The River Esk 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 ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

that empties into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

after a course of around through its valley of Eskdale. The river's name is derived from the Brythonic word "isca" meaning "water". The Esk is the only major river in Yorkshire that flows directly into the

; all other watercourses defined as being major rivers by the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

, either flow to the North Sea via the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

or the

Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

Overview

Due to its rural nature, the river is clean and healthy, supporting a wealth of wildlife. Salmon spawn right up through Eskdale, and a number of " leaps" are provided to enable them to travel through

weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s on the course. There are clearly visible examples at Ruswarp, where the tidal stretch through to Whitby begins and at

Sleights Sleights ( ) is a village in North Yorkshire, England. Located in the Esk Valley in the postal region of Whitby, the village is part of the civil parish of Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby. Sleights lies along the steep main A169 road that runs nor ...

. Around Whitby the Esk has a large population of

sea trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are bull trout, sewin (Wales ...

, and the river is noted for freshwater pearl mussels (the only river in Yorkshire to have them), although these are threatened with extinction due to buildups of

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

in the river. In 2021, conservationists removed the mussel colony into a specialist facility to encourage the mussels to release their young, which can be raised in a secure safe environment, before the mussels are then all put back. The Esk is also the only major river in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

to drain directly into the

. The river rises at the Esklets on Westerdale Moor in the

North York Moors The North York Moors is an upland area in north-eastern Yorkshire, England. It contains one of the largest expanses of Calluna, heather moorland in the United Kingdom. The area was designated as a national parks of England and Wales, National P ...

. The Esklets are actually three moorland streams that combine in Westerdale to form the River Esk. The river flows through Westerdale before merging with a large number of becks from the surrounding hills, including Tower, Baysdale, Sleddale, Danby, Great Fryup, Stonegate, Glaisdale and Murk becks. Running east through the valley known as Eskdale it leaves the moors via the villages of

and Ruswarp, between which it forms the boundary of the North York Moors, and reaches the North Sea three miles later by bisecting the resort of Whitby. Partway down the river at Danby Bridge, there is a ford in which vehicles can get trapped. Between the junction of Fryup Dale and Lealholm the river passes through a narrow, steep-sided and wooded valley known as Crunkly Ghyll. Here the river drops from the valley above to reach the village. Crunkly Ghyll was formed during the last great ice age as a huge wall of ice moved across the landscape carving out what is now the Esk Valley as far as Lealholm. At its head it formed a massive dam blocking the flow of water from above and creating a lake running back up the valley to Commondale. As the ice melted, the river forced its way out carving the ravine we see today. In Victorian times, the Ghyll was home to a large rockery garden, open to the public, but long since washed away by flooding of the river. The small villages along the river were at one time of great importance to the north-east, with

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

mined in the valleys, and

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

dug from quarries on the surrounding moors. Today, all that remains are the deserted mine shafts, though

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

is mined, near Boulby, with tunnels running six miles beneath the sea, some of the deepest in Europe. Of the major rivers in Yorkshire (as defined by the Environment Agency), the Esk is the only one to flow into the North Sea directly without flowing into either the River Tees or the Humber Estuary.

River Esk Tideway Byelaw 1987

Since 1987 a byelaw has been in place to protect dangerously dwindling populations of salmon and sea trout. The River Esk Tideway Byelaw 1987, prevents fishing for salmon and sea trout along the stretch of the Esk between Ruswarp and

known as the tideway. The

enforces the byelaw under s210 and Schedule 25 of the Water Resources Act 1991. The byelaw was renewed in 1997 for 5 years, then again in 2002 for 10 years. After a peak of 924 rod-caught salmon per year in 1965, the number dropped to just 11 in 1989. This was due mainly to illegal poaching of stocks from this stretch under the guise of angling. Since the byelaw was introduced and enforced, the numbers of rod-caught salmon per year, further upstream, has increased each year (to 177 in 2010). The byelaw was due to expire in 2012, but was further extended to the end of December 2018.

Recreation

The river is used for boating in the lower reaches, especially in the upper and lower harbour areas of Whitby town. The two harbour areas also function as a port for commercial shipping and for the fishing industry. Sea-fishing tours operate out to sea from the harbours at Whitby, with many marinas being located on the east bank of the river as it approaches the North Sea. Canoeing and kayaking can be enjoyed on almost any stretch of the River Esk (including its tributaries like Eller Beck), but is mostly undertaken between Houlsyke and Egton Bridge, Egton and Sleights and Ruswarp and Whitby. These are all located between two sets of weirs each. Local rod fishing associations have access on the River Esk to almost of riverside fishing. Most of these stretches are on banks where there is no public access.

Bridges

The River Esk has several notable and listed bridges on its stretch. From upstream to downstream they are; Beggars Bridge at Glaisdale (a high-arched packhorse bridge built in the 17th century), the Bowstring road bridge at Ruswarp, Larpool Viaduct between Ruswarp and Whitby, the A171 road bridge and the

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

in Whitby town. Many of the bridges in the valley had to be rebuilt after floods in 1828, 1880 and 1930. The present bowstring bridge in Ruswarp dates from 1933 when

Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company was a British bridge works and structural steel contractor based in Darlington. It built various structures including the Victoria Falls Bridge, Tees Transporter Bridge, Forth Road Bridge, Forth Road, Hum ...

opened up a new bridge to replace one swept away in 1930.

Industry

The river was not used for shipping save for the area in and around Whitby harbour (which was notable for its whale industry and its

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

). Whilst coal was mined in upper Eskdale, it was not found in sufficient quantities to be used in the alum industry; coal was trans-shipped in from

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

and

Wearside Wearside () is a built-up area in County Durham and Tyne and Wear, England. It is named after the River Wear which flows through it and traditionally all in the County of Durham. In the 2011 census, its official name was the Sunderland Built- ...

for this. Hand in hand with the shipbuilding industry, was the ropery works that nestled around the harbour. Whitby's last official ropery was on the south side of Spital Beck. This area was also host to

and timber processing plants, but most of this industry was defunct by the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. At Boghall and Larpool, the river was diverted in 1833 to accommodate the railway between Whitby and Pickering. This area was also the location of a whale blubber rendering plant, which was said to have afflicted the town with an awful stench. Further upstream at the tidal limit of Ruswarp, mills were placed on the weir to grind corn. The first one was constructed in 1752, with the last being used as a mill in 1962. In 2012, a hydro-electric plant was constructed on the weir to generate green energy for the local area. Currently, Whitby is involved in the fishing industry (mostly whitefish) which is landed by its own trawler fleet. There is a commercial side to the port which deals in fertilisers, steel and potash as well as other smaller cargoes.

Folklore

Every year on Ascension Eve (38 days after

Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...

), a ceremony is held at 9:00 am on the east side of the upper harbour, to celebrate the planting of the Penny Hedge. This stems from an old folklore tale of how in 1159, three noblemen of the area were out hunting boar in the Eskdale woods. One of the boars took refuge in a chapel and the men tried to effect entry, but an old hermit would not allow them in. They murdered him, but before he died, the hermit forgave his murderers, if every Ascensiontide, they would plant a hedge made of hazel wood in the River Esk at Whitby which could survive three tides. The hedge needed to be cut by a penny-knife and planted as specified otherwise the men's lands would be forfeited to

Whitby Abbey Whitby Abbey was a 7th-century Christian monastery that later became a Benedictine abbey. The abbey church was situated overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England, a centre of the medieval Northumbrian ...

, and as it was a penance as part of the hermits forgiving them their crime, if they did not carry it out, they could have faced execution charges. The tradition has been carried out every year since (according to available records) apart from 1981, when the tide was already too high to build the hedge.