Eden, River

Old mill by the River Eden
©2011 Gazetteer for Scotland

The northernmost of the two principal rivers of Fife, the River Eden is formed on the border with Perth & Kinross, by the joining of the Carmore and Beattie burns at Burnside to the west of Gateside. It flows eastwards across the Howe of Fife through Strathmiglo and Cupar on its way to meet the North Sea 2 miles (3 km) north of St Andrews. It has a total length of nearly 30 miles (48 km) and its fall of c.90m (300 feet) was once used to provide mills with water power.

The Eden is joined by the Ceres Burn at Cupar and by the Moonzie Burn and Motray Water at Guardbridge where it opens out into a wide estuary that was designated a local nature reserve in 1978. The tidal sand and mudflats, saltmarshes, reedbeds and sand dune grassland of the Eden Estuary Nature Reserve are host to high densities of wintering bird populations which include nationally important numbers of shelduck, internationally significant numbers of Bar Tailed Godwits and the most northerly wintering flock of Black Tailed Godwit.

Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry