The Holy Brook is a channel of the River Kennet that flows through the English town of Reading. While of considerable historical significance, the origin and nature of the brook is still unclear. It is probable that some parts of the channel are natural, while other parts were created in medieval times by the monks of Reading Abbey to supply water mills and fish ponds. John Speed's map of Reading (c.1610) shows the brook flowing in the open air throughout, but a map from 1835 shows the town centre section to have been largely culverted by then, as is the case now.

The Holy Brook leaves the main channel of the Kennet at a brick structure known as the Arrowhead near the village of Theale, and flows to the north of the main channel until rejoining it just downstream of the centre of Reading. The channel is some in length, of which approximately are culverted.

Water quality

The Environment Agency measures the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms and fish, and chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations. Chemical status is rated good or fail.

Water quality of the Holy Brook in 2019:

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! Section !! Ecological<br/>Status !! Chemical<br/>Status !! Overall<br/>Status !! Length !! Catchment !! Channel

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References

Bibliography

  • Photo-essay on the Holy Brook, concentrating mostly on the culverted section

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