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The River Wey is a tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the flow is eastwards then northwards via Godalming and Guildford to meet the Thames at Weybridge. Downstream the river forms the backdrop to Newark Priory and Brooklands. The Wey and Godalming Navigations were built in the 17th century to provide a navigable route between Godalming and the Thames.

The Wey has a total catchment area of 904 km2, draining parts of Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex. The river morphology, biodiversity and flow are well studied, with many places to take samples and record data. The main tributary is the Tillingbourne, which rises on the western slopes of Leith Hill and flows westwards to join the Wey to the south of Guildford, between Shalford and Peasmarsh.

The name Wey is of unknown origin and meaning.

Catchment area
The Wey has a drainage basin of 904 km2: taking in a little bit of north Hampshire and West Sussex, and almost all of the south-west quarter of Surrey. Its average rank of discharge to the Thames is third, being behind the Kennet and Cherwell, again, excluding the Medway. River morphology, biodiversity and flow are well-studied, with many places to take samples and record data. The main tributary is the Tillingbourne, which rises on the western slopes of Leith Hill and flows westwards to end south of Guildford, between Shalford and Peasmarsh.

Wey North
The Wey North branch, which rises in Alton in Hampshire, is the longer of the two branches of the upper Wey (although its length only exceeds that of the South branch by 1 mi). However is exceeded by length and, in wet weather, in flow by the nearby Caker Stream rising in dendritic drainage spanning fields of Upper Farringdon and Hartley Mauditt, passing Chawton between these places. After the union in Alton the brook runs quite straight, east north-east through Upper Froyle and Bentley, turning southeast after Farnham's centre to Tilford.

The steep-sided valley accentuates entering Surrey, between vast masses termed the Lower Greensand Group (south), then down the more easterly valley on both sides (east and west), reflecting the crumbly nature of this material has readily eroded down – the valley falls from about 230 ft entering Surrey 1.5 mi west of Farnham to 60 feet lower at Tilford 4 mi south-east of Farnham and changes from almost v-shaped to a more u-shaped alluvial plain.

The North Branch is thought to have originally formed part of the upper catchment of the River Blackwater. The Wey captured these waters until erosion and deposition of the surrounding sandy mass rose the Blackwater by several metres sufficient to lead to deep flooding south of, and around, Aldershot (today's wind gap) and so the branch, due to a glacial barrier or multiple high floodings, broke through the greensand to join the south branch via a sinuous, multiple-anabranch Waverley Abbey stretch – cutting a broad, powerful vale for such a small river. If correct, the Blackwater catered for more water as its carves the single gap through the broad south-east Berkshire/Fleet area high sands (Bagshot Formation). The upper Blackwater is not lower than 226 ft (Tongham Pool) today – a vast amount of erosion must have occurred in the valley down to Tilford by contrast, if this theory, supported by geology maps and local depositions of material, is proven.

Wey South
The Wey South branch stems from two main westward brooks, one following the Portsmouth Direct Line, the other – with longer source brooks – following the Surrey/Sussex boundary, which combine at a point, heading west, where the line first comes as close as 97 metres to the boundary – in the east end of a park, next to one of its three river footbridges. These brooks are fed by six main streams. The farthest are the southern streams. These drain parallel, north, narrow vales between the northerly "fingers" or "ribs" of:
 * Blackdown, the third-highest hill in Southeastern England
 * Ridge Hill
 * Fridays Hill
 * Marley Heights (formerly Moseshill), called Marley Common

The northern streams drain fingers of a single east-west ridge of Greensand, their common names, again from east to west, are:
 * Wey Down (High Lane Estate)
 * Inval(l)
 * Stoatley Rise
 * Brownscombe

Of varying size, these are long, sandy hills south-east of the upper tip of the Devil's Punch Bowl: Gibbet Hill, Hindhead. One of the northern streams adjoins strips of woodland named Weydown Common and Weycombe.

The Wey drains and passes Haslemere's western suburbs then Liphook, Bramshott (including Passfield), the former close mills of Standford and Lindford, the large parish of Frensham, until centrally in Tilford parish combining with the Wey north branch in which parish all three flows have large meanders.

The south sources are specifically: a wood-surrounded neighbourhood, Kingsley Green (formerly Marsh) in Fernhurst; Chase Farm marking the furthest point south in Surrey; and upper fishponds at Wades Marsh marking the Fernhurst/Lurgashall boundary (both in West Sussex), next to the summit of Ridge Hill (which is the furthest source);

Notable tributaries of the south branch are Cooper's Stream and the River Slea, Hampshire.

Combined river
From Tilford the river runs through Elstead, Eashing, Godalming, Peasmarsh/Shalford, Guildford, Send, Old Woking, Pyrford, Byfleet, New Haw and forms the Addlestone/Weybridge border between Hamm Court and Whittet's Ait respectively. From Godalming the river is intertwined with the Wey and Godalming Navigations. The 20 mi of the navigations' towpath is open to pedestrians. The river joins the Thames at a cascading channel off its Navigation Canal (above Thames Lock) between Hamm Court and Whittet's Ait and a weir-fed navigation east of the ait facing the main weir stream of Shepperton Lock.

Tributaries
The River Ock joins at Godalming, Cranleigh Waters and the River Tillingbourne at Shalford and the Hoe Stream at Woking.

Mills
The river has long been used as a source of power for mills, and many are recorded in the Domesday Book. Between the 17th and 19th centuries there were over 40 mills on the river and more on its tributaries. At various times they have been used for grinding grain, fulling wool, rolling oats, crushing cattle cake, leather dressing, paper production and gunpowder manufacture. Willey Mill, at Farnham, was still in use in 1953. Headley Mill is still in commercial operation. Guildford Town Mill, though no longer used for milling, still harnesses the power of the river to generate electricity.

Navigations
During the seventeenth century, the river was made navigable to Guildford and extended in the eighteenth century to Godalming. The Basingstoke Canal and Wey and Arun Junction Canal were later connected to the river. The navigable sections are now owned by the National Trust.

Natural environment
Wey Valley is a term for the narrowing basin of the River Wey before it empties into the River Thames.

Much of the upper reaches of the river are within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The river passes through a variety of habitats including heathland, woodland and watermeadow, resulting in a diversity of wildlife. There are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Nature Reserves along the river.

A broad basin of aquifers drain steeply to the river so, as with the Mole, in its natural state, much of the flood plains were prone to regular flooding. This has been greatly reduced by flood alleviation, upstream lakes such as Frensham Great Pond and, inadvertently, the Wey Navigation. Urban lowest parts of Godalming, Byfleet and Weybridge saw extensive flooding in the exceptional Winter storms of 2013–14.

Water quality
The Environment Agency measure water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms and fish, and chemical status, which compares the concentrations of various chemicals against known safe concentrations. Chemical status is rated good or fail.

Water quality of the River Wey in 2016:

Surrey rivers
The longest river to enter Surrey is the Thames, which historically formed the boundary between the county and Middlesex. As a result of the 1965 boundary changes, many of the Surrey boroughs on the south bank of the river were transferred to Greater London, shortening the length associated with the county. The Thames now forms Surrey-Berkshire border between Runnymede and Staines-upon-Thames, before flowing wholly within Surrey to Sunbury, from which point it marks the Surrey-Greater London border as far as Surbiton.

The Wey is the longest tributary of the Thames, (when the Medway, which enters into its lower estuary, is excluded). Other tributaries of the Thames with their courses partially in Surrey include the Mole, the Addlestone branch and Chertsey branch of the River Bourne (which merge shortly before joining the Thames), and the Hogsmill River, which drains Epsom and Ewell.

The upper reaches of the River Eden, a tributary of the Medway, are in Tandridge District in east Surrey.

Notes and references

 * Notes
 * References