| Bedburn Beck | |
| Pushpin Map: | County Durham |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth within County Durham |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | England |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | County Durham |
| Length: | 16.8km (10.4miles) |
| Discharge1 Location: | Bedburn |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 1.23m3/s |
| Source1 Location: | Woodland Fell |
| Mouth Location: | River Wear |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 54.6847°N -1.8°W |
| Basin Size: | 76km2 |
Bedburn Beck is a long, upper tributary of the River Wear in County Durham, England. The beck and its tributaries, including the Euden, Harthorpe and South Grain becks, have a catchment of, much of which is covered by the coniferous Hamsterley Forest.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Its headwaters rise on the high ground of Woodland Fell, where it is known as the Spurlswood Beck which flows in an easterly direction through a rocky gill of the same name. It then enters Hamsterley Forest, where it is joined by the Euden Beck and becomes known as the Bedburn Beck.[1]
Passing beside the hamlet of Redford before being joined by the Ayhope or South Grain Beck, it then reaches the village of Bedburn where it is bridged by a minor road. Beyond the village it meets the Harthorpe Beck, before descending into the Wear valley between Hamsterley and Witton-le-Wear.[2]
The flow of the beck has been measured at a gauging station in its lower reaches at Bedburn since 1959. The catchment to the station of measures 99% of the total catchment of the beck, and yields an average flow of .[6] [7]
The highest river level recorded at the station occurred on the 17 July 2009, with a height of and a flow of .[8]
The catchment has an average annual rainfall of and a maximum altitude of near Pawlaw Pike at the western edge of the basin.[9]
Land use within the basin is rural, consisting of moorland, grassland and the coniferous Hamsterley Forest.[9]