Hebden Water (alternative name: River Hebden) [1] is a short river in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, flowing for about 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) generally south-eastward from the confluence of two upland streams, Graining Water and Alcomden Water, to the River Calder at Hebden Bridge. Its wooded valley is a much-visited beauty spot, but it has many times flooded in its lower stretches.
The name is first recorded in 1279 as aqua de Heppedene. Hebden comes from Old English hēopa + denu, meaning 'bramble or wild rose valley'. [2]
Hebden Water is formed by the union of two streams: Graining Water, which flows generally south-eastward, and Alcomden Water, which flows generally southward, both rising near the Lancashire/West Yorkshire county boundary on the southern slopes of Boulsworth Hill. One of the headwaters of Graining Water, Old Hay Dike, feeds Widdop Reservoir, while another, Reaps Water, feeds Gorple Upper and Lower reservoirs. Alcomden Water has been dammed in three places to form Walshaw Dean Upper, Middle, and Lower Reservoirs. Hebden Water, beginning between Blake Dean and Black Dean at Grid Reference SD959314, flows first eastward and then southward through a steep-sided wooded valley, Hebden Dale, passing Gibson Mill and the rocks of Hardcastle Crags. It then turns eastward and is joined from the north by Crimsworth Dean Beck before reverting to a southward course. The valley opens out somewhat as it approaches the town of Hebden Bridge. In Hebden Bridge the river debouches into the River Calder at Grid Reference SD991271. [3]
Hebden Water is approximately 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) in length. [4] The catchment of Hebden Water covers an area of 59 square kilometres (23 sq mi), of which about 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi) in the upper reaches drain into the reservoirs mentioned above. [5] The water quality of the river was in 2019 recorded as moderate for ecological status (likewise in 2022), but it failed on the score of its chemical composition. [4] The lower stretches are prone to flooding, which has often impacted the town of Hebden Bridge, [6] [7] but measures to reduce the risk of flood have been undertaken by the National Trust, which owns most of the upper section of the river, and the volunteer group Slow the Flow. These include the creation of leaky dams on feeder streams and the thinning of woodland to encourage undergrowth. [8]
The wooded valley of the Hebden Water, considered attractive and picturesque, has a history of attracting visitors as a picnic spot on Sundays and Bank Holidays. There are public footpaths running along the river's banks for most of its length, and Hebden Water itself has been called "probably the best local run of its kind in West Yorkshire" for canoeists and kayakers. [9] [10] [3]
Standing on the banks of Hebden Water is Gibson Mill, one of the earliest Industrial Revolution cotton mills, dating from c. 1800. It is now a Grade II listed building, and has been renovated by its owner, the National Trust, as a visitor and education attraction. [11]
Hebden Water is in its short course crossed by six bridges listed for their architectural interest, at Grade II unless otherwise stated. These are West End Bridge, West End, Hebden Bridge, built in 1771–1772; [12] the Old Bridge, Bridge Gate, Hebden Bridge, built c. 1510 (Grade II*, also a scheduled monument); [13] [14] St George's Bridge, St George's Square, Hebden Bridge, built in 1892; [15] Foster Mill Bridge, Slater Bank Lane, Hebden Bridge, probably built in the late 18th century; [16] New Bridge, Midge Hole Road, Wadsworth, built in the 18th or early 19th century; [17] and Gibson's Bridge, Hardcastle Crags, Heptonstall, built in the early 19th century. [18] There are also early 19th-century Grade II listed bridges over Graining Water at Blake Dean, [19] and over Alcomden Water at Holme Ends. [20]
Mytholmroyd is a large village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hebden Royd, in the Calderdale district, in West Yorkshire, England, 2 miles (3 km) east of Hebden Bridge. It lies in the Upper Calder Valley, 10 miles (16 km) east of Burnley and 7 miles (11 km) west of Halifax. The village, which has a population of approximately 4,000, is in the Luddendenfoot Ward of Calderdale Council.
Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Calderdale district of West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Upper Calder Valley, 8 miles (13 km) west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden Water. The town is the largest settlement in the civil parish of Hebden Royd.
The River Don is a river in South Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It rises in the Pennines, west of Dunford Bridge, and flows for 69 miles (111 km) eastwards, through the Don Valley, via Penistone, Sheffield, Rotherham, Mexborough, Conisbrough, Doncaster and Stainforth. It originally joined the Trent, but was re-engineered by Cornelius Vermuyden as the Dutch River in the 1620s, and now joins the River Ouse at Goole. Don Valley is a UK parliamentary constituency near the Doncaster stretch of the river.
The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about 33 kilometres (21 mi) long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through Taunton and Curry and Hay Moors, which are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Finally, it flows into the River Parrett at Burrowbridge.
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Hebden Royd is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 9,092, rising to 9,558 at the 2011 census. It includes market town of Hebden Bridge and the villages of Mytholmroyd and Cragg Vale. The parish was an urban district before 1974, created in 1937 by the merger of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd urban districts.
Hardcastle Crags is a wooded Pennine valley in West Yorkshire, England, owned by the National Trust. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town of Hebden Bridge and 10 miles (16 km) west of the town of Halifax. It gave the title to a poem by Sylvia Plath that was included in her 1960 debut collection The Colossus.
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Hebden is a village and civil parish in the former Craven District of North Yorkshire, England, and one of four villages in the ecclesiastical parish of Linton. It lies near Grimwith Reservoir and Grassington, in Wharfedale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. In 2011 it had a population of 246.
The River Went is a river in Yorkshire, England. It rises close to Featherstone and flows eastward, joining the River Don just to the north of Pincheon Green.
The River Calder is a river in West Yorkshire, in Northern England.
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