The River Slea is a tributary of the south branch of the River Wey in Hampshire.

River Slea
The small central watercourse is the Slea/Oxney Stream, much larger to the north is the Wey (north branch)
Location
CountryEngland
CountyHampshire
DistrictEast Hampshire
TownsSleaford, Bordon
Physical characteristics
SourceKingsley Stream
 • locationKingsley Mill, Kingsley
 • coordinates51°07′57″N 0°52′52″W / 51.1325°N 0.8811°W / 51.1325; -0.8811
 • elevation72m
2nd sourceOakhanger Stream
MouthRiver Wey
 • location
North of Brockford Bridge, far north fields of parish of Headley, Hampshire
 • coordinates
51°08′31″N 0°49′52″W / 51.1420°N 0.8310°W / 51.1420; -0.8310
 • elevation
62m
Length6.2 km (3.9 mi)
Basin features
ProgressionOxney Stream, River Slea, Wey (south branch), Wey, Thames, North Sea
River systemWey catchment
Tributaries 
 • rightOxney Moss

Course

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The river flows east from the confluence of the Kingsley and the longer Oakhanger streams at Kingsley Mill, through the village of Sleaford until it meets the Wey just north of Brockford Bridge. The section between Kingsley Mill and Sleaford is also known as the Oxney Stream.[1]

The Slea's main tributary is the Oxney Moss which rises on the west side of Bordon and joins at Sleaford.

Water quality

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The Environment Agency measure 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. Chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations, is rated good or fail.[2]

Water quality of the River Slea in 2019:

Section Ecological
Status
Chemical
Status
Overall
Status
Length Catchment Channel
Slea (Kingsley to Sleaford)[3] Moderate Fail Moderate 6.79 km (4.22 mi) 31.326 km2 (12.095 sq mi)

References

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  1. ^ Shore, T W. "Springs and Streams of Hampshire" (PDF). Hampshire Field Club. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Glossary (see Biological quality element; Chemical status; and Ecological status)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency. 17 February 2016.   Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  3. ^ "Slea (Kingsley to Sleaford)". Catchment Data Explorer. Environment Agency.