A previous name Amalburna is found in an Old English text dated after 991, published in the Cartularium Saxonicum (p. 1289).

[1] From this point the river flows south-east, past Edwardstone towards the large village of Boxford, where it is crossed by the A1071.

The fifty four year record shows that the catchment of 54 square kilometres (21 sq mi) to the gauging station yields an average flow of 0.22 cubic metres per second (7.8 cu ft/s).

[5] The catchment upstream of the gauging station has an average annual rainfall of 566 millimetres (22.3 in) and a maximum altitude of 83.6 metres (274 ft).

This is the middle band in the five part framework scale, which ranges from high, good, and moderate, through to poor and finally bad.