River Ock

---

title: "River Ock" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["abingdon-on-thames", "rivers-of-oxfordshire", "thames-drainage-basin", "vale-of-white-horse"] description: "River in Oxfordshire, England" topic_path: "general/abingdon-on-thames" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Ock" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary River in Oxfordshire, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]

Field	Value
name	Ock
name_etymology
image	RiverOck01.JPG
image_caption	Bridge across the River Ock as it flows into the Thames at Abingdon
pushpin_map_caption
subdivision_type1	Country
subdivision_name1	England
subdivision_type3	Counties
subdivision_name3	Oxfordshire
subdivision_type4	Districts / Boroughs
subdivision_type5	Towns
subdivision_name5	Abingdon-on-Thames
length_km	34
discharge1_location	Abingdon-on-Thames
discharge1_min	0.11 m3/s23 August 1976
discharge1_avg	1.52 m3/s
discharge1_max	15.8 m3/s6 March 1972
source1_location	Little Coxwell, White Horse Hills
mouth	River Thames
mouth_location	Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire
::

::callout[type=note] the river in Oxfordshire ::

| name = Ock | name_native = | name_native_lang = | name_other = | name_etymology = | image = RiverOck01.JPG | image_size = | image_caption = Bridge across the River Ock as it flows into the Thames at Abingdon | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption = | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = England | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = Counties | subdivision_name3 = Oxfordshire | subdivision_type4 = Districts / Boroughs | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = Towns | subdivision_name5 = Abingdon-on-Thames | length_km = 34 | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = Abingdon-on-Thames | discharge1_min = 0.11 m3/s23 August 1976 | discharge1_avg = 1.52 m3/s | discharge1_max = 15.8 m3/s6 March 1972 | source1 = | source1_location = Little Coxwell, White Horse Hills | source1_coordinates = | source1_elevation = | mouth = River Thames | mouth_location = Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire | mouth_coordinates = | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/River_Ock_at_Charney.JPG" caption="The River Ock heads towards Abingdon, from the bridge at Charney Bassett"] ::

The River Ock is a small English river which is a tributary of the River Thames. It has as its catchment area the Vale of White Horse, a low-lying and wide valley in south Oxfordshire, and flows into the River Thames, at Abingdon on the reach above Culham Lock.

Course

The River Ock rises near the village of Little Coxwell. It collects tributaries from each village along the base of the White Horse Hills, where springs emanating from the chalk hills allowed settlements to flourish in former times. Among these tributaries is the Osse Stream, rising in Cumnor.

From Little Coxwell, the Ock runs around Longcot and flows past Stanford in the Vale, where it is about 10 ft wide. The name of Stanford comes from stony ford, possibly alluding to the Ock crossing at Stanford Mill. Thence it runs past Charney Bassett, Lyford, Garford and Marcham Mill, before losing its identity and its waters to the Thames at Abingdon by the old Hygienic Laundry building. An iron bridge crosses at the junction which was built by the Wilts & Berks Canal Company. This gives the erroneous impression that the Ock is that canal, but in fact the original canal entrance a few yards downstream is now blocked up. This has been replaced under a restoration project by a newer entrance closer to Culham Lock.

The soils through which the River Ock flows are the Jurassic sedimentary series (Greensands, Gault, Kimmeridge Clay and corallian limestone), while some of its tributaries arise in chalk springs. Until recent times, native crayfish and many freshwater fish species inhabited the river. Increased housing in the Vale, with the resultant surface drainage, may have threatened these species but surveys have not yet been performed in the 21st century.

Although normally placid, the Ock can flood low-lying areas of south Abingdon after persistent heavy rainfall; this recently occurred in April 2023, January 2024, September 2024 and November 2024.

Name

The hydronym Ock appears to be derived from a Celtic word for 'salmon'.

References

|downstream=Wilts & Berks Canal (south)}}

References

1. Halford, Ed. (13 April 2023). "Extent of Abingdon floods shown by pictures after Tesco closed". Oxford Mail.
2. Davies, Liam. (2024-01-06). "Abingdon Tesco closes and cancels services due to flooding".
3. (26 September 2024). "Abingdon Tesco Extra stays closed as car park still flooded". [[Newsquest Media Group]].
4. https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/24755619.abingdon-families-count-cost-flood-damage-homes/
5. Gelling, Margaret. (1972). "Place-Names of Berkshire".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::