River Eye, Leicestershire

The River Eye is a river in north-eastern Leicestershire that becomes the Wreake.

The Eye rises at Bescaby, about six miles (10 km) north-east of Melton Mowbray. It flows east towards Saltby, where it turns south and flows past Sproxton, Coston and Garthorpe. At Saxby it turns west and flows by Stapleford, Freeby, Wyfordby, Brentingby and Thorpe Arnold. At Swan's Nest it enters Melton Mowbray, where it flows under bridges at Burton Road and Leicester Road. It then passes Sysonby, where, at Sysonby Lodge it changes its name to the River Wreake, which flows into the River Soar. Its full journey is about 13 miles (21 km).

The river is never wide nor fast flowing, although it does flood periodically. It drifts through the gentle rolling countryside of north-east Leicestershire by fields bounded by hawthorn hedges. There is very little woodland in the area, what's there is largely man-made in the form of fox coverts. Farming in the district is largely pastoral, with the grassland given over to sheep and cows, the traditional beasts of local agriculture. Stilton and Red Leicester cheeses originally came from the village and farm dairies in the Eye basin.

The name Eye comes from the Old English ēa, meaning "the river". It probably had an older, pre-historic name that has now been lost. However, Wreake is Danish in origin, meaning the twisting or meandering one.

The river has been the centre of human activity for many centuries. To its north-east, at Saltby Heath, are King Lud's Entrenchments, which may date from prehistoric times, although historians debate this. It may be significant that the Entrenchments lie just inside the county boundary with Lincolnshire, which may have been a territorial frontier. The county boundary follows the watershed between the River Eye and River Witham, and is marked by the ancient routeway from south-east England to the north, known as Sewstern Lane or The Drift.

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