The Ver is a 28 km (17 mi) long chalk stream in Hertfordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Colne.
The source is in the grounds of Lynch Lodge, Kensworth Lynch on the west side of the A5 trunk road and stays on the west side for some half mile or so. It then crosses through a culvert into Markyate Cell, afterwards crosses under the A5 in culvert and runs through Markyate.
The river exits above ground at the southern end of Markyate, and on through Flamstead, Redbourn, St Albans and Park Street, finally joining the River Colne at Bricket Wood[citation needed].
The Ver is a chalk stream, which is partly a seasonal winterbourne north of Redbourn. However, many of its natural features have been compromised as a result of being canalised during the construction of the artificial lakes at Verulamium Park in St Albans in the 1930s following the archaeological excavations of Verulamium by Sir Mortimer Wheeler and his wife Tessa. During the 1960s and 1970s it suffered serious problems as a result of water extraction upstream.
Although these abated temporarily after the closure of one of the pumping stations, as of 2005 the upstream part of the river dries up completely during the summer, and the rest of the river may suffer the same fate within a few years; compare the current situation with the “great flow of water” that was reported to exist in 1885, with a depth of 12 ft (3.7 m) at Dolittle Mill on the Redbourn Road .[1] In 2004 a proposal for remedial work was being developed for the St Albans lakes.
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