The Adur is a river in Sussex, England. The Adur district of West Sussex is named after it. The river used to be navigable for large vessels up to the town of Steyning, where a large port used to be situated. However over time the river silted up its valley and the port moved to the deeper waters nearer the mouth in Shoreham-by-Sea.

Watercourse

The Adur begins as two separate branches, the western Adur and the eastern Adur, which meet just west of Henfield.

The western Adur rises at Slinfold from where it flows around Coolham and then through Shipley, where it meets Lancing Brook and flows on to West Grinstead and Knepp Castle. The western Adur is tidal as far north as Bines Bridge near Bines Green, south of West Grinstead.

The eastern Adur rises at Ditchling Common, in East Sussex, from where it crosses into West Sussex and meets another major stream at Twineham. At Shermanbury, the eastern Adur is fed by the Cowfold Stream.

From west of Henfield, the two branches of the river meet, before flowing between Upper Beeding and Bramber, past Coombes, through a gap in the South Downs near Lancing College where the Adur is fed by the Ladywell Stream. The river continues on to the English Channel at Shoreham-by-Sea. The mouth of the Adur is now two miles (3 km) from the town centre of Shoreham due to longshore drift.

The Baybridge Canal uses part of the Adur’s watercourse.

Etymology

The word Adur is believed to derive from the Celtic (Welsh) word for water, dwyr. The river shares the root of its name (dur-) with several other rivers around Europe.

History

From Norman times the county of Sussex was divided into sections known as Rape (county subdivision). Each rape was typically centred on a river and river port and was guarded by a castle. Bramber rape was centred on the port of Bramber and the river Adur, with Bramber Castle located close to the river. At various times in the medieval period, Bramber, Steyning and New Shoreham were all major ports on the river. The western Adur also flows close to Knepp Castle, near Shipley.

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