Editing Holy Brook (section)

== Course ==
[[File:The Holy Brook to south of Calcot.jpg|thumb|The Holy Brook towards its upstream end, to the south of Calcot.]]
[[File:The Holy Brook at Coley Park Farm.jpg|thumb|The Holy Brook at Coley Park Farm on its approach to Reading.]]
[[File:Holybrook and Abbey Mill Arch.jpg|thumb|The Holy Brook close to its outfall, with the ruins of the Abbey Mill in the distance.]]
For the first stretch of its route, the channel forms the boundary between the Reading suburbs of [[Beansheaf Farm]], [[Fords Farm]], [[Calcot, Berkshire|Calcot]], [[Southcote, Berkshire|Southcote]] and [[Coley Park]] (all to the north of the brook), and the Kennet [[flood meadow]]s (to the south). At Calcot, the brook passes [[Calcot Mill]], one of two water mills that were driven by the brook and which originally belonged to the abbey. In this area the channel gives its name to the nearby [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] of [[Holybrook]]. In some stretches, especially behind Coley Park, the brook is noticeably embanked along the hillside above the lower water meadows, demonstrating its artificial origins. Once past Coley Park the Holy Brook flows through the Victorian suburb of [[Coley, Reading|Coley]], before reaching the town centre. At Coley, an overflow weir diverts excess water back to the Kennet, at a point which was once the site of a [[Lido (swimming pool)|lido]].<ref name=tale  /><ref name=parish />

In the centre of Reading, the Holy Brook is culverted for several stretches, only showing itself intermittently. The channel can clearly be seen where it flows under one of the entrances to the [[The Oracle, Reading|Oracle]] shopping centre, where it has given its name to the 'Holy Brook Mall,' the lower of the two enclosed shopping malls within the centre. It is also visible for about 10 metres in the rear yard of the Purple Turtle bar and for a couple of metres outside the front door of [[Reading Central Library]]. The culverted sections of the Holy Brook involve a number of different construction techniques from various ages. The most notable section, behind the buildings on Castle Street, is [[grade II listed]] and built of ribbed [[limestone]] blocks that may be reclaimed stone from Reading Abbey. Other sections include brick vaults, iron-girder roofing, concrete culverts, and modern corrugated steel construction.<ref name=tale /><ref name=digitalnoise />

At its eastern end, once it has passed under the Central Library, the Holy Brook re-emerges into the open, at a point where it once formed the southern boundary of Reading Abbey. Here the brook provided the driving force for the [[Abbey Mill, Reading|Abbey Mill]], of which only vestiges remain, as well as supplying water to the Abbey's [[necessarium]]. Today the brook passes between the backs of modern office blocks before re-entering the north channel of the River Kennet where the latter makes a right-angle turn immediately to the south of the ruins of the Abbey church.<ref name=tale /><ref>From a plan drawn by Dr Jamieson Hurry in 1896, reproduced in Slade (2001), pp122</ref>