The River Dean rises at Longclough in

Macclesfield Forest Macclesfield Forest is an area of woodland, predominantly conifer plantation, located around south east of Macclesfield in the civil parish of Macclesfield Forest and Wildboarclough, in Cheshire, England. The existing woodland is the last sub ...

on the western edge of the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It includes the Dark Peak, where moo ...

foothills above the village of

Rainow Rainow is a village and civil parish in Cheshire, England, in the valley of the River Dean and next to the B5470 road between Macclesfield and Kettleshulme. It straddles the eastern side of the Peak District border of Derbyshire and Cheshire, ...

in north east

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

, England. Together with a number of tributary streams it is impounded by the dam at Lamaload. The river flows on to and passes through the village of Rainow, the town of

Bollington Bollington is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, to the east of Prestbury. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield and the ancient parish of Prestbury. In 2011, it had a population of 8,310. Bo ...

, through the fields between Whiteley Green and Butley Town, Prestbury, on through the grounds of Adlington Hall, thence to Deanwater,

Handforth Handforth is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 6,266. In the 1960s and 1970s, two overspill housing estates, Spath Lane in Handforth, and Colshaw Farm nearby in Wi ...

, and finally it joins the

River Bollin The River Bollin is a major tributary of the River Mersey in the north-west of England. It rises in Macclesfield Forest at the western end of the Peak District, and can be seen in spring form, from the Buxton to Macclesfield road. The stream ...

between

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population was 24,497 at the 2011 Census. History Toponymy Wilmslow derives its name from Old ...

and

Styal Styal (, like ''style'') is a village and civil parish on the River Bollin near Wilmslow, Cheshire, England. History Styal village grew during the early years of the Industrial Revolution when industrialist Samuel Greg built a cotton mill and ...

. Below the dam there is a waterworks owned and managed by

United Utilities United Utilities Group plc (UU), the United Kingdom's largest listed water company, was founded in 1995 as a result of the merger of North West Water and NORWEB. The group manages the regulated water and waste water network in North West Eng ...

. The water saved in Lamaload Reservoir is used to supply Rainow, Bollington and other places. Next to the road bridge in Rainow village can be seen the early twentieth century waterworks built by Bollington Urban District Council. Shortly after passing Rainow the river flows north down the two mile long Ingersley Vale with Kerridge Hill to its western side. It is very quickly joined by the stream from Hayles Clough which rises to the east above Ginclough. From Ingersley Vale the river finds its way through Bollington, out of the hills and into the

Cheshire Plain The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland within the county of Cheshire in North West England but extending south into Shropshire. It extends from the Mersey Valley in the north to the Shropshire Hills in the south, bounded by ...

at Lowerhouse (part of Bollington). The historically notable section of these streams is between Ginclough and Lowerhouse. This length supported many early watermills and is recognised as one of the earliest developments in the English

Industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

on the western side of the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

. Some of the mills are described on the

page.

References

* ''The Industrial Revolution in East Cheshire'', George Longden, Groundwork Trust, 1988

External links

Bollington

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean Rivers of Cheshire Rivers and valleys of the Peak District 1Dean