Lymington River

The River Lymington is a beautiful stream that runs through the New Forest National Park and internationally important Special Area of Conservation. Upstream, the waters are clean and pure and a vital resource for the wildlife in the forest, from rare birds like nightjar and curlew and animals such as pine martin as well as the wild-roaming ponies that are so important to the ecosystem.

Although 75% of the river’s water bodies are currently in good ecological status, this doesn’t tell the full story and sections of the river have been deemed unsafe for swimming in recent years.

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Risks to the Lymington River:

The state of Lymington River

Despite the river meandering through one nature protected area and flowing out into another (the Solent Special Protection Area) and being such an essential part of the Protected Landscape, the river itself is not actually protected. This kind of Cinderella status is something we see in rivers all over National Parks and National Landscapes. 

Our research shows that the Lymington saw 2847 hours of storm overflow and sewage emptied out into the river in 2024. Although 75% of the river’s water bodies are currently in good ecological status, this doesn’t tell the full story and sections of the river have been deemed unsafe for swimming in recent years. Brockenhurst sewage works, managed by Southern Water, is one pollution hotspot which has seen the majority of all spills into the river according to River Action in an open letter to Southern Water in 2022. 

At the Roydon Woods Nature Reserve downstream of the works there is a beautiful old ford that crosses the river. The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust who manage the reserve have put up a sign which warns visitors not to let children and dogs play in the stream for fear of getting sick. It is one of the main limiting factors for nature recovery in this 1000-acre reserve. Because the river has no protection the water company is not investing in the sewage works which was not designed to cope with the 15 million visitors the New Forest receives each year, nor the impacts of climate change.