Red Rocks, River Darwen, Hoghton - geograph

The River Darwen runs through

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the s ...

and

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England, eventually joining the

River Ribble The River Ribble runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire in Northern England. It starts close to the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire, and is one of the few that start in the Yorkshire Dales and flow westwards towards the Irish Sea ...

at Walton le Dale south of

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

on its way to the

Ribble Estuary Ribble may refer to: * River Ribble, in North Yorkshire and Lancashire, England ** Ribble and Alt Estuaries * River Ribble, West Yorkshire, England * Ribble Motor Services, a former bus company in North West England * Ribble Valley, a local gover ...

Course

Originating at Jack's Key Clough where Grain Brook and Grainings Brook meet, the two streams from Bull Hill and Cranberry Moss respectively, the river flows through the town of Darwen, continuing into the suburbs of Blackburn past

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facili ...

. The river passes below the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

at Ewood Aqueduct and is culverted again at Waterfall and near Griffin Park. It is joined by the River Blakewater near

Witton Country Park Witton Country Park is a 480- acre (1.9 km²) public park in the west of Blackburn, Lancashire, England. Around half of the country park is mixed woodland and parkland, while the rest is either farmland or rough grassland with open access. ...

in Blackburn and leaves the mostly urban landscapes of the towns behind, flowing through parklands and valleys. A further tributary, the

River Roddlesworth The River Roddlesworth (also known as Rocky Brook) is a river in Lancashire, England, a tributary of the River Darwen. Course The source of the river is on the slopes of Great Hill, just above the ruins known as ''Pimm's'', where the infant rive ...

, joins the Darwen at the bottom of Moulden Brow on the boundary between

Blackburn with Darwen Blackburn with Darwen is a borough and unitary authority area in Lancashire, North West England. It consists of the industrial town of Blackburn and the market town of Darwen including other villages around the two towns. Formation It was f ...

and

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came ...

Borough Council (the name ''Moulden Brow'' being associated with Moulden Water, an alternative name for this stretch of the river). From there, the Darwen flows past

Hoghton Tower Hoghton Tower is a fortified manor house east of the village of Hoghton, Lancashire, England, and standing on a hilltop site on the highest point in the area. It takes its name from the de Hoghton family, its historical owners since at l ...

through Hoghton Bottoms and Samlesbury Bottoms, finally combining with the

at Walton-le-Dale.

Places of interest

* A small Memorial Garden for

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier, CBE (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the cl ...

is on the river bank at

Higher Walton, Lancashire Higher Walton is a village in South Ribble, Lancashire, England. It is on the old road between Blackburn and Preston where it crosses the River Darwen. The road, at this point, is now part of the A675. Nearby places include Walton-le-Dale, C ...

. * Parkway and Higher Croft Woods, south of

, is a Biological Heritage Site (BHS) which also received a Local Nature Reserve status in 2005 * Walton-le-Dale, location of the Battle of Preston during the

Second English Civil War The Second English Civil War took place between February to August 1648 in England and Wales. It forms part of the series of conflicts known collectively as the 1639-1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which include the 1641–1653 Irish Confed ...

, captured a Parliamentarian army victory in a poem "To Cromwell" by

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and politica ...

: -

" While Darwent Streams with Blood of Scots imbru'd..."

:The poem names the river "Darwent," giving us evidence of its derivation from a

Brythonic Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to: *Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain *Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic *Britons (Celtic people) The Br ...

dialect form similar to the

Old Welsh Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...

''derwenyd'' (

Modern Welsh The history of the Welsh language (Welsh: ''Hanes yr iaith Gymraeg'') spans over 1400 years, encompassing the stages of the language known as Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. Origins Welsh evolved from British, the C ...

''derwenydd''), meaning "valley thick with oaks".

History

The river was polluted with human and industrial effluent during the

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 ...

, and this contamination continued until the early 1970s. The river often changed colour dramatically as a result of paper and paint mills routinely using the river water to flush out dye and paint tanks. This process has now ceased, and as a result the river water is now relatively clear which has resulted in the return of trout and small fish. In 2012 a section of the river which had remained in a culvert for 100 years was uncovered at an area of Darwen known as Shorey Bank Throughout the course of the river many improvements have resulted in improved water quality.Freshwater Life
/ref>

Tributaries

*Hennel Brook **Cockshott Brook *Many Brooks **Black Brook ***Hatchwood Brook **Fowler Brook ***Drum Head Brook ****Gorton Brook ****Mill Brook ***Bank Head Brook *Old Darwen *Beeston Brook **Quaker Brook *Hole Brook **Huntley Brook (North) **Huntley Brook (South) *Alum House Brook **Arley Brook *Trout Brook *

**Finnington Brook **Stockclough Brook ***Whitehalgh Brook ****Shaw Brook ****Chapels Brook ****Sheep Bridge Brook **Rake Brook **Calf Hey Brook **Ferny Bed Springs * River Blakewater **Snig Brook **Audley Brook **Little Harwood Brook ***Royshaw Clough ***Seven Acre Brook **Knuzden Brook *Scotshaw Brook **Moss Brook **Badger Brook *Higher Croft Brook **Newfield Brook *Davy Field Brook **Flash Brook **Grimshaw Brook ***Waterside Brook ****Mean Brook *****Sapling Clough ****Hoddlesden Moss Brook *****Far Scotland Brook ****Pickup Bank Brook *****Moss Brook *****Twitchells Brook *Sunnyhurst Brook **Stepback Brook *Bold Venture Brook **High Lumb Brook ***Livesey Brook *Kebbs Brook **Green Lowe Brook *Bury Fold Brook **Old Briggs Brook ***Duckshaw Brook *Grainings Brook *Grain Brook **Bent Hall Brook **Deadman's Clough

References

External links

River Darwen
Cotton Town. Retrieved 19 June 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Darwen Rivers of Lancashire Rivers of Blackburn with Darwen 1Darwen