Prittle Brook

The Prittle Brook is a brook in Essex, England, which rises from a spring in Pound Wood, Thundersley Common. It flows eastwards through Belfairs, into Leigh-on-Sea and Prittlewell, past Southend University Hospital and eventually entering the River Roach after flowing underground through Southend-on-Sea.

A pathway enables walkers to travel the section of the brook from Belfairs to Roots Hall, effectively providing a route from Leigh into Southend avoiding the main roads. This pathway, built in the 1940s, sees the brook flow under several roads; the bridge which leads to Our Lady Of Lourdes school in Manchester Drive runs directly over the brook. This part of the brook's route has been urbanised since the 1930s, and the banks concreted east of the Belfairs Wood area. As a consequence, the river's velocity has increased rapidly, particularly after heavy rain.

[http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/98105 Picture of the concrete bank]