imported>Chris the speller: /* Course */replaced: 3.8 hectare → {{convert|3.8|hectare|acre|adj=on}}

2022-10-30T04:28:26Z

Course: replaced: 3.8 hectare → {{convert|3.8|hectare|acre|adj=on}}

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{{Short description|River in Leicestershire and Rutland, England}}
{{use British English|date=April 2018}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Infobox river
| name = Chater
| name_native =
| name_native_lang =
| name_other =
| name_etymology =

| image = River Chater, Ketton - geograph.org.uk - 62697.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = The Chater at Ketton
| map =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map = United Kingdom Rutland
| pushpin_map_size =
| pushpin_map_caption= Location of the river mouth in [[Rutland]]

| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[England]]
| subdivision_type2 =
| subdivision_name2 =
| subdivision_type3 = Counties
| subdivision_name3 = [[Rutland]], [[Leicestershire]]
| subdivision_type4 =
| subdivision_name4 =
| subdivision_type5 =
| subdivision_name5 =

| length = {{convert|35|km|abbr=on}}
| width_min =
| width_avg =
| width_max =
| depth_min =
| depth_avg =
| depth_max =
| discharge1_location=
| discharge1_min =
| discharge1_avg =
| discharge1_max =

| source1 =
| source1_location = Whatborough Hill, [[Leicestershire]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|52.641539|-0.862270|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation = {{convert|182|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth = [[River Welland]]
| mouth_location = [[Tinwell|Tinwell, Rutland]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|52.640648|-0.521143|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{convert|30|m|abbr=on}}
| progression =
| river_system = [[River Welland]]
| basin_size =
| tributaries_left =
| tributaries_right = [[Morcott Brook]]
| custom_label =
| custom_data =
| extra =
}}

The '''River Chater''' is a river in the [[East Midlands]] of [[England]]. It is a tributary of the [[River Welland]], and is about {{convert|35|km|order=flip}} long.<ref>Wheeler and Batty (1896), p.291</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=High Leicestershire |date=2013 |publisher=Natural England Character Area Profiles |isbn=978-1-78367-057-4 |page=21}}</ref>

==Course==

It rises near Whatborough Hill in [[Leicestershire]], and then flows east, past [[Sauvey Castle]] and [[Launde Abbey]], before crossing into [[Rutland]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ovens |first1=Robert |last2=Sleath |first2=Sheila |title=The Heritage of Rutland Water |date=2008 |publisher=Rutland Local History & Record Society |location=Oakham |isbn=0907464394 |page=316 |chapter=14; Rutland Waters}}</ref> [[Chater Valley]] is a {{convert|3.8|hectare|acre|adj=on}} biological [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] north of [[Loddington, Leicestershire|Loddington]], Leicestershire.<ref name=dsv>{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1003619&SiteName=chater&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |title=Designated Sites View: Chater Valley | series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate = 10 September 2017}}</ref><ref name=map>{{cite web|url=http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271003619%27 |title=Map of Chater Valley|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|accessdate= 10 September 2017}}</ref> The river continues east, to the north of [[Ridlington]], [[Preston, Rutland|Preston]], and then to the south of [[Manton, Rutland|Manton]] and the north of [[Wing, Rutland|Wing]]. North-east of [[South Luffenham]], it is joined by the [[Morcott Brook]]. It continues north-east, going under the [[A6121 road]] at Foster's Bridge and through [[Ketton]], before meeting the River Welland near [[Tinwell]].<ref>{{cite map|title =Rutland Water|map =234 |year =2015 |scale =1:25,000 |series =Explorer |publisher =Ordnance Survey |isbn =9780319244272 }}</ref>

The river drains an area of {{convert|49|km2|order=flip}} that is mostly clay, but with limestone and sandstone in certain areas. The catchment is rural, with mixed farming and woodland in its lower reaches.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chater - Upper |url=https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB105031050430 |website=environment.data.gov.uk |accessdate=3 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chater - Lower |url=https://environment.data.gov.uk/catchment-planning/WaterBody/GB105031050440 |website=environment.data.gov.uk |accessdate=3 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=31010 - Chater at Fosters Bridge |url=https://nrfa.ceh.ac.uk/data/station/spatial/31010 |website=nrfa.ceh.ac.uk |accessdate=3 March 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Originally, the project for the massive reservoir of [[Rutland Water]] considered damming the valley of the Chater, but the underlying geology was not conducive for this. Additionally, the available land space would have made the reservoir smaller than the eventual site of Rutland Water.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Harper |editor1-first=David M |editor2-last=Bullock |editor2-first=John A |title=Rutland Water -- Decade of Change : Proceedings of the Conference held in Leicester, U.K., 1-3 April 1981 |date=1982 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |location=London |isbn=978-94-009-8008-2 |page=9}}</ref>

==Wildlife==
The river holds a variety of fish species, including roach, dace and chub. White-clawed crayfish are known to be in the river, which puts them at risk, as invasive species of crayfish are known to be in the Welland.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Simon |title=Rivers Chater & Welland, Rutland |url=https://www.wildtrout.org/assets/reports/2006chaterwelland.pdf |website=wildtrout.org |accessdate=3 March 2020 |page=3 |format=PDF |date=November 2006}}</ref>

==History==
Mills used the river to power waterwheels, usually for grinding corn. The last watermill operating on the river was at [[South Luffenham]] in 1948, when the [[leat]] was damaged and never repaired.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Marilyn |authorlink1=Marilyn Palmer |last2=Neaverson |first2=Peter |title=Industry in the Landscape |url=https://archive.org/details/industrylandscap00neav |url-access=limited |date=1994 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=0-415-11206-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/industrylandscap00neav/page/n37 25] |chapter=2: Providing the necessities of life}}</ref>

==Etymology==

Chater is a pre-English river name of uncertain [[etymology]]. [[Eilert Ekwall]] suggests it derives from [[Common Brittonic|Brittonic]] ''ceto-dubron'' meaning forest stream.<ref name="Cox">{{cite book |last1=Cox |first1=Barrie |title=The Place-Names of Rutland |date=1994 |publisher=English Place-Name Society |isbn=0904889173 |page=1}}</ref>

[[Ketton]], a village that the river flows past, takes its name from the Chater.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ekwall |first1=Eilert |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names |date=1947 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |oclc=12542596 |pages=93, 261 |edition=3}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book
|title=A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire
|author1=William Henry Wheeler
|author-link=William Henry Wheeler
|author2=Leonard Charles Batty
|publisher=British Library Historical Print Collections
|year=1896
|isbn=978-1-241-32839-9}}
{{Refend}}

{{Rivers and watercourses of Leicestershire}}
{{Rivers and watercourses of Rutland}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chater, River}}
[[Category:Rivers of Leicestershire|Chater]]
[[Category:Rivers of Rutland|Chater]]

River Chater - Revision history

imported>Chris the speller: /* Course */replaced: 3.8 hectare → {{convert|3.8|hectare|acre|adj=on}}