Removal of Chipley Mill Weir on the River Lemon.
The River Lemon is a large tributary of the River Teign in South Devon, UK. From its source at Haytor on Dartmoor, it flows through Newton Abbot before meeting the estuary and sea at Teignmouth. Multiple barriers to fish migration are present throughout the River Lemon.
| Project status | Completed |
|---|---|
| Project type | Dam removal: demolition |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| River | Lemon |
| Removal date | July 2025 |
| Km to be opened | 3.1 km |
| Focal species | Salmon |
| Organisation | Westcountry Rivers Trust – with Environment Agency and National Trust partners |
| Website | Lemon PPIP project |
The River Lemon is classified as a Heavily Modified Waterbody with Moderate WER/WFD status and a Poor fish classification.
The Lemon PPIP project was established in 2024 to address migration barriers in the River Lemon and help restore fish populations. Fisheries monitoring has shown that salmon are using and spawning in the lower River Lemon but are not recorded upstream of Bradley Manor Weir. Resident brown trout and eels are present in the upper catchment.
Chipley Mill Weir is in a state of disrepair, posing ongoing maintenance challenges for landowners. As the structure is now redundant, its removal represents an ‘easy-win’ ecological solution.
The project will remove Chipley Mill Weir in Summer 2025 using Westcountry Rivers Trust’s in-house River Operations team. This intervention will deliver significant ecological benefits by removing delays to fish migration and allowing free movement for all species. It will also restore natural sediment transport processes.
Integrated with other Lemon PPIP actions and previous projects, the removal will contribute to re-establishing unimpeded passage from the sea to Holbeam Dam (32 km), and onward to Bickington fish pass under the A38, unlocking a total of 25 km of headwaters habitat.
The project removed Chipley Mill Weir in July 2025 using Westcountry Rivers Trust’s in-house River Operations team, reopening 3.1 km of river upstream,
This intervention delivered significant ecological benefits by removing delays to fish migration and allowing free movement for all species.
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