The River Irt is a river in the county of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

in northern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It flows for from the south-western end of Wast Water, the deepest lake in

, leaving the lake at the foot of

Whin Rigg Whin Rigg is a fell in the English Lake District, situated in the western segment of the national park, 22 kilometres south east of the town of Whitehaven. It reaches only a modest altitude of 535 m (1,755 ft) but is part of one of th ...

, the southern peak of the famous Wastwater Screes. The name of the river is believed to derive either from the Old English ''gyr'' which means "mud", or from the Brittonic words ''*ar'', "flowing", or ''*īr'', "fresh, clean, pure", suffixed with ''-ed'', a nominal suffix meaning "having the quality of...". The river forms at the confluence of Lingmell Beck and Mosedale Beck on Wasdale Head, which is on the north-western side of

Scafell Pike Scafell Pike () is the highest and the most prominent mountain in England, at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in the Lake District National Park, in Cumbria, and is part of the Southern Fells and the Scafell massif. Scafell ...

. On its short journey to the coast, the Irt is crossed by the Cumbria Coastal Way long-distance footpath, at

Drigg Drigg is a village situated in the civil parish of Drigg and Carleton on the West Cumbria coast of the Irish Sea and on the boundary of the Lake District National Park in the Borough of Copeland in the county of Cumbria, England. Drigg and Ca ...

Holme

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses ( horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapet ...

. The Irt flows through the Drigg Dunes and Irt Estuary Nature Reserve before joining the River Esk and River Mite at

Ravenglass Ravenglass is a coastal village in the Copeland District in Cumbria, England. It is between Barrow-in-Furness and Whitehaven. Historically in Cumberland, it is the only coastal village in the Lake District National Park. It is located at the e ...

. The river is tidal up until the railway bridge that carries the

Cumbrian Coast Line The Cumbrian Coast line is a rail route in North West England, running from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. The line forms part of Network Rail route NW 4033, which continues (as the Furness line) via Ulversto ...

just south of railway station. In the 19th century the River Irt was famous for the extremely rare black pearls that grew in its freshwater mussels. Poaching of the pearls was thought to have led to the mussels becoming extinct in the River Irt, however, a very small number have survived. The West Cumbria Rivers Trust carried out conservation work on the river between February 2015 and February 2018 to try and protect the habitat and prevent the complete eradication of the freshwater mussel from the river.

Settlements

Nether Wasdale Nether Wasdale is a village in Cumbria, England, located in the Wasdale valley, near the River Irt and just over a mile to the west of the Wastwater lake. Notable features The main church in Nether Wasdale is St Michaels and All Angels Churc ...

Santon Bridge Santon Bridge is a small village in Copeland, Cumbria, England, at a bridge over the River Irt. The civil parish is called Irton with Santon. The population of this civil parish as at the 2011 census was 316. The Bridge Inn is the venue for ...

Holmrook Holmrook is a linear village in the English county of Cumbria. It lies along the A595 road on the west banks of the River Irt. The B5344 road connects it to Drigg, with its railway station less than two miles to the west. Two miles north- ...

Tributaries

* Greathall Beck * Cinderdale Beck *

Black Beck Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...

* Kid Beck * River Bleng

References

External links

Irt, River 1Irt {{England-river-stub