This is a list of rivers of England, organised geographically and taken anti-clockwise around the English coast where the various rivers discharge into the surrounding seas, from the Solway Firth on the Scottish border to the Welsh Dee on the Welsh border, and again from the Wye on the Welsh border anti-clockwise to the Tweed on the Scottish border.
Tributaries are listed down the page in an upstream direction, i.e. the first tributary listed is closest to the sea, and tributaries of tributaries are treated similarly. Thus, in the first catchment below, the River Sark is the lowermost tributary of the Border Esk and the Hether Burn is the lowermost tributary of the River Lyne. The main stem (or principal) river of a catchment is labelled as (MS), left-bank tributaries are indicated by (L), right-bank tributaries by (R). Note that in general usage, the 'left (or right) bank of a river' refers to the left (or right) hand bank, as seen when looking downstream. Where a named river derives from the confluence of two differently named rivers these are labelled as (Ls) and (Rs) for the left and right forks (the rivers on the left and right, relative to an observer facing downstream). A prime example is the River Tyne (MS), the confluence of the South Tyne (Rs) and the North Tyne (Ls) near Hexham. Those few watercourses (mainly in the Thames catchment) which branch off a major channel and then rejoin it or another watercourse further downstream are known as distributaries or anabranches and are labelled (d).
The list will encompass most of the main rivers of England (as defined by the Environment Agency) and which includes those named watercourses for which the Environment Agency has a flood defence function. Many rivers and streams which are not classed as 'main rivers' also appear. Some minor watercourses are included in the list, especially if they are named as 'river'- such examples may be labelled (m).
For simplicity, they are divided here by the coastal sections within which each river system discharges to the sea. In the case of the rivers which straddle the borders with Scotland and Wales, such as the Border Esk, Tweed, Dee, Severn and Wye, only those tributaries which lie at least partly in England are included.
Western (Irish Sea) discharges from north-south
This section includes all rivers entering the Irish Sea from England between the Scottish border and the Welsh border.
The lowest reaches of the Esk are in England but most of the river is in Scotland whilst a short section is followed by the England/Scotland border. Tributaries of the Esk which are wholly in Scotland are omitted from this list but may be found at List of rivers of Scotland.
The Dee and most of its tributaries arise in Wales. Though a section of it passes through England, it passes into Wales once again before discharging into the Irish Sea via the Dee estuary. For other rivers entering the Irish Sea and Cardigan Bay from Wales, see List of rivers of Wales. Only those tributaries of the River Dee which flow wholly or partly in England are listed here – for a complete list of the rivers and watercourses of the Dee catchment see List of rivers of Wales.
All further upstream tributaries of the Dee are wholly in Wales.
Western discharges (for Bristol Channel & Southwest Approaches) from east-west
This section includes all rivers entering the Bristol Channel and the sea off the northern coasts of Devon and Cornwall which is referred to variously as the Southwest Approaches or Celtic Sea.
Rivers Severn and Wye
The lowermost Wye forms the boundary between England and Wales. Only those tributaries of the River Wye which flow wholly or partly in England are listed here – for a complete list of the rivers and watercourses of the Wye catchment and for other rivers entering the Bristol Channel from Wales see List of rivers of Wales.
All further upstream tributaries of the Wye are wholly in Wales.
The River Severn upstream of the M48 Severn Bridge. This section includes all tributaries of the Severn which lie wholly or partly in England. For tributaries of the Severn which lie partly or wholly within Wales, see List of rivers of Wales.
With the exception of the Morda and parts of the Camlad, Tanat and Cynllaith all tributaries of the Severn and Vyrnwy upstream of their confluence are in Wales. They can be found here.
This section includes all of the rivers along England's east coast.
Thames Estuary
All rivers discharging into the Thames and Medway and their estuaries. This section includes the coast of Kent west of Foreness Point at the northeast corner of Kent and the south coast of Essex, west of Shoeburyness. But see also
This section includes all rivers entering the Humber, defined as the estuary west of a line between Spurn Head and Cleethorpes. The Humber is often referred to as the River Humber though the name is unusual insofar as it is an entirely tidal stretch of water formed as the Rivers Ouse and Trent combine at Trent Falls.
Winestead Drain (MS) (reaches the Humber at the Patrington Channel)
North of Humber coast
All rivers entering the North Sea between Spurn Point at the mouth of the Humber and the Scottish Border. This section includes all rivers meeting the North Sea coast of the traditional county of Yorkshire, save for the Humber and Tees.
Except where otherwise unannotated, rivers and other watercourses in this list are taken from the various sheets of the 1:25,000, 1:50,000 and 1:63,360 scale map series of the Ordnance Survey of Great Britain.
↑ OS Contoured road map of Preston, Southport and Blackpool (sheet 29, Popular Edition 1928)
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