River Perry

River Perry
The river crossing Baggy Moor
Map
Location
CountryEngland
CountiesShropshire
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationSprings near Gobowen
 • elevation260 m (850 ft)
Mouth 
 • location
River Severn, near Shrewsbury
 • coordinates
52°44′40″N 2°49′51″W / 52.7445°N 2.8308°W / 52.7445; -2.8308
 • elevation
55 m (180 ft)
Length39 km (24 mi)
Discharge 
 • locationYeaton
 • average1.6 m3/s (57 cu ft/s)
River Perry
Railway and A5 road
Spring near Hengoed
Gobowen railway station
Springs near Pant-Glas
dismantled railway
A495 road
Halston Hall lake
Common Brook
Montgomery Canal
Rednal Mill
Tetchill Brook
Baggy Moor
Railway Bridge
B4397 Platt Bridge, Ruyton-XI-Towns
Weir
New Mills Mill (corn)
Weir
Milford Mill (corn)
Milford Road bridge
Weir
Adcote Mill (corn)
War Brook
Weir
Yeaton Upper Mill (corn)
Yeaton bridge
Weir
Yeaton Lower Mill (corn)
Weir
Fitz Mill (corn)
Fitz Mill bridge
Weir
Mytton Mill (corn)
Mytton bridge
River Severn

The River Perry is a river in Shropshire, England. It rises near Oswestry and flows south to meet the River Severn above Shrewsbury. Along its 24 miles (39 km) length, its level drops by some 320 feet (95 m). The channel has been heavily engineered, both to enable water mills to be powered by it, and to improve the drainage of the surrounding land. There were at least seven corn mills in the 1880s, and the last one remained operational until 1966. The middle section of the river crosses Baggy Moor, where major improvements were made in 1777 to drain the moor. The scheme was one of the largest to enclose and improve land in North Shropshire, and the quality of the reclaimed land justified the high cost. A section of the river bed was lowered in the 1980s, to continue the process.

The river is crossed by the Llangollen Canal, and by several bridges which are on the Listed Buildings register. It has formerly suffered from pollution, both from the discharge of poorly treated sewage from two treatment works, and from effluent from factories producing dairy products. These are now well-regulated, but the river was the scene of a major pollution incident in 1985, when pig slurry discharged into it, killing around 100,000 fish.