River Wensum
Encyclopedia
The River Wensum is a chalk
Chalk stream
Chalk streams have characteristics which set them apart from watercourses associated with other rock types.Aside from those with an interest in the geological and ecological disciplines, the term chalk stream is most widely used among a small group of fly fishermen ,...
fed 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...
in Norfolk, England and a tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the River Yare
River Yare
The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches the river connects with the navigable waterways of The Broads....
despite being the larger of the two rivers. The complete river is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...
(SAC).
Etymology
The river receives its name from the Old English adjective wandsum, wendsum meaning winding.Course
Colkirk
Colkirk is a village situated about two miles south of Fakenham in the county of Norfolk, England. Dating from at least the time of the Domesday Book the village currently has about 500 inhabitants living in about 200 dwellings. The village has a church, Colkirk is a village (population 547)...
and Whissonsett
Whissonsett
Whissonsett is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is miles south of the of Fakenham, west north west of Norwich and miles north north east of London. The nearest railway station is at Wymondham for the Breckland Line which runs between Norwich and...
in north-west Norfolk. The river flows westward initially, close to the villages of South Raynham
South Raynham, Norfolk
South Raynham is a village in the county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A1065 road some SW of Fakenham. The River Wensum flows nearby. The village can trace its origins back and before the Domesday survey of 1086 when the village was known as Reinham....
, West Raynham and East Raynham, passing Raynham Hall
Raynham Hall
Raynham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. For 300 years it has been the seat of the Townshend family. The hall gave its name to the area, known as The Raynhams, and is reported to be haunted, providing the scene for possibly the most famous ghost photo of all time, the famous Brown Lady...
, home of the Marquis Townshend. The Wensum then turns and flows north through a number of small villages until it reaches Sculthorpe
Sculthorpe, Norfolk
Sculthorpe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated some north-west of Fakenham and south-east of South Creake.The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 744 in 312 households...
, where it turns east through the market town of Fakenham
Fakenham
Fakenham is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north east of King's Lynn, south west of Cromer, and north west of Norwich....
. The river then flows in a south-easterly direction, passing through the Pensthorpe Nature Reserve
Pensthorpe Nature Reserve
The Pensthorpe Nature Reserve is located at Pensthorpe, Norfolk, England about one mile from Fakenham and close to the A1067 road. The reserve covers , with the River Wensum running through the site, is a designated Special Area of Conservation . The reserve was the location of the BBC programme...
and the village of Great Ryburgh
Great Ryburgh
Great Ryburgh is a village in the English county of Norfolk. Administratively the village is within the civil parish of Ryburgh along with Little Ryburgh, in the district of North Norfolk....
.
The Wensum continues through or close to the villages of Guist
Guist
Guist is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 242 in 102 households as of the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland....
, North Elmham
North Elmham
North Elmham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 1,428 in 624 households as of the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland....
, Worthing
Worthing, Norfolk
Worthing is a small village in Norfolk, England.Its church, St. Margaret, is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk.-External links:*, a round-tower church...
, Swanton Morley
Swanton Morley
Swanton Morley is a picturesque village situated in the heart of Norfolk. It is a village steeped in history documented back to the Domesday Book...
, Lyng
Lyng, Norfolk
Lyng is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north-east of the town of East Dereham and north-west of the city of Norwich....
, Lenwade
Lenwade
Lenwade is a hamlet in the civil parish of Great Witchingham, Norfolk. Located in the Wensum Valley and adjacent to the A1067 road and being south-east of Fakenham and some north-west of Norwich.- Etymology:...
and Taverham
Taverham
Taverham is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, in the UK. It is approximately 5 miles north-west of the City of Norwich. Taverham sits on the River Wensum.In 2001, Taverham had a population of 10,233...
before entering the City of Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
from the north-west via Drayton
Drayton, Norfolk
Drayton, Norfolk, is a suburban village in the county of Norfolk and district of Broadland north west of Norwich. It is situated on the A1067 road between Hellesdon and Taverham.- History :...
, Costessey
Costessey
Costessey is a civil parish situated west of Norwich in Norfolk, England. The parish comprises two settlements: the long-established village of Costessey , and New Costessey , which developed during the first half of the 20th century and has become a suburb of Norwich...
and Hellesdon
Hellesdon
Hellesdon is a thriving suburb of Norwich in the District of Broadland in Norfolk, England. It lies approximately 4 miles north-west of Norwich and has 11,177 inhabitants.- History :...
. At New Mills Yard, a former waterworks, the river becomes tidal and navigable by boat. Flowing through the city, the river forms a broad arc which would have influenced the site of the settlement for defensive reasons; remnants of boom towers can be seen near Wensum Park and Carrow Hill which formed part of the city wall and a large defensive tower can be seen on the bank near Barrack Street, called Cow Tower
Cow Tower, Norwich
Cow Tower is an historic military tower that stands by the River Wensum in Norwich, Norfolk. It gets its name from the water meadow, once known as Cowholme, in which it stands. It is about 15.2m high, with an internal diameter of 7.3m...
. This dates to the 12th century and was also used for collecting tolls. Evidence of the river's historical use as a means of transport for goods and trade from the continent is still visible: mills, quays and industrial remnants can be found near the station and along King Street, and a slipway at Pulls Ferry
Pulls Ferry, Norwich
Pulls Ferry is located on the River Wensum and is one of the most famous landmarks in Norwich, Norfolk. It is a flint building and was once a 15th Century watergate. It was the route for the stone used to build Norwich Cathedral. The stone came from France up the rivers Yare and Wensum...
marks the start of a canal originally used to transport stone from Caen
Caen stone
Caen stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in northwestern France near the city of Caen.The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ago...
in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, in the 13th Century, to build Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral
Norwich Cathedral is a cathedral located in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. Formerly a Catholic church, it has belonged to the Church of England since the English Reformation....
. This site was also a public house and used as a River Ferry until the 1950s.
The Wensum flows past Carrow Road
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is a football stadium in Norwich, England, and is the home of Norwich City Football Club. The stadium is located toward the easterly end of the city, not far from Norwich railway station and the River Wensum....
football ground and then out of the city via Trowse
Trowse
Trowse, also called Trowse with Newton, is a village in South Norfolk which lies about south-east of Norwich city centre on the banks of the River Yare. It covers an area of and had a population of 479 in 233 households as of the 2001 census....
, to Whitlingham
Whitlingham
Whitlingham is a small churchless parish, 3 miles east of Norwich, on the south bank of the River Yare, reached from Trowse along Whitlingham Lane.-Church:...
where it merges with the River Yare. The river is navigable from the New Mills Yard in the centre of Norwich to its confluence with the Yare.
Tributaries
- River TatRiver TatThe River Tat is a short river in the County of Norfolk, England. It is an important headwater for the River Wensum of which it is a tributary. Its source is on Syderstone Common, just north of the village of Tattersett...
. Rises on SyderstoneSyderstoneSyderstone is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk near the town of Fakenham.It covers an area of and had a population of 532 in 224 households as of the 2001 census....
Common and merges with the Wensum west of FakenhamFakenhamFakenham is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north east of King's Lynn, south west of Cromer, and north west of Norwich.... - River TudRiver TudRiver Tud is a tributary of the River Wensum, Norfolk in the East of England. The Tud's source is just south of East Dereham and it flows in an easterly direction for to its confluence with the Wensum below Hellesdon mill.-Course:...
. Rises a little south of East Dereham and merges with the Wensum just below HellesdonHellesdonHellesdon is a thriving suburb of Norwich in the District of Broadland in Norfolk, England. It lies approximately 4 miles north-west of Norwich and has 11,177 inhabitants.- History :...
mill. - River Ainse (or Eyn)River Ainse (or Eyn)The River Ainse is a small river in the county of Norfolk. It is a tributary of the River Wensum which it merges with at Lenwade . The River Ainse has several tributaries also.-Eade's watermill:...
. Merges with the River Wensum at Lenwade.
Watermills
- SculthorpeSculthorpe, NorfolkSculthorpe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated some north-west of Fakenham and south-east of South Creake.The civil parish has an area of and in 2001 had a population of 744 in 312 households...
Mill. The 18th century water mill which bridges the river was converted into a hotel and restaurant in 2003. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/sculthorpe.html - HemptonHemptonHempton is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is south west of Fakenham, north west of Norwich and north east of London. The village straddles the A1065 between Fakenham and Swaffham. The nearest railway station is at Sheringham for the Bittern Line which...
Mill. The mill became derelict and was demolished in 1954 by the Drainage Board in order to improve control of the river levels. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/hempton.html - FakenhamFakenhamFakenham is a town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north east of King's Lynn, south west of Cromer, and north west of Norwich....
Mill. The 18th Century water mill bridging the river was in use until 1979. It was converted into homes in 1982. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/fakenham.html - Great RyburghGreat RyburghGreat Ryburgh is a village in the English county of Norfolk. Administratively the village is within the civil parish of Ryburgh along with Little Ryburgh, in the district of North Norfolk....
Mill http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/gt-ryburgh.html - GuistGuistGuist is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 242 in 102 households as of the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland....
Mill http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/guist.html - Bintry MillBintry WatermillBintry Watermill is located on the River Wensum, about a mile west of the village of Bintree in the English county of Norfolk . The watermill is thought to have stood at this location since 1454. The present mill is thought to date from the 1750s...
ceased operation in 1980, but the building is still extant. It was used as the location for a film of George EliotGeorge EliotMary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, journalist and translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era...
's The Mill on the FlossThe Mill on the FlossThe Mill on the Floss is a novel by George Eliot , first published in three volumes in 1860 by William Blackwood. The first American edition was by Thomas Y...
in 1996. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/bintry.html - North ElmhamNorth ElmhamNorth Elmham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 1,428 in 624 households as of the 2001 census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland....
Mill, known locally as Grint Mill, had two breastshot waterwheels until the early twentieth century when they were replaced by two turbines. By the 1970s the milling machinery was driven by mains electricity while the turbines were used to drive a sack hoist and two mixing machines. The mill continued to produce animal feed into the late twentieth century http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/elmham.html - Swanton MorleySwanton MorleySwanton Morley is a picturesque village situated in the heart of Norfolk. It is a village steeped in history documented back to the Domesday Book...
Mill was demolished in the 1840s. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/swanton-morley.html - ElsingElsingElsing is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some 6 miles north-east of the town of East Dereham and 12 miles north-west of the city of Norwich....
Mill ceased operation in 1970. The building is still extant. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/elsing.html - LyngLyng, NorfolkLyng is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north-east of the town of East Dereham and north-west of the city of Norwich....
Mill was demolished in 1868. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/lyng.html - LenwadeLenwadeLenwade is a hamlet in the civil parish of Great Witchingham, Norfolk. Located in the Wensum Valley and adjacent to the A1067 road and being south-east of Fakenham and some north-west of Norwich.- Etymology:...
Mill. The Grade II listed building was at risk in the 1990s, but was sympathetically converted into apartments in 2000. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/lenwade.html - TaverhamTaverhamTaverham is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, in the UK. It is approximately 5 miles north-west of the City of Norwich. Taverham sits on the River Wensum.In 2001, Taverham had a population of 10,233...
Mill. In the 19th century Taverham was a major producer of paperPaperPaper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
. Some of the paper which was produced at Taverham Mill was used in producing The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and the Oxford English Dictionary. It also served the University Press at Cambridge. The paper mill closed in 1899. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/taverham.html - CostesseyCostesseyCostessey is a civil parish situated west of Norwich in Norfolk, England. The parish comprises two settlements: the long-established village of Costessey , and New Costessey , which developed during the first half of the 20th century and has become a suburb of Norwich...
Mill was destroyed by a fire in 1924. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/costessey.html - HellesdonHellesdonHellesdon is a thriving suburb of Norwich in the District of Broadland in Norfolk, England. It lies approximately 4 miles north-west of Norwich and has 11,177 inhabitants.- History :...
Mill was demolished for building materials in 1920. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/hellesdon.html - NorwichNorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
New Mills. A corn mill was built in 1430 by public subscription. In 1710, it was rebuilt to grind corn and supply water to the city. In 1897, it became an air compressor station, with three electric and two water powered compressors. The compressed air was used to pump sewage out of the city. Operation ceased in 1972, when the only other Schone Ejector pumps in the country were those under the houses of parliament. Plans for it to become a working museum failed, but all the machinery is still intact. The sluice is now computer operated to control water levels. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/new-mills.html
Other mills close on tributaries are
- Great WitchinghamGreat WitchinghamGreat Witchingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk about north-west of Norwich.It covers an area of and had a population of 564 in 235 households as of the 2001 census....
Mill http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/witchingham.html - GressenhallGressenhallGressenhall is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 1008 in 443 households as of the 2001 census...
Mill http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/gressenhall.html - WorthingWorthing, NorfolkWorthing is a small village in Norfolk, England.Its church, St. Margaret, is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk.-External links:*, a round-tower church...
Mill http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/worthing.html - FelthorpeFelthorpeFelthorpe is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 710 in 287 households as of the 2001 census.For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Broadland....
Mill http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Watermills/felthorpe.html
Bridges (Norwich)
Bishop Bridge is one of five medieval bridges which span the River Wensum. Built in 1345 it formed part of the defensive structure along the river, with a gatehouse on the city side of bridge which was demolished in 1791. It is positioned on the site of a Roman Ford.Fye Bridge is arguably the oldest river crossing in Norwich and is the gate to the North of the City known as “Norwich over the water” this bridge was also the site of a cucking stool
Cucking stool
Ducking-stools and cucking-stools are chairs formerly used for punishment of women in England and Scotland . The term cucking-stool derives from wyuen pine as referred in Langland's Piers Plowman.They were both instruments of social humiliation and censure, primarily for the offense of scolding...
for ducking lawbreakers and undesirables.
Whitefriars Bridge Named after a former Carmelite (White Friars) monastery. The remains of which can still be seen in a small section of medieval wall and archway.
Foundry Bridge Near the railway station and the Yacht station on Riverside named after a foundry nearby, purported to have been built to take a railway line.
Carrow Bridge near Carrow Road
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is a football stadium in Norwich, England, and is the home of Norwich City Football Club. The stadium is located toward the easterly end of the city, not far from Norwich railway station and the River Wensum....
football ground is a more recent cantilevered swing bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
, which can still be opened to allow large or high vessels through. It is positioned in close proximity to the Boom towers which originally had a chain suspended between them and would have been used as part of the citys defences and as a method of collecting tolls on goods travelling up river from Great Yarmouth.
Novi Sad Friendship Bridge is a cable stayed swing footbridge
Footbridge
A footbridge or pedestrian bridge is a bridge designed for pedestrians and in some cases cyclists, animal traffic and horse riders, rather than vehicular traffic. Footbridges complement the landscape and can be used decoratively to visually link two distinct areas or to signal a transaction...
which spans the River Wensum in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
. The structure is named in recognition of the twinning
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
ties between Norwich and Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. The bridge was designed by Buro Happold
Buro Happold
Buro Happold is a professional services firm providing engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of buildings, infrastructure and the environment, with its head office in Bath, Somerset...
and commissioned by Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
County Council.
There are further bridges at Barn Road, Anchor Quay, Duke Street and St. Georges Street.
Conservation
See also River Wensum SSSIRiver Wensum SSSI
The River Wensum SSSI is a 'whole river' Site of Special Scientific Interest located on the River Wensum that flows through the English county of Norfolk. The river was designated a SSSI in 1993 and a Special Area of Conservation SAC in 2000...
After many years of decline a survey was commissioned by Natural England
Natural England
Natural England is the non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved...
in 2002. It showed that the ecological condition of the river had declined. The principal reasons for this were water quality
Water quality
Water quality is the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water. It is a measure of the condition of water relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species and or to any human need or purpose. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which...
and siltation
Siltation
Siltation is the pollution of water by fine particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments, and to the increased accumulation of fine sediments on bottoms where they are undesirable...
. Water quality has been addressed and was improving, but the physical character of the river needs to be restored. In 2008, a partnership known as the River Wensum Restoration Strategy (RWRS) was formed between; Environment Agency
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is a British non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Assembly Government Sponsored Body of the Welsh Assembly Government that serves England and Wales.-Purpose:...
; Water Management Alliance and Natural England to restore the physical functioning of the Wensum. The 2002 report found that fourteen redundant water mills along the Wensum as having the most significant factor affecting morphology
River morphology
The terms river morphology and its synonym fluvial geomorphology are used to describe the shapes of river channels and how they change over time...
of the river channel, with 67% of the river backed up behind these structures. As a priority, the strategy recommended the lowering, removal or bypassing of these structures to allow more of the river to function naturally. Since 2008, the (RWRS) has made several improvements to the river. The holistic whole river approach with co-operation from land owners, fisheries managers and other organizations has seen ongoing projects ranging from restoring gravel glides to removing silt.
The Norfolk Anglers Conservation Association (NACA) carried out a successful river habitat restoration at their Sayers Meadow fishery at Lyng
Lyng, Norfolk
Lyng is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the River Wensum, some north-east of the town of East Dereham and north-west of the city of Norwich....
in the early 1980s. After dredging and a major abstraction
Abstraction
Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
pipeline had a detrimental effect on the Costessey
Costessey
Costessey is a civil parish situated west of Norwich in Norfolk, England. The parish comprises two settlements: the long-established village of Costessey , and New Costessey , which developed during the first half of the 20th century and has become a suburb of Norwich...
Point
fishery, the association has taken action to restore this well known water. The ongoing work will be used as a blueprint for future river conservation projects.
Angling
Between 1940 and the 1970s the river had a national reputation as a roach fishery with specimens exceeding 3 pounds (1.4 kg) being reported. As the river declined through the effects of abstractionAbstraction
Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
, dredging and modern farming methods these fish largely died out. After an earlier introduction of a small amount of barbel
Barbus barbus
Barbus barbus is a species of freshwater fish in the Cyprinidae family of minnows and carps. It shares the common name "barbel" with its many relatives in the genus Barbus and is properly known as the Common Barbel.B...
- a fish not indigenous to the Wensum - the local river authority stocked the Wensum with over 150 fish in 1971 below Costessey Mill. and subsequently stocked more fish at suitable sections of the Upper Wensum.
The fish became established albeit in small numbers at a few favourable locations. Specimens in excess of 20 pounds (9.1 kg) have been caught with a specimen of 21 pounds (9.53 kg) landed in November, 2008 from the Norfolk Anglers' Conservation Association (NACA) fishery at Lyng.
Today (2011), much of the Wensum's upper reaches are privately owned or controlled by syndicates. However, opportunities for individual anglers can be found and as the river passes through the City of Norwich free fishing is available where accessible.
Further reading
- Where to Fish in Norfolk and Suffolk by John Wilson ISBN 0-7117-0183-0