This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation carried out in the UK Flood Channel Facility into the hydraulics of overbank river flow (two-stage channels). This large experimental channel can accommodate models up to 60 m in length. The topic investigated here concerns straight river channels flanked by skewed floodplains. Angles of skew over the range 2° to 9° and overbank depth ratios from 0.15 to 0.49 were studied. Friction characteristics are derived from the measured stage-discharge curves and compared with the equivalent straight (unskewed) two-stage channels as well as simple trapezoidal ones. Distributions of both transverse and longitudinal velocity components as well as bed shear stress are presented and discussed. Inferred secondary circulation systems in the deep channel are proposed and related to the measured hydraulic characteristics of the flow.