The River Leven (pronounced ) in

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 is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of 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 ...

. It rises on Warren Moor, part of Kildale 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 ...

and flows to the north of the moors to join the River Tees at

Yarm Yarm-on-Tees, or simply Yarm, is a market town in North Yorkshire, England. It lies on a meander of the River Tees, extending south-east to the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven and south to the village of Kirklevington. A civil parish i ...

Course

The source of the river is on Warren Moor, part of Kildale Moor, just south of the village of Kildale. The river flows east until it reaches the

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 ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

where it turns around to flow west to Kildale. It then flows south-south-west through woodland to its confluence with Dundale Beck where it turns north-west through Low Easby and Little Ayton, before turning west and then south-west at

Great Ayton Great Ayton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The River Leven (a tributary of the River Tees) flows through the village, which lies just north of the North York Moors. According to the 2021 Census, the parish has a popu ...

. It runs parallel to the A173 to Stokesley. The river becomes increasingly meandering as it continues south-west past Skutterskelfe to Hutton Rudby and Rudby, where it turns north-west and then west again over the Slape Stones waterfall. At Crathorne it turns north and then north-east as far as Middleton-on-Leven before passing under the A19 in a north-west direction. The final couple of miles are north and north-west between

Ingleby Barwick Ingleby Barwick is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It is south of the River Tees and north-east of the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven. Large scale devel ...

and

, before the river joins the River Tees.

Water levels

* Low and High Water Levels are an average figure. In October 2022, a new flood defence project was opened on the river above Stokesley. When river levels are high, a new flood channel diverts the excess water around the town, meeting the Leven again further downstream. 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 ...

funded the project at a cost of £3.7 million.

Geology

The river drains from the

Cleveland Hills The Cleveland Hills are a range of hills on the north-west edge of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England, overlooking Cleveland and Teesside. They lie entirely within the boundaries of the North York Moors National Park. Part of the ...

across a mixed geology of mostly

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

and

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

age bedrock of low permeability. Most of the deposits on top of the bedrock are

boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...

. There is mixed agriculture, with some moorland and forestry near the source.

Natural history

Since a weir on the lower river was built during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, migratory and territorial fish and mammals had been missing from the river. In 2007, the

built a fish bypass at the weir. In 2011, they announced the return of spawning

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

for the first time in 150 years. In 2020, it was confirmed that crayfish plague had infected the river after 40 dead

white-clawed crayfish ''Austropotamobius pallipes'' is an endangered European freshwater crayfish, and the only crayfish native to the British Isles. Its common names include white-clawed crayfish and Atlantic stream crayfish. Distribution It is found from the easter ...

were found along a stretch of river.

History

In Stokesley, the river is crossed by Taylorson's Bridge, a 17th-century

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low Parapet#Bridg ...

, which was once the only crossing in the town. The Domesday Book records a water mill on the banks of the river in the town. In Hutton Rudby, a plaque on a bridge marks the site of a water mill that, amongst several uses, once made sailcloth.

Lists

Tributaries

* Lonsdale Beck * Dundale Beck * Otter Hills Beck * Main Stell * Ings Beck * Eller Beck * West Beck * River Tame * Grange Beck * Alum Beck * Carr Stell * Coul Beck * Hundale Gill * Magpie Gill * Fanny Bell's Gill * East Gill

Settlements

* Kildale * Low Easby * Little Ayton *

Stokesley Stokesley is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the River Leven, North Yorkshire, River Leven. An Wards and ...

* Skutterskelfe * Rudby * Hutton Rudby * Crathorne * Middleton-on-Leven * Low Leven * High Leven *

* Levendale (

)

Crossings

* Petlar's Bridge, near Kildale * Unnamed road, near Kildale * Whitby to Middlesbrough Railway Line * Unnamed road north of Kildale * Whitby to Middlesbrough Railway Line * Unnamed road north of Easby * Cross Lane, Little Ayton * Holmes bridge, Little Ayton (foot) * Holly Garth, Great Ayton * A173, Levenside, Great Ayton * A172, Stokesley * B1257, Stokesley Bridge * Manor Close/Levenside, Stokesley (ford) * Malvern Drive, Stokesley * B1365, Bense Bridge, Stokesley * Hutton Bridge, Hutton Rudby * Crathorne Mill Bridge, Crathorne * Foxton bridge near Middleton-on-Leven * A19 near Middleton-on-Leven * A1044, Leven Bridge, Low Leven

Gallery

File:Bridge over the Leven at Great Ayton - geograph.org.uk - 1639516.jpg, Bridge over the Leven at Great Ayton File:Coul Beck joining the River Leven.jpg, Coul Beck joining the River Leven near Rudby File:River Leven, Great Ayton - geograph.org.uk - 594058.jpg, River Leven, Great Ayton File:River Leven, Low Green - geograph.org.uk - 477551.jpg, River Leven, Low Green, Great Ayton

Sources

* Ordnance Survey Open Viewer https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business-government/tools-support/open-data-support * Google Earth * National Environment Research Council - Centre for Ecology and Hydrolog

* Environment Agenc

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leven Rivers of North Yorkshire