River Roch

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River Roch
River Roch outside Rochdale Bus Station.jpg
River Roch map 2.svg
Location
Country England
District Littleborough, Rochdale, Heywood, Bury
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationChelburn Moor
Mouth  
  location
River Irwell, Radcliffe
  coordinates
53°33′43.95″N2°18′2.65″W / 53.5622083°N 2.3007361°W / 53.5622083; -2.3007361
Length100 miles
Basin features
Tributaries 
  left Tack Lee Brook, Naden Brook, River Spodden, Hey Brook, Ash Brook, Featherstall Brook, Town House Brook
  right Parr Brook, Hollins Brook, Wrigley Brook, Millers Brook, Sudden Brook, Moss Brook, Stanney Brook, River Beal, Ealees Brook, Greenvale Brook, Chelburn Brook
River Roch
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Chelburn Moor
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Light Hazzles Brook
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Chelburn Brook
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Rochdale Canal
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Roch Aqueduct
over Calder Valley line
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Reddyshore Brow
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Greenvale Brook
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Town House Brook
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Halifax Road A58
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Ealees Brook
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Railway Street
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Cutland Way
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Featherstall Brook
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Smithy Bridge Road B6225
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Clegg Hall Road
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Ash Brook
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River Beal
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Albert Royds Street A664
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Belfield Road
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Stanney Brook
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Hey Brook
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Moss Brook
(culvert)
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Molesworth Street A671
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Smith Street B6266
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Yorkshire Street
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The Esplanade B6266
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St Marys Gate A58
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to College Road
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River Spodden
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Mellor Street A6060
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Half Acre Bridge/
Roch Valley Way
B6452
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Sudden Brook
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Crimble Lane
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Millers Brook
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Queens Park Road
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Bamford Road
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Naden Brook
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Wrigley Brook
(culvert)
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Bottom o'th'Brow
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Tack Lee Brook
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Heap Bridge/
Bury New Road
A58
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UK-Motorway-icon.svg M66 motorway
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Waterfold Business Park
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East Lancashire Railway
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Water Farm
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Hollins Brook
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Blackford Bridge/
Manchester Road
A56
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Parr Brook
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River Irwell

The River Roch /ˈr/ is a river in Greater Manchester in North West England, a tributary of the River Irwell.

Contents

Course

Rising on Chelburn Moor (south of Todmorden in the Pennines), the river flows south through Littleborough towards Rochdale where it is joined by the River Beal at Belfield, and the River Spodden from Whitworth. Turning west it runs past Heywood and Bury before meeting the River Irwell just to the east of Radcliffe.

Etymology

The town of Rochdale is recorded as Recedham in the Domesday Book and Rachetham in 1193, with variations of Rechedham continuing into the thirteenth century. [1] [2] It is thought that these names represent a pre-existing Brittonic name for the river Roch, borrowed into Old English for the name of the settlement.

The early forms of Rachet-ham and Reched-ham suggest a compound of two elements, ro-ced or ro-cet. The first element is either from the common intensive prefix rö- (Modern Welsh rhy-, Cornish re-) meaning "great" and found in other river names such as the Ribble and the Rother [3] or rag-, (Modern Welsh ar-) meaning "opposite" or "adjacent to". [4] The second element would then almost certainly be cę:d or cet, (Modern Welsh coed) meaning "wood". [5] This would give the name a meaning of "River of the great wood" or "River opposite the wood".

Another etymology focused on the early forms similarities to Rheged , the Cumbric-speaking kingdom in North West England during the Middle Ages. [6] [7] Although this etymology is used to support the theory that the Roch may have been the centre of a separate kingdom known in Medieval Welsh literature as "South Rheged" or "Argoed" (opposite the wood), it remains unproven as the kingdom of Rheged's boundaries have not been identified. [8] A further suggestion is that the name "rheged" simply means "area" in the Cumbric language (related to Regio in Latin and Region in Modern English) and that the kingdom of Rheged and the river merely shared a common Celtic name.

Although Rochdale is pronounced /ˈrɒdl/ (with a shorter o sound), the name of the river is still pronounced /r/ (with a long vowel sound).

Later history

The river has been culverted in Rochdale town centre since the early 20th century. This was built by the joining together of seven bridges to form one large bridge, making it one of the widest bridges in the world. Maintenance work was carried out on the bridge in the 1990s and the river was uncovered temporarily. [9] In 2015 work began on opening the bridge again in a multimillion-pound project. [10] On Boxing Day 2015, following heavy rain, the Roch burst its banks causing flooding in the town centre. [11]

Tributaries

Moving upstream from the Irwell confluence, the tributaries include the following:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brittonic languages</span> Celtic subfamily including Welsh, Cornish, Breton and Cumbric

The Brittoniclanguages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family; the other is Goidelic. It comprises the extant languages Breton, Cornish, and Welsh. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning Ancient Britons as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rheged</span> Sub-Roman kingdom of Northern Britain

Rheged was one of the kingdoms of the Hen Ogledd, the Brittonic-speaking region of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, during the post-Roman era and Early Middle Ages. It is recorded in several poetic and bardic sources, although its borders are not described in any of them. A recent archaeological discovery suggests that its stronghold was located in what is now Galloway in Scotland rather than, as was previously speculated, being in Cumbria. Rheged possibly extended into Lancashire and other parts of northern England. In some sources, Rheged is intimately associated with the king Urien Rheged and his family. Its inhabitants spoke Cumbric, a Brittonic dialect closely related to Old Welsh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen</span> Name for valley commonly used in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man

A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. The word is Goidelic in origin: gleann in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, glion in Manx. The designation "glen" also occurs often in place names. Glens are appreciated by tourists for their tranquility and scenery.

Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographical and personal names found on monuments and early medieval records in the area controlled by the kingdoms of the Picts. Such evidence, however, shows the language to be an Insular Celtic language related to the Brittonic language then spoken in most of the rest of Britain.

Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the Hen Ogledd or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland, northern Lancashire in Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. Place name evidence suggests Cumbric may also have been spoken as far south as Pendle and the Yorkshire Dales. The prevailing view is that it became extinct in the 12th century, after the incorporation of the semi-independent Kingdom of Strathclyde into the Kingdom of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elmet</span> Early Middle Ages kingdom of northern England

Elmet, sometimes Elmed or Elmete, was an independent Brittonic Celtic Cumbric speaking kingdom between about the 4th century and mid 7th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Irwell</span> River in Lancashire, United Kingdom

The River Irwell is a tributary of the River Mersey in north-west England. It rises at Irwell Springs on Deerplay Moor, approximately 1+12 miles north of Bacup and flows southwards for 39 mi (63 km) to meet the Mersey near Irlam. The Irwell marks the boundary between Manchester and Salford, and its lower reaches have been canalised and now form part of the Manchester Ship Canal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Irk</span> River in Greater Manchester, England

The River Irk is a river in the historic county of Lancashire in the North West England that flows through the northern most Lancastrian towns of the ceremonial county of Greater Manchester.

In much of the "Old World" the names of many places cannot easily be interpreted or understood; they do not convey any apparent meaning in the modern language of the area. This is due to a general set of processes through which place names evolve over time, until their obvious meaning is lost. In contrast, in the "New World", many place names' origins are known.

<i>Y Gododdin</i> Medieval Welsh poem

Y Gododdin is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a place named Catraeth in about AD 600. It is traditionally ascribed to the bard Aneirin and survives only in one manuscript, the "Book of Aneirin".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celtic Britons</span> Ancient Celtic people of Great Britain

The Britons, also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were an indigenous Celtic people who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age until the High Middle Ages, at which point they diverged into the Welsh, Cornish, and Bretons. They spoke Common Brittonic, the ancestor of the modern Brittonic languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hen Ogledd</span> Area of northern Britain, c. 500 to c. 800

Yr Hen Ogledd, or in English the Old North, is the historical region that was inhabited by the Brittonic people of sub-Roman Britain in the Early Middle Ages, now Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands, alongside the Celtic Kingdom of Elmet. Its population spoke a variety of the Brittonic language known as Cumbric which is closely related to, if not a dialect of Old Welsh. The people of Wales and the Hen Ogledd considered themselves to be one people, and both were referred to as Cymry ('fellow-countrymen') from the Brittonic word combrogi. The Hen Ogledd was distinct from the parts of Great Britain inhabited by the Picts, Anglo-Saxons, and Scoti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Spodden</span> River in North West England

The River Spodden is a watercourse in North West England, one of two major tributaries of the River Roch. It rises in the Lancashire South Pennine hills north of Whitworth and flows south through what is now known as the Whitworth Valley to Rochdale, Greater Manchester, where the river merges with the River Roch. Nestled within the picturesque wooded valley is Healey Dell Nature Reserve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Beal</span> River in Greater Manchester, England

The Beal is a small river in Greater Manchester, England, and is a tributary of the River Roch. It rises in the Beal Valley in green space between Sholver and Royton, before continuing northwards through Shaw and Crompton, Newhey, Milnrow and Belfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumbrian toponymy</span> Study of place names in Cumbria, England

Cumbrian toponymy refers to the study of place names in Cumbria, a county in North West England, and as a result of the spread of the ancient Cumbric language, further parts of northern England and the Southern Uplands of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Lostock</span> River in Lancashire, England

The River Lostock is a river in Lancashire, England.

Aber and Inver are common elements in place-names of Celtic origin. Both mean "confluence of waters" or "river mouth". Their distribution reflects the geographical influence of the Brittonic and Goidelic language groups, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elvanfoot</span> Human settlement in Scotland

Elvanfoot is a small village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Rheged</span> Royal House Of Rheged

The House of Rheged or the House of Rhun was an informal royal dynasty who ruled in the brittonic Kingdom of Rheged. The line is traced back to Coel Hen whose descendants are often referred to as the Coeling. The dynasty includes Urien, King of Rheged and his son Sir Ywain a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend.

References

  1. Mills, A.D.: A Dictionary of English Place Names, 2nd Edition, page 289, s.n. Rochdale. Oxford University Press, 1998
  2. Ekwall, Eilert (1922). The Place-names of Lancashire. Manchester University Press. p. 54.
  3. James, Alan G. "A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence – Guide to the Elements" (PDF). Scottish Place Name Society – The Brittonic Language in the Old North. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  4. James, Alan G. "A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence – Guide to the Elements" (PDF). Scottish Place Name Society – The Brittonic Language in the Old North. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  5. Clarkson, Tim (2012). The Men of the North : the Britons of Southern Scotland. Edinburgh: Birlinn. ISBN   978-1907909023.
  6. Jackson, Kenneth (1953). Language & History in Early Britain . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 9.
  7. Rollason, D. W. (2003). Northumbria, 500-1100 : Creation and Destruction of a Kingdom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN   0521813352.
  8. Chadwick, Chadwick, Hector Munro, Nora Kershaw (1940) [1932]. The Growth of Literature (Volume II ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 165.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. "Link4Life | Covering the River Roch in Rochdale | Provider of arts, sport and heritage development work in the Rochdale area".
  10. "Hidden medieval bridge reopens". BBC News. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  11. "Floods hit parts of UK amid downpours". BBC News. 27 December 2015.
Next confluence upstream River Irwell Next confluence downstream
Woodhill / Kirklees Brook (West)River Roch River Croal (West)