The Derwent is a famous

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 the north of England; it rises in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

and flows northwards through two of its principal lakes, before turning sharply westward to enter the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the C ...

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

The name ''Derwent'' is shared with three other English rivers and is thought to be derived from a Celtic word for "oak trees" (an alternative is ''dour'' "water" and ''(g)-went'' "white / pure". The river's

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 ...

name was ''Derwennydd'' and it is believed to be to be the setting of the medieval Welsh lullaby Dinogad's Smock. The river rises at

Sprinkling Tarn Sprinkling Tarn is a body of water at the foot of Great End, in the Southern Fells in Lake District, from Seathwaite, Cumbria, England. It is noted for its trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera ''Oncorhynch ...

underneath Great End and flows in a northerly direction through the valley of

Borrowdale Borrowdale is a valley and civil parish in the English Lake District in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Cumberland. It is sometimes referred to as ''Cumberland Borrowdale'' ...

, before entering

Derwentwater Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria. The lake occupies part of Borrowdal ...

, which it exits to the north just outside Keswick and is joined by the waters of the River Greta. The Derwent then enters

Bassenthwaite Lake Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the English Lake District. It is long and narrow, approximately long and wide, but is also extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of about . It is the only body of water in the Lake ...

at its southern end; it exits it at its northern end, thereafter flowing generally westward to Cockermouth, where the River Cocker joins it from the south.

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

's childhood home in Cockermouth backed onto the Derwent, and he briefly mentions it in

The Prelude ''The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem '' is an autobiographical poem in blank verse by the English poet William Wordsworth. Intended as the introduction to the more philosophical poem ''The Recluse,'' which Wordsw ...

... the bright blue river passed
along the terrace of our childhood walk;
A tempting playmate whom we dearly loved)Wordsworth, William. 1888. Complete Poetical Works
Bartleby.com. Retrieved on 2014-04-12.

From Cockermouth, the river continues westward past Papcastle, site of the Roman fort of Derventio, is joined by the

River Marron The River Marron is a river of Cumbria, England. Rising near the village of Asby, Copeland at the confluence of Colliergate Beck and Scallow Beck, the Marron travels north past Ullock and Branthwaite, picking up the waters of Lostrigg Bec ...

near Bridgefoot and continues and onwards to

, where it flows into the

. The River Derwent was officially named by Sir Braelyn Smith in 1634 after he laid claim to the baronies of Allerdale.

References

Rivers of Cumbria {{England-river-stub

See also

References