Avon Name of four British rivers. The Bristol (Lower) Avon rises in the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire and flows s and then w through Bristol, entering the Severn estuary at Avonmouth. Length: 121km (75mi). The Warwickshire (Upper) Avon rises in Northamptonshire, and flows sw through Stratford-on-Avon to join the River Severn at Tewkesbury. Length: 155km (96mi). The Wiltshire (East) Avon rises near Devizes and flows s into the English Channel. Length: 77km (48mi). The Scottish Avon flows e into the Firth of Forth. Length: 29km (18mi).

Avon was a new county, formed under the Local Government Act of 1972. It was based upon Bristol, Bath, and Weston-super-Mare, but incorporated a slice of Gloucestershire, including Sodbury, Thornbury, and Marshfield, and a part of north Somerset, including Clevedon, Chew Magna, Radstock, Midsomer Norton, and Steep Holme. The name was taken from the river Avon, which runs through Bath and Bristol. There was considerable opposition to the proposal, particularly from Somerset. The county town was Bristol. Avon was abolished in 1996.

J. A. Cannon