[1] The source of the River Waveney is a ditch on the east side of the B1113 road between the villages of Redgrave, Suffolk and South Lopham, Norfolk.

[citation needed] This was a periglacial lake of the Devensian glacial period, fifteen or twenty thousand years ago.

It was commissioned by Sir Shafto Adair, had a span of 50 feet (15 m) and predated the introduction of true reinforced concrete by several years.

They passed it on to the Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust, which managed its restoration in 1995, which was funded by grants from English Heritage, Blue Circle Industries and councils at county, district and local level.

Next, on the Norfolk bank, come Ditchingham, Broome and Ellingham before Geldeston, where an isolated pub stands next to the site of a lock, now replaced by a sluice.

This is the current limit of navigation for craft larger than a rowing or paddling boat and at this point the Waveney becomes a tidal river.

Although the old town bridge here restricts navigation to craft with an air draft of less than 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m), its quay beyond that abruptly changes the nature of the river from a gentle rural feature to a gateway to the North Sea.

Beccles was a fishing port for many years and the parents of Lord Nelson were married in the church of St Michael.

[9] The river then meanders past Barnby Broad and Marshes SSSI and Burgh St Peter to Somerleyton.

Daniel Defoe enlivens this account of the Waveney's Broads course:The River Waveney is a considerable river, and of a deep and full channel, navigable for large barges as high as Beccles; it runs for a course of about fifty miles, between the two counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, as a boundary to both; and pushing on, tho' with a gentle stream, towards the sea, no one would doubt, but, that when they see the river growing broader and deeper, and going directly towards the sea, even to the edge of the beach; that is to say, within a mile of the main ocean; no stranger, I say, but would expect to see its entrance into the sea at that place, and a noble harbour for ships at the mouth of it; when on a sudden, the land rising high by the sea-side, crosses the head of the river, like a dam, checks the whole course of it, and it returns, bending its course west, for two miles, or thereabouts; and then turning north, thro' another long course of meadows (joining to those just now mention'd) seeks out the River Yare, that it may join its water with hers, and find their way to the sea together.

[a][12] The River Waverney was improved for navigation under an Act of Parliament obtained in 1670, which empowered five traders from Bungay and one from Downham Market to carry out the work.

[11] The short section of the river from Haddiscoe to Burgh Ferry was part of a grand scheme to link Norwich to the sea at Lowestoft.

The scheme originated in 1818, but was opposed by the merchants of Yarmouth and it was not until 28 May 1827 that an Act of Parliament authorised the Norwich and Lowestoft Navigation Company, giving then powers to raise £100,000, with an additional £50,000 if required.

This had four sets of gates, so that it could be used at all states of the tide, was capable of holding vessels which were 150 by 50 feet (46 by 15 m) and used a system of sluices to enable the channel through Lake Lothing to be flushed with water from Oulton Broad.

With funds running low, a decision was taken to borrow the additional £50,000 which the enabling Act allowed and so a request was made to the Exchequer Bill Loan Commission for this amount.

[15] With income failing to match expenditure, the Exchequer Bill Loan Commission could not be repaid, so they took over the navigation in 1842 and sold it to the railway contractor Sir Samuel Morton Peto.

[18] Wainford and Ellingham locks have since been converted into sluices, but the Environment Agency has negotiated with local landowners to allow the use of this section by canoes and unpowered craft.

Two swing bridges carried the Lowestoft to Ipswich railway line and the A1117 road over the cut to the east of the lock.

He persuaded farmers to grow flax, and provided the facilities to process it, both at the mill and at a factory in Eye run by his business partner Peter Naylor.

The flax was grown for its fibres, which were used to make linen sheeting, sacking and rope, and for its seeds, from which linseed oil was obtained.

Production was encouraged by presenting a cup each year to the farmer who had produced the highest yield on 3 acres (1.2 ha) of land.

With the mill affected by a decline in local supplies and overseas competition, it closed in 1881, after which the machinery was removed and the buildings demolished.

The present building was erected in 1846, and consists of a brick ground floor, with two storeys above that which are timber framed and weatherboarded, and a slate roof.

The work created a gauging station for flow measurement, and increased the capacity of the channels to reduce the risk of flooding.

He became bankrupt in 1794, and the sale details indicate that there were two wheels driving five pairs of stones, and a newly invented water-powered engine for cutting hay and straw.

The river bank by the weir collapsed in the early 1920s, and was not repaired, resulting in the mill and cottage deteriorating and being demolished in 1927.

Like most rivers in the UK, the chemical status changed from good to fail in 2019, due to the presence of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which had not previously been included in the assessment.