View of the River Ouse in York from Lendal BridgeSimplified map of Yorkshire's rivers
This is a list of named rivers that flow either wholly or partially within the boundaries of the four ceremonial counties that form Yorkshire. There are twenty five rivers of at least 20 kilometres (12mi) in total. The majority of these waterways lie wholly within the county boundaries, except for; the Ribble, which flows into the Irish Sea at Lytham; the Rother, whose source is located in DerbyshirePeak District; the Greta, which flows into Lancashire to join the River Lune; and the Tees, which flows partly within County Durham and forms some of the boundary with North Yorkshire.
The direction of stream flow in Yorkshire is influenced by the three major drainage divides. The Pennines in the west and south, the North York Moors in the north-east and the Yorkshire Wolds, the coastal range of hills on the east. This represents a large drainage area that mostly flows into the Vale of York and into the North Sea via the Humber estuary. Though an estuary, the Humber is often referred to as a river.
The Humber river system is tidal as far inland as Naburn Lock on the River Ouse,[1]Knottingley on the River Aire[2][3] and Askern on the River Don.[4] The Humber has the second largest tidal range in the UK at 7.2 metres (24ft). The largest is the Bristol Channel at nearly double that range.[5]
Source data for the table below came from the National Environment Research Council Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Ordnance Survey, Environment Agency and Google Earth. In the table, total lengths are given in miles (mi) and kilometres (km), and elevations are in feet (ft) and metres (m). River lengths are taken from actual source when wholly within the Yorkshire County boundary, else measured from where the river enters or leaves the county.
Images
The River Esk at Whitby
The River Aire and the Leeds-Liverpool canal in Leeds
River Sheaf joins River Don at Sheffield
Tidal Barrier on the River Hull at Kingston upon Hull
National Environment Research Council - Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Environment Agency
Map of main rivers
Related Research Articles
The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, 92 miles (148 km) in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation.
The River Wharfe is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale.
The River Ouse is a river in North Yorkshire, England. Hydrologically, the river is a continuation of the River Ure, and the combined length of the River Ure and River Ouse makes it, at 129 miles (208 km), the sixth-longest river of the United Kingdom and the longest to flow entirely in one county. The length of the Ouse alone is about 52 miles (84 km) but the total length of the river is disputed.
The Aire and Calder Navigation is the canalised section of the Rivers Aire and Calder in West Yorkshire, England. The first improvements to the rivers above Knottingley were completed in 1704 when the Aire was made navigable to Leeds and the Calder to Wakefield, by the construction of 16 locks. Lock sizes were increased several times, as was the depth of water, to enable larger boats to use the system. The Aire below Haddlesey was bypassed by the opening of the Selby Canal in 1778. A canal from Knottingley to the new docks and new town at Goole provided a much shorter route to the River Ouse from 1826. The New Junction Canal was constructed in 1905, to link the system to the River Don Navigation, by then part of the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation.
The Derwent is a river in Yorkshire in the north of England. It flows from Fylingdales Moor in the North York Moors National Park, east then southwards as far as its confluence with the River Hertford then westwards through the Vale of Pickering, south through Kirkham Gorge and the Vale of York, joining the River Ouse at Barmby on the Marsh. The confluence is unusual in that the Derwent converges on the Ouse at a shallow angle in an upstream direction.
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 Dearne South Yorkshire, England flows roughly east for more than 30 kilometres (19 mi), from its source just inside West Yorkshire. It flows through Denby Dale, Clayton West, Darton, Barnsley, Darfield, Wath upon Dearne, Bolton on Dearne, Adwick upon Dearne and Mexborough to its confluence with the River Don at Denaby Main. Its main tributary is the River Dove, which joins it at Darfield. The river was one of those affected by the 2007 United Kingdom floods.
The River Esk is a river in North Yorkshire, England that empties into the North Sea at Whitby after a course of around 28 miles (45 km) through the valley of Eskdale, named after the river itself. The river's name is derived from the Brythonic word "isca" meaning "water". The Esk is the only major river in Yorkshire that flows directly into the North Sea; all other watercourses defined as being major rivers by the Environment Agency, either flow to the North Sea via the River Tees or the Humber Estuary.
The River Leven in North Yorkshire, England is a tributary of the River Tees. It rises on Warren Moor, part of Kildale Moor, in the North York Moors and flows to the north of the moors to join the River Tees at Yarm.
The River Kyle is a small river in North Yorkshire, England. At just under 6 miles (9.7 km) long, it is one of the shortest classified main rivers in the country.
The River Washburn is a river in Yorkshire, England. It originates high in the Yorkshire Dales and ends where it meets the River Wharfe. It lies within the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
In Yorkshire there is a very close relationship between the major topographical areas and the geological period in which they were formed. The Pennine chain of Hills in the west is of Carboniferous origin. The central vale is Permo-Triassic. The North York Moors in the north-east of the county are Jurassic in age while the Yorkshire Wolds to the south east are Cretaceous chalk uplands. The plain of Holderness and the Humberhead levels both owe their present form to the Quaternary ice ages.
This is a list of the longest rivers of the United Kingdom.
The River Foulness is a river in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Its name is derived from Old English fūle[n] ēa, meaning “dirty water”. Maintenance responsibilities for the river transferred from the Environment Agency to the Market Weighton Drainage Board on 1 October 2011. Market Weighton Drainage Board subsequently amalgamated with the Lower Ouse Internal Drainage Board on 1 April 2012 to create the Ouse and Humber Drainage Board. The river discharges into the Humber Estuary via Market Weighton Canal. Water levels within the river, its tributaries and the canal are managed and controlled by the Environment Agency. The river lies in an area known as the Humberhead Levels.
Associated Humber Lines (AHL) was created in 1935 to manage the services of various railway controlled shipping lines including port activities in the Humber area of the United Kingdom. The ownership of the respective vessels did not transfer to A.H.L and similarly the ports concerned, Hull, Goole and Grimsby, also remained under the control of the railway companies and their successors.
The Goole Steam Shipping Company was a company based in Goole, England from 1864 to 1905 which operated steamship services from Goole to northern European ports.
The Nidd Aqueduct is an aqueduct or man-made watercourse in North Yorkshire, England. It feeds water from Angram and Scar House reservoirs in upper Nidderdale, North Yorkshire 32 mi (51 km) to Bradford in West Yorkshire. The aqueduct supplies 21,000,000 imp gal (95,000 m3) of water per day to Chellow Heights water treatment works. The aqueduct and the reservoirs it connects to are all maintained by Yorkshire Water.
Hodge Beck is a stream that flows through the North York Moors national park in North Yorkshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Dove which it joins near Welburn south of Kirkbymoorside. The beck is 14 miles (23 km) long and has a total catchment area of 58 square kilometres (22 sq mi).
Crimple Beck or the River Crimple is a beck which flows through North Yorkshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Nidd which it joins between Little Ribston and Walshford north of Wetherby. The beck is 15.5 miles (24.9 km) long, and has a total catchment area of 80 square kilometres (31 sq mi), which drains the area around Harrogate. Its tributaries include the Park Beck.
The River Tutt is a 8.7-mile (14 km) long tributary of the River Ure in North Yorkshire, England. The river rises near to the villages of Nidd and Scotton draining mainly arable land north eastwards before emptying into the Ure at Boroughbridge. Where the river joins the Ure in Boroughbridge, has been the site of significant historic flooding. An Environment Agency project to alleviate flooding on the river has seen diversion schemes and pumps added to prevent this.
References
↑ "Tidal Ouse". Environment Agency. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
↑ "Tidal Aire". Environment Agency. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
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