River Amber

Last updated

River Amber
Clapper Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1771853.jpg
Amber at Clapper Bridge in Ashover
Derbyshire UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Confluence with Derwent in Derbyshire
Location
Country England
Counties Derbyshire
Physical characteristics
Source Ashover
Mouth Confluence with the Derwent
  coordinates
53°03′36″N1°29′02″W / 53.06000°N 1.48389°W / 53.06000; -1.48389
Length21 km (13 mi)
Basin size140 km2 (54 sq mi)
Discharge 
  locationWingfield Park [1]
  average1.37 m3/s (48 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
  leftPress Brook, Alfreton Brook, Buckland-Hollow Brook
Progression : Amber—DerwentTrentHumberNorth Sea

The River Amber is a left bank tributary of the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. It gives its name to the local government district and borough of Amber Valley. [2] [3]

The name Amber is a pre-Celtic word with uncertain meaning. [4]

Course

Its source is close to the village of Ashover, near Clay Cross, and it flows southwards through Ogston Reservoir to Pentrich then turns westwards through Wingfield Park to join the River Derwent at Ambergate. [5]

Like many such rivers flowing from the Derbyshire moors, it powered a number of water mills, many of them for crushing locally mined and quarried minerals, such as limestone.

The river valley also provided a route for the Cromford Canal, at the southern end as far as Butterley Tunnel, and the North Midland Railway, to travel northwards until it passed under Clay Cross via the Clay Cross Tunnel, where it entered the valley of the River Rother and then north to Chesterfield.

Related Research Articles

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

The Derwent is a river in Derbyshire, England. It is 50 miles (80 km) long and is a tributary of the River Trent, which it joins south of Derby. Throughout its course, the river mostly flows through the Peak District and its foothills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Etherow</span> River in north west England

The River Etherow is a river in northern England, and a tributary of the River Goyt. Although now passing through South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, it historically formed the ancient county boundary between Cheshire and Derbyshire. The upper valley is known as Longdendale. The river has a watershed of approximately 30 square miles (78 km2), and the area an annual rainfall of 52.5 inches (1,330 mm).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amber Valley</span> Non-metropolitan district and borough in England

Amber Valley is a local government district with borough status in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. Its council is based in Ripley. The district covers a semi-rural area lying to the north of the city of Derby. The district contains four main towns whose economy was based on coal mining and remains to some extent influenced by engineering, distribution and manufacturing, holding for instance the headquarters and production site of Thorntons confectionery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Noe</span> River in England

The River Noe is a tributary of the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. It flows approximately 12 miles (19 km) from its source, the confluence of two streams running off Kinder Scout in the Peak District, east through Edale and then southeast through the village of Hope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Ashop</span> River in England

The River Ashop is a river in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. Its source is on the eastern slopes of Mill Hill, three miles south east of Glossop and just north of Kinder Scout.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Rother, South Yorkshire</span> River in South Yorkshire, England

The River Rother, a waterway in the northern midlands of England, gives its name to the town of Rotherham and to the Rother Valley parliamentary constituency. It rises in Pilsley in Derbyshire and flows in a generally northwards direction through the centre of Chesterfield, where it feeds the Chesterfield Canal, and on through the Rother Valley Country Park and several districts of Sheffield before joining the River Don at Rotherham in Yorkshire. Historically, it powered mills, mainly corn or flour mills, but most had ceased to operate by the early 20th century, and few of the mill buildings survive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whatstandwell</span> Human settlement in England

Whatstandwell is a village on the River Derwent in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. It is about five miles south of Matlock and about four miles north of Belper. Whatstandwell railway station is on the Derby–Matlock Derwent Valley Line, and the A6 trunk road crosses the River Derwent in the village. Most of the population is included in the civil parish of Crich but the village may be said to extend across the Derwent into the parish of Alderwasley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Blackwater (River Loddon)</span> Tributary of the River Loddon in England

The River Blackwater is a tributary of the Loddon in England and sub-tributary of the Thames. It rises at two springs in Rowhill Nature Reserve between Aldershot, Hampshire and Farnham, Surrey. It curves a course north then west to join the Loddon in Swallowfield civil parish, central Berkshire. Part of the river splits Hampshire from Surrey; a smaller part does so as to Hampshire and Berkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cromford</span> Village in Derbyshire, England

Cromford is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England, in the valley of the River Derwent between Wirksworth and Matlock. It is 17 miles (27 km) north of Derby, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Matlock and 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Matlock Bath. It is first mentioned in the 11th-century Domesday Book as Crumforde, a berewick of Wirksworth, and this remained the case throughout the Middle Ages. The population at the 2011 Census was 1,433. It is principally known for its historical connection with Richard Arkwright and the nearby Cromford Mill, which he built outside the village in 1771. Cromford is in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cromford Canal</span>

The Cromford Canal ran 14.5 miles from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambergate railway station</span> Railway station in Derbyshire, England

Ambergate railway station is a railway station owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway. It serves the village of Ambergate in Derbyshire, England. The station is located on the Derwent Valley Line from Derby to Matlock, which diverges from the Midland Main Line just south of the station at Ambergate Junction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambergate</span> Human settlement in England

Ambergate is a village in Derbyshire, England, situated where the River Amber joins the River Derwent. It is about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Matlock.

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

The River Sett is a river that flows through the High Peak borough of Derbyshire, in north western England. It rises near Edale Cross on Kinder Scout and flows through the villages of Hayfield and Birch Vale to join the River Goyt at New Mills. The River Goyt is one of the principal tributaries of the River Mersey. In the past, the river was known as the River Kinder; the modern River Kinder is a right tributary of the Sett, joining the river at Bowden Bridge above Hayfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Draycott and Church Wilne</span> Civil parish in England

Draycott and Church Wilne is a civil parish within the Borough of Erewash, which is in the county of Derbyshire, England. Partially built up and otherwise rural, its population was 3,090 residents in the 2011 census. The parish is 100 miles (160 km) north west of London, 5+12 miles (8.9 km) south east of the county city of Derby, and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the nearest market town of Long Eaton. It shares a boundary with the parishes of Breaston, Elvaston, Hopwell, Ockbrook and Borrowash, Risley and Shardlow and Great Wilne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Dove, North Yorkshire</span> River in North Yorkshire, England

The River Dove is a river in North Yorkshire, England. It rises on the North York Moors and flows south to join the River Rye, itself a tributary of the River Derwent. The upper valley of the river is known as Farndale. The name is of Brittonic Celtic origin, meaning "dark river". Its principal tributary is the Hodge Beck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Hipper</span> River in England

The River Hipper is a tributary of the River Rother in Derbyshire, England. Its source is a large expanse of wetlands, fed by the surrounding moors between Chatsworth and Chesterfield, known as the Hipper Sick on Beeley Moor, which is part of the Chatsworth Estate. It then passes through Holymoorside and down into Chesterfield, just south of the town centre, before flowing into the River Rother. In July 2007, parts of Chesterfield flooded when the River Hipper burst its banks during a substantial storm that caused extensive flooding in North Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. The river burst its banks again after torrential rain in October 2023. The surrounding landscape is known as the Hipper Valley.

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

The River Drone is a river which flows south from its source on the Sheffield, South Yorkshire, border. It flows through Dronfield, Unstone and Unstone Green in Derbyshire before merging at Sheepbridge to the north of Chesterfield with the Barlow Brook. Below the junction, it is often referred to as the River Whitting. It then flows south-east till it merges with the River Rother at Brimington Road North (B6050) at Chesterfield. It is one of the three main tributaries of the Rother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Markeaton Brook</span> River in England

The Markeaton Brook is an 11-mile-long (17 km) tributary of the River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. The brook rises from its source south of Hulland Ward, and flows for most of its length through the countryside north-west of Derby before entering a culvert to the north of the city centre; it reappears from this culvert and runs through a short section of open channel on the other side of the city before joining the Derwent.

References

  1. "28048 - Amber at Wingfield Park". The National River Flow Archive. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  2. Amber Valley Borough Council website
  3. English Place-Name Society (1996). Journal. The Society. Retrieved 22 August 2015. the River Amber, Derbyshire (first attested as Ambra Hy 2, Ambre late 12th), is related to the Continental rivers Amper (Ambre Antonine Itinerary), Emmer (Ambra 9th) and Ammergau (Amber go 9th).
  4. David Mills (20 October 2011). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. OUP Oxford. pp. 12–. ISBN   978-0-19-960908-6.
  5. Ordnance Survey (2003). Buxton & Matlock. OS Landranger Map Series. Ordnance Survey. ISBN   9780319228463.