Devil's Water is a narrow, powerful river in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, England. It rises in the moors of

Hexhamshire Hexhamshire is a former county and current civil parish in Northern England. It included Hexham, Whitley Chapel, Allendale, and St John Lee (today part of Plenmeller with Whitfield) until it was incorporated into Northumberland in 1572. Histo ...

and empties into the Tyne between the towns of

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

and

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was k ...

. Its tributaries include the Rowley Burn and West Dipton Burn. The

Battle of Hexham The Battle of Hexham, 15 May 1464, marked the end of significant Lancastrian resistance in the north of England during the early part of the reign of Edward IV. The battle was fought near the town of Hexham in Northumberland. John Neville, ...

was fought on the banks of Devil's Water in 1464.

Etymology

Devil's Water is one of a number of rivers that take their names from a Brittonic compound meaning "black stream". Other examples are the

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, the

Dawlish Dawlish is a seaside resort town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Teignbridge district in Devon, England. It is located on the south coast of England at a distance of from the city of Exeter and a similar distance from the to ...

, and the Dulais. In the case of Devil's Water, the name has been corrupted by the influence of the English word "devil" (cf. Devil's Brook in Dorset). The river gives its name to the hamlet of Dilston, which was originally known as ''Develeston''.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Northumberland 1DevilsWater