Holy Brook, Devon

Holy Brook
River
Holy Brook near Hembury South Gate.
Country	England
County	Devon
Source	50°30′14″N 3°51′54″W / 50.504°N 3.865°W / 50.504; -3.865
- location	Flank of Snowdon
- elevation	330 m (1,083 ft)
Mouth	50°29′46″N 3°46′34″W / 50.496°N 3.776°W / 50.496; -3.776
- location	River Dart
- elevation	30 m (98 ft)
Length	6 km (4 mi)

Holy Brook is a tributary of the River Dart in Devon, England. It rises on the eastern flank of the 495 m (1,624 ft)-high hill of Snowdon on Dartmoor, at grid reference SX678687. It was once a much longer stream, but its headwaters were long ago captured by the River Mardle, and the physical evidence of this stream capture is clear when viewed from higher up the side of Snowdon.

Its course is generally eastwards, and for the first three-quarters of its length it flows roughly parallel to the River Mardle, only about 700 m (about half a mile), north of that river. As Holy Brook comes off the moor, it flows through Gibby Combe Wood and then through Michel Combe, a steep-sided valley (or combe) which is just to the south of the hamlet of Michelcombe. It then passes between the villages of Scorriton (to the south) and Holne, and as it approaches the River Dart it flows through a wooded valley that forms the southern boundary of Hembury Woods, below Hembury Castle. Here it is crossed by the road from Buckfastleigh to Holne at Hembury Bridge, which has a single arch and a parapet topped by flat stones that are joined together by iron clamps. From this bridge to its confluence with the River Dart near the grounds of Buckfast Abbey at grid reference SX741677, Holy Brook forms the boundary between the Teignbridge and South Hams districts.