Mimram
| Mimram | |
| River | |
 The river near Tewin
|
|
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Source | |
| - location | Nr. Whitwell |
| - elevation | 90 m (295 ft) |
| Mouth | |
| - location |
Hertford, Hertfordshire into River Lea |
| - coordinates | 51°47′35.4″N 0°5′16.5″W / 51.793167°N 0.087917°WCoordinates: 51°47′35.4″N 0°5′16.5″W / 51.793167°N 0.087917°W |
| Length | 20 km (12 mi) |
The river valley known locally as the Mimram Valley is named after the River Mimram, which rises from a spring to the north-west of Whitwell, in North Hertfordshire, England, and makes its confluence with the River Lea near Horn's Mill in Hertford. At Whitwell there are watercress beds which have existed since Roman times and these are fed by the same springs. The valley extends northwards where it becomes known as Lilley Bottom. Other sections of the valley are known as Kimpton Bottom and Codicote Bottom. After flowing through Whitwell, Kimpton and Codicote, the river flows through the middle of Welwyn village before heading between the modern and older Digswell settlements, and then running cross-country until it reaches the River Lea at Hertford.
Although a dry valley to the north, it has been known in particularly wet years for the River Mimram to be extended for several miles by springs in the upper valley. In 2001, in a neighbouring valley to the west a village was flooded. The Valley is the furthest east of all the Chiltern Hills valleys.
The river is the subject (and speaker) of a Stevie Smith poem, The River God. Popular and enjoyable though this poem has been for its many readers, the description of the river in the poem bears little relation to the geography of the actual Mimram.
The name "Mimram" is typically believed to be of Celtic origin. For example, Rutherford Davis states "etymology unknown, but there is little reason to doubt it is Celtic". Etymological connections have been suggested by academic philologists with the River Mint in Westmorland and with North Mymms in south Hertfordshire. There have been suggestions of it being named after a Celtic deity, though no academic sources have been cited for this and the speculation likely stems from a comparison with etymology for the nearby River Beane. Generally, etymologists and philologists have found the name 'Mimram' hard to analyse as there has been so little raw material on which to work until well into the Saxon era, by which time multiple forms of the name appear in records.
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Wikipedia