction of gravel riffles, bars, and berms the Evenlode at Grintley hill is well on its way to becoming a shing example of river restoration in action through nature-based solutions.
