River Tavy

"Tavy" redirects here. For other uses, see Tavy (disambiguation).

The Tavy (/ˈteɪvi/) is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. The name derives from the Brythonic root tam, once thought to mean 'dark' but now generally understood to mean 'to flow'.^[1] It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and the villages of Mary Tavy and Peter Tavy.

River Tavy
The Tavy above Tavistock, on the moor
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Location
Country	England
County	Devon
Physical characteristics
Mouth	River Tamar
• location	Bickleigh
• coordinates	50°28′N 4°09′W
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Collybrooke River Walkham
• right	River Burn River Wallabrooke River Lumburn

It is a tributary of the River Tamar and has as its own tributaries: Collybrooke, River Burn, River Wallabrooke, River Lumburn, and River Walkham. At Tavistock it feeds a canal running to Morwellham Quay.

Its mouth is crossed by the Tavy Bridge which carries the Tamar Valley railway line.

Navigation

v t e River Tavy routemap
Legend
Dartmoor Mary Tavy Power Station Cholwell Brook Collybrooke Langsford Rd River Burn Stannary Bridge Vigo Bridge  A386   A386  West Bridge Tavistock Canal River Lumburn River Walkham Denham Bridge Lopwell Dam Limit of navigation Blaxton Creek Bere Ferrers Tamar Valley Line River Tamar

The river is navigable inland as far as Lopwell, where a weir marks the normal tidal limit, about a 9-mile (14 km) journey from North Corner Quay at Devonport.^[2] River transport was an important feature of the local farming, mining, tourism, and forestry economies.^[3][4]

The Queen's Harbour Master for Plymouth^[5] is responsible for managing navigation on the River Tavy up to the normal tidal limit.^[6]

• 
  Lopwell weir, highest point of navigation
• 
  Kayaking on the Tavy.

See also

• Tamar–Tavy Estuary SSSI