RIVER CHERWELL, HOLYWELL MEADOWS, OXFORD

From the cycle path bridge on the right-hand bank in University parks, the fishery extends for about 1200 yards downstream beyond that, you’ll find a small ditch that marks the end of the fishery.

Holywell Meadows is a nice and quiet stretch of water during the Autumn and Winter, and if you’re visiting during the summer, you will find a lot of punts on the river to really set the scene.

You can expect to find Roach, Dace, Chub, Bream, Pike, and occasional tench in this stretch.

Oh and, please be sure to obey any requests made by College staff.

Parking

Unfortunately, there is nowhere to park locally, so we suggest that you either use public transport, cycle or take a stroll for a little extra exercise.

How to find us

By foot, you can ONLY access the stretch via St. Catharine’s College’s main entrance.

From there. turn left past the private car park and follow the path to the river through the meadow.

And please, remember to keep off the playing pitches.

View it on Google Maps.

Species

The carp (Cyprinus carpio) comes in many different guises; The wildie, the leather, the mirror and the common carp.

Tench is a freshwater fish native to Europe. Thick and heavy, the tench has an olive green or darker back

The bream lives in schools and eats worms, mollusks, and other small animals. It is deep bodied, with flat sides and a small head, and is silvery with a bluish or brown back.

The northern pike gets its name from its resemblance to the pole-weapon known as the pike. Pike can grow to a relatively large size; with maximum recorded weights of 63 lb.

Perch are carnivorous fish found in small ponds, lakes, streams, or rivers. These fish feed on smaller fish, shellfish, or insect larvae, but can be caught with nearly any bait

The Rudd is richly coloured, with a green to Brassy-bronze upper back, burnished golden flanks becoming silver-white on the belly and have crimson red fins.

A high-backed, yellowish green fish with red eyes and reddish fins. It lives in small schools and eats aquatic plants, insects, and other small animals.

A group of small carp-like freshwater fish, almost all of the genus Barbus. They are usually found in gravel and rocky-bottomed slow-flowing waters with high dissolved oxygen content.

The dace is a slender fish, with a silvery body and brownish fins. It is more slender than the roach and smaller than the chub, with duller fins.

A shoaling fish, dusky silver in colour often with a brown to bronze sheen. They are quite distinctive with a blunt snout, rounded body and very large mouth.

The brown trout is a golden-brown fish with a dark back and creamy-yellow belly. Its back and sides display dark, reddish spots with pale borders. It can be distinguished from the similar rainbow trout by its plain, dark tail fin and by the lack of a purple side-stripe.

The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a trout and species of salmonid. Adult freshwater stream rainbow trout average between 1 and 5 lb, while lake-dwelling and anadromous forms may reach 20 lb