Seven Springs get a face-lift

As part of efforts by Coberley Parish Council to improve the Seven Springs natural history landmark, work has been completed to restore a major section of the dry stone wall that separates it from the A436.

The Council is extremely grateful to the four organisations which have provided funding for this project, without whose generosity it would not have been possible:
Friends of the Cotswolds
The National Grid
The Countryside Fund (Cotswold Conservation Board-Voluntary Wardens)
Gloucestershire Highways

Gloucestershire County Council Highways Department has also tended to the ageing trees which line the outside of the wall, some of which had to be removed for safety. With the wall now restored, the Parish Council will review with Highways the suitability of some replanting.

The Parish Council, together with Cotswold Voluntary Wardens and other volunteers, will maintain the common land around the Springs to ensure that it is kept in good condition, reflecting the pride that the local community has in this special place of interest.

Seven Springs is certainly one of the sources of the River Thames, and is held by many to be the ultimate source.

Although it is the source of the River Churn, which flows into the Thames at Cricklade, the location of Seven Springs is furthest from the mouth, and adds some 14 miles (23 km) to the length of the river flow. The springs at Seven Springs also flow throughout the year, while those at Thames Head, which is quoted as the official source of the Thames, are only seasonal. The Churn/Thames River may therefore, be regarded as the longest natural river flow in the United Kingdom, beating its nearest rival, the River Severn, by some 9 miles.

A stone plaque is set into the stone wall above the springs with the Latin inscription “HIC TUUS O TAMESINE PATER SEPTEMCEMINUS FONS” translating as "Here, O Father Thames, is your sevenfold Spring".

In due course, it is hoped to erect a plaque adjacent to the site to recognise the sponsors who have made this project possible and to provide some information on this place of interest to the many visitors who stop beside it.