Great Ouse

The River Great Ouse is one of the Longest Rivers in the United Kingdom a river in England that is the longest of numerous "Ouse" rivers in the country. The Great Ouse runs from Syresham in Northamptonshire through Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Norfolk before emptying into Wash and the North Sea at Kings Lynn. It is the fifth-longest river in the United Kingdom, with a length of around 143 miles (230 kilometers) generally running north and east. The Great Ouse has traditionally been vital for commercial navigation and drainage of the low-lying region through which it flows; its most well-known tributary is the Cam, which passes through Cambridge. Its lower course is through drained marshes and fens, and it has been significantly changed or channelized, to alleviate floods and give a better path for barge traffic. After a flood, the unaltered river would have shifted channels on a frequent basis.

The river has various origins in South Northamptonshire, between the villages of Syresham and Wappenham. It runs through Brackley, providing the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire boundary, then into Buckinghamshire, passing through Buckingham, Milton Keynes (at Stony Stratford), Newport Pagnell, and Olney, before reaching Kempston in Bedfordshire, the current head of navigation.

Length: 143 miles