Shopham Loop is a section of the river Rother, West Sussex between Coultershaw Bridge and Shopham Bridge. A cut was created in the 18th century to bypass the meander and enable passage of boats upstream. However after navigation ceased, the locks were removed and the cut became the main river course with the meander (Shopham Loop) remaining as a backwater. Land use change to an intensive agricultural regime in turn led to shallower soils and increased siltation and the loop entrance became blocked with deposits preventing any flow from the Rother.

The broad objectives of the project aimed to restore 1 km of degraded watercourse and associated floodplains; restore natural river processes to provide additional habitat diversity to benefit the ecology of the river Rother; enhance and diversify the fishery of the lower Rother catchment & protect the old lock structure from further erosion from the river.

Case Files and Uploads

27th May 2010	RRC Case Study Series - Summary of the Shopham Loop restoration project
File :	rother at shopham loop final.pdf (257 KB)