The Little Avon River is a small river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 partly in southern Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

 and partly in South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire

South Gloucestershire is a unitary district in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, in South West England.-History:The district was created in 1996, when the county of Avon was abolished, by the merger of former area of the districts of Kingswood and Northavon...

. For much of its length it forms the boundary between the county of Gloucestershire and the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire. It rises to the east of Wickwar

Wickwar

Wickwar is a village in South Gloucestershire between Chipping Sodbury and Charfield. It is famous for its football club and its high street. The Wickwar brewery is a popular local producer of cask ale....

, near Horton

Horton, Gloucestershire

Horton is a village on the Cotswold Edge, in South Gloucestershire, England. It is about 2½ miles from Chipping Sodbury. The nearest settlement is Little Sodbury, about 1½ miles away; Hawkesbury Upton and Dunkirk are both 2½ miles away....

, passes near Charfield

Charfield

Charfield is a village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England lying near the Little Avon River and south-west of the town of Wotton-under-Edge....

, Stone

Stone, Gloucestershire

Stone is a small village in Alkington parish, Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the A38 road, just south-west of its crossing of the Little Avon River, roughly halfway between Bristol and Gloucester. It is adjacent to the county boundary with South Gloucestershire. The part of the...

 and Berkeley

Berkeley, Gloucestershire

Berkeley is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway within the Stroud administrative district. The town is noted for Berkeley Castle where the imprisoned Edward II was murdered.- Geography...

, and enters the River Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

 via Berkeley Pill. It was formerly navigable up to moorings at Berkeley, but a flood-prevention scheme, built in the 1960s, now prevents navigation more than a few hundred metres upstream.

Lower Woods

Lower Woods

Lower Woods is a 280.1 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the village of Wickwar, South Gloucestershire, notified in 1966...

 is a 280.1 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on both sides of the river near the village of Wickwar

Wickwar

Wickwar is a village in South Gloucestershire between Chipping Sodbury and Charfield. It is famous for its football club and its high street. The Wickwar brewery is a popular local producer of cask ale....

. The site is a nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

 managed by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust

The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust is the Gloucestershire local partner in a conservation network of 47 Wildlife Trusts. The Wildlife Trusts are local charities with the specific aim of protecting the United Kingdom's natural heritage...

. Lower Woods are the most extensive area of ancient woodland

Ancient woodland

Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...

s in the former county of Avon

Avon (county)

Avon was, from 1974 to 1996, a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in the west of England.The county was named after the River Avon, which runs through the area. It was formed from parts of the historic counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset, together with the City of Bristol...

.