About River Smite
The River Smite is a tributary of the River Devon that flows for 20mi through Leicestershire and South-East Nottinghamshire, England. The source is near the hamlet of Holwell, Leicestershire, and it joins the River Devon near Shelton, Nottinghamshire. The Smite and its tributaries, which include the River Whipling, the Stroom Dyke, and the Dalby Brook, drain an area of 193km2 of agricultural land in the Vale of Belvoir. NameIn the 17th century the river was known as the Snite. This and the modern spelling are thought to derive from the Old English word smita, denoting a foul or miry place. This is linked to another Old English word smitan, which means to daub or pollute. This implies that the Smite was a dirty, miry stream. SourcesThe river originates from a number of springs near Holwell in Leicestershire, along a spring line that occurs where the local permeable ironstone meets the lower mudstones, on the flank of the Bleak Hills, which form part of the Belvoir Ridge. Although the source of the Smite is also attributed to another spring 1 km to the north, it is often stated as being Holwell mouth, a chalybeate or mineral spring. This lies in a wooded ravine to the north of Holwell, and is now disused, but in the 17th and 18th centuries its water was considered to have healing properties and was laid out with stone seating for those that took the waters. The spring contains iron salts, which gives it a reddish colour, and it is considered to have a distinctive sulphurous taste. The name Holwell is of Saxon origin, meaning "the spring or stream in a hollow".
River Smite Description
The River Smite is a tributary of the River Devon that flows for 20mi through Leicestershire and South-East Nottinghamshire, England. The source is near the hamlet of Holwell, Leicestershire, and it joins the River Devon near Shelton, Nottinghamshire. The Smite and its tributaries, which include the River Whipling, the Stroom Dyke, and the Dalby Brook, drain an area of 193km2 of agricultural land in the Vale of Belvoir. NameIn the 17th century the river was known as the Snite. This and the modern spelling are thought to derive from the Old English word smita, denoting a foul or miry place. This is linked to another Old English word smitan, which means to daub or pollute. This implies that the Smite was a dirty, miry stream. SourcesThe river originates from a number of springs near Holwell in Leicestershire, along a spring line that occurs where the local permeable ironstone meets the lower mudstones, on the flank of the Bleak Hills, which form part of the Belvoir Ridge. Although the source of the Smite is also attributed to another spring 1 km to the north, it is often stated as being Holwell mouth, a chalybeate or mineral spring. This lies in a wooded ravine to the north of Holwell, and is now disused, but in the 17th and 18th centuries its water was considered to have healing properties and was laid out with stone seating for those that took the waters. The spring contains iron salts, which gives it a reddish colour, and it is considered to have a distinctive sulphurous taste. The name Holwell is of Saxon origin, meaning "the spring or stream in a hollow".