River Blackwater (River Loddon)
The River Blackwater is a tributary of the Loddon in England and sub-tributary of the Thames. It rises at two springs in Rowhill Nature Reserve between Aldershot, Hampshire and Farnham, Surrey. It curves a course north then west to join the Loddon in Swallowfield civil parish, central Berkshire. Part of the river splits Hampshire from Surrey; a smaller part does so as to Hampshire and Berkshire.
The source is locally rare heath within the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area, due to the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area.
After 20 miles (32 km) the Blackwater is joined by the “Whitewater” near Eversley. The river gives its name to the town of Blackwater, extending back from the bank facing Camberley.
This article reverses the term found by Ordnance Survey mapmakers, old and continued there, Blackwater River.
A stretch west of Finchampstead is called Long Water in 1897 and on recent maps.[1] The adjacent final section from the Whitewater to the Loddon is known by alternative names. In Ordnance Survey maps: the 1:50,000 calls it as in general; the 1:25,000 calls it (the) Broadwater; the 1:2500 calls it as in general at each end and Broadwater in the middle, reflecting local broadening.[2] This last option was the convention in the 1899 (forerunner) map at that scale.[3]
