River Stour Trust
The River Stour Trust was set up in 1968 to protect and enhance the right of the public to
navigate the River Stour, which is one of the longest and most beautiful rivers in
East Anglia. Because of the pressures to take away the right of navigation, the Trust has
become a vigorous campaigning body, regularly fund-raising and organising many river-based
activities.
Since its formation, the Trust has restored Flatford and Dedham Locks, Flatford Barge Dock (in association with the National Trust), the Quay Basin, Gasworks Cut and The Granary at Quay Lane, Sudbury and rescued an original River Stour Lighter as well as organised regular working parties to maintain the locks and structure in its care.
In 1997, the Trust opened the new “Millennium Lock” at Great Cornard, creating through
navigation from Sudbury to Great Henny and in 2006, opened its new Visitor Centre adjacent
to Cornard Lock to offer facilities for visiting schools and other groups.
The River Stour Trust is a registered charity (No 257806) and a Non-Profit Distributing Company Limited by Guarantee (No 938670).
View the Memorandum and Aricles of Association. together with the
RST secretary's notes giving guidance on the legal
framework and rules within which the Trust operates.
The River Stour
For generations the River Stour occupied a central position in the lives of people living on its banks, both in work and play. It is one of the most attractive rivers in the country, winding through a wide pastoral and wooded valley past towns and villages of great beauty and with many historical associations.
The River Stour is one of the country’s earliest statutory navigations having been made navigable as a result of an Act of Parliament in 1705, although there is reason to believe some form of traffic was using the river for a considerable period before that (in Sudbury, at The Croft, is the site of a Roman dock). The passing of the 1705 Act and a subsequent amending one, led to the river being used for two hundred years by barges (known as lighters), which supplied the day-to-day commercial needs of the local people, whilst for pleasure, it was used for boating, swimming and fishing. Nowadays the Trust works with the Environment Agency (as Navigation Authority) to restore and maintain this historic waterway.
Scenes of the Stour busy with all kinds of boats have been immortalised by the famous landscape painter John Constable (1776-1837), who spent much of his boyhood at Flatford Mill. He wrote: “the sound of water escaping from mill dams- willows, old rotten Banks, slimy posts and brickwork. I love such things”. Time and change have swept away the barges and most of the unique navigation structures, but the public right to pass along the part of the river from Brundon Mill, upstream of Sudbury in Suffolk, to the sea at Brantham, in Essex, still exists.
Looking to the Future
Building on the success of Cornard Lock, the Trust now seeks to restore through navigation from Sudbury to the sea, by reinstating the remaining 10 locks.
Meanwhile, the Trust actively encourages use of the River Stour by small craft, organising events for all age groups and abilities on different parts of the river. It is also keen to promote the use of small, electric craft, which are environmentally-friendly and silent in operation.
The Visitor Centre at Great Cornard will enable the Trust to expand its educational activities for schools and other groups, and give visitors the opportunity to learn more about the history of the River Stour Navigation and modern-day pressures on its use, and the work of the Trust.
Future work includes:
• Regular working parties to maintain the Trust’s navigation structures/ land
• Restoration of the lock near Stratford St. Mary
• Extending The Granary to provide a heritage centre
• Restoration of the Stour Lighter
