The river Stour rises to the west of Great Bradley in Cambridgeshire and for its most part forms the county boundary between Suffolk and Essex.

 

From its source it flows east to Haverhill, Clare, Sudbury, Nayland, Stratford St Mary and Dedham, becoming tidal just before Manningtree and joining the North Sea at Harwich. The Stour is navigable from Cattawade to Brundon Mill.

 

The Dedham Vale AONB stretches upstream from Manningtree to within 1 mile of Bures. To view the Dedham Vale and Stour Valley AONB Project website click here.  This website is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in the Stour, and includes walking and cycling route maps, tourism links, films and information about the conservation projects being undertaken.

 

The Stour valley retains a rural landscape with rich diversity of wildlife and habitat as painted by the artists Constable and Gainsborough.

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To view the Environment Agency's Catchment Data Explorer page for this river click here.

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