We’re delighted to announce the successful removal of a deteriorating weir structure on the River Lemon in Devon. Removing Chipley Mill Weir has reconnected upstream habitat, restored natural river functions and allowed salmonids and other species free access to critical spawning grounds in Dartmoor National Park. Beyond improving fish migration, this barrier removal will enhance water quality, support the natural movement of sediment and provide greater connectivity for all aquatic life.
This weir removal was funded by the Open Rivers Programme – a grant-giving organisation dedicated to restoring rivers – and forms part of a wider initiative to improve fish migration and biodiversity in the River Teign catchment, funded by Environment Agency under the Lemon PPIP-Lemon Partnership Project to Improve Passage. Lemon PPIP is a collaboration between the Environment Agency, Westcountry Rivers Trust, and the National Trust. Chipley Mill is one of the two key barriers that have been identified as contributing to the River Lemon’s poor fish status under the Water Framework Directive. This weir removal represents a significant step forward the strategic, catchment-wide approach to restore salmon numbers. It builds on previous fish passage work at Bickington and complements broader efforts to restore river health across the Teign catchment which now sees an impressive 30km of upstream habitat accessible to migratory fish.
The need for action here was clear from our monitoring data. While salmon were successfully spawning in the lower reaches of the River Lemon, just upstream of Newton Abbot, they hadn’t been recorded upstream of Bradley Manor Weir since 2010. Meanwhile, numerous resident brown trout, European eel and European bullhead in the upper catchment remained constrained by artificial barriers. Local fish passage design consultancy Fishtek provided the technical designs that made this removal possible.
Our own in-house River Restoration team – comprising plant operators, arborists, and fisheries and geomorphology experts – carefully dismantled the weir structure and use large woody debris from the site to protect the riverbank from erosion. With this barrier now gone, we’ll shift focus toward ongoing monitoring of river health and fish populations, while improving fish migration and connectivity across the rest of the river. Thanks to additional funding from the Open Rivers Programme and the Lemon PPIP project, we can now progress plans to improve fish passage and river connectivity at Bradley Manor Weir.
