SU4922 : River flowing down Hensting Lane
taken 10 years ago, near to Owslebury, Hampshire, England
Hensting Lane had a river running down it for several weeks in 2000 and also in 2014. There is a large catchment area at Longwood, encompassing New Warren Farm, Longwood Warren, Honeyman Farm, Warren Farm and the Longwood House area. It amounts to about 8 square miles and it all has to drain down the valley to Fishers Pond. Normally, it drains invisibly in the underlying chalk but, after prolonged heavy rainfall, it sometimes becomes a river flowing on the surface.
Running roughly along the base of this valley are, in turn, Honeyman Lane, Stags Lane and Hensting Lane. These all become running rivers when the flood occurs. At its peak in 2014, about 3500 cu.m/hour was flowing down the lower part of Hensting Lane.
During the flood of 2000, some properties at Hensting hamlet were also flooded by ground water coming up through the floors. Since then, residents installed extensive under-floor drainage, and so the properties were not affected that way in the 2014 flood although it was at least as severe.