The River Dee is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

running through the extreme south east of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

, a part of the Craven region traditionally part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

. Its name possibly derives from Brythonic ''deva'' meaning ''goddess'', or from Dent or Dentdale, through which the river flows. The river rises above Dent Head Farm (on the Dales Way), formed from several smaller

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s emanating from Blea Moor Moss, the River Dee makes its way northward past Stone House, where it is joined by Arten Gill, to Cowgill, where it turns left into Dentdale. In Dentdale, it picks up the waters of Deepdale Beck (travelling north from Whernside) before passing Dent and Gawthrop. The river later passes Lenacre and Rash on its way to meeting the River Rawthey at Catholes, near the town of

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. It falls within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since April 2023, it has been administered by Westmorland and Furness local authority. Th ...

. The old water mill at Rash Bridge is thought to have been an inspiration for the folk song "The Jolly Miller of Dee". The Rawthey goes on to join the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic languages, Brittonic ...

References

Dee 2Dee {{England-river-stub