River Swift

The River Swift is a 14-mile long tributary of the River Avon that rises in south Leicestershire, and flows through the town of Lutterworth before joining the Avon at its confluence in Warwickshire in the English Midlands.CourseThe source of the river is a stream that rises at an altitude of around 142 m near to Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in Leicestershire, on the watershed division between the Avon and Soar catchments. The Swift passes the village of Walton and then Kimcote, where it meets a number of small streams that drain the headwaters of the catchment. The river continues in a south-westerly direction, passing to the north of Walcote then through the Misterton marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest, before reaching the M1 motorway bridge and the town of Lutterworth.The river passes to the south of the town, where it is crossed by the Rugby road, near to the site of the ‘lost’ St Johns the Baptist hospital. After passing beneath the Lutterworth bypass, the Swift continues south-west until it reaches the Bransford Bridge crossing of the A5. This road follows the course of Watling Street, the Roman road that linked London to Wroxeter.